Cranberries, heart disease, etc.

[Guest guest]

From: Francesca Skelton <fskelton@...>

Subject: Re: In Praise of the Cranberry

bob or anyone else: I make cranberry sauce with fresh cranberries

and unsweetened apple juice. The taste is great. What I would like

to know is:does cooking the cranberries destroy all the benefits?

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Francesca: I can't say for sure, because I haven't seen this

addressed in a specific study. However, I very much doubt that

cooking them would destroy all the benefits.

The reason I say this is because the study showing a 10% increase in

HDL and up to a 121% increase in the antioxidant capacity of the

blood was a study where the participants drank 27% cranberry juice,

unsweetened or artificially sweetened. I have to guess that they

were handing out the juice in bottles/containers, and that the juice

had to have been pasturized/cooked to some extent, otherwise it would

have gone bad very quickly due to the natural sugars and enzymes

present.

One supermarket I go to sells a large plastic container of pure

cranberry juice---no sugar added. My guess is that this is the sort

of thing that was handed out to the study subjects, rather than

freshly juiced raw cranberries. So I suspect that a large amount of

the benefit stays intact with cooking, but without knowing all the

details of how the cranberry juice was prepared in this study, I

can't say for sure. If Suz posts the news article that I sent her

about this study, we will be able to write to the authors and find

out. I believe the authors of the study are scientists from the

University of Scranton.

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Andy wrote:

I have been unable to locate whole, organic frozen cranberries,

anywhere local to me. With a name, I might be able to persuade the

local healthfood store (or even a " progressive " supermarket) to

purchase some. Thanks.~ andy

----------------------

Andy---

The cranberries I purchase are not organically grown. They are the

same cranberries that will appear in most supermarkets around

Thanksgiving time.

Sorry, but yesterday I threw away the box that had the

growers/wholesaler's name and address.

I found mine by looking in the Yellow Pages under Grocers, and then

going to the Grocers-Wholesale section. There are local wholesale

grocers that supply to the restaurants/smaller stores, etc., and can

order a very large variety of frozen fruits. In the Yellow Pages

here, I see " Economy Cash and Carry " , Ednor Food Service, Nobel Sysco

Food Service, Professional Food Systems, Shamrock Food Co, etc.

Sysco is a particularly large food wholesaler.

When I was in Los Angeles recently (and had a nice gathering with

Warren and Suz), I found frozen cranberries in the Whole Oats stores

(a large health food supermarket chain). But they were pretty

expensive---something like $2.00 for 8 ounces. I pay $53 for 40

pounds.

I used to have the plastic containers for 2 different brands of

cranberries (one from the Whole Oats store), but I got rid of them

after I found my source. Any large supermarket that has a variety of

frozen fruits ought to be able to order frozen cranberries for you.

Also check the internet---you should be able to find the names of the

growers of cranberries, and they can supply you with their

wholesalers/retailers. Good luck.

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From: " jwwright " <jwwright@...>Subject:

I think the rec to exercise is good for the most of usto avoid an MI.

Secondly, I notice a disjoint in the rec to exercise for Jim Fixx at

least. Maybe a diff rec is in order forthose with his family

history.... A high hematocrit also was predictive in women.

[30].......The Framingham Study, however, showed an

insignificantrelationship between low levels of physical activity

andincidence of sudden death but a high proportion ofsudden to total

cardiac deaths at higher levels ofphysical activity.[35]

--------------------------

Yes, clearly a different recommendation is in order for those with a

family history of Coronary Artery Disease like Jim Fixx's family:

that recommendation is to get tested-----an exam by a cardiologist,

and at a minimum, a Treadmill Stress Test with 12 lead EKG's. Adding

a thallium scan to this makes it even better. Had Jim Fixx allowed

Dr. to perform these tests, according to Dr. ,

he is confident that he would have identified his severe Coronary

Artery Disease. Then treatment is in order-----such as the Dr. Dean

Ornish Program for Reversing Heart Disease, or perhaps Coronary

Angioplasty with placement of stent(s), or even Coronary Artery

Bypass Surgery if the situation was desperate. Treatment of course

includes normalization of all lipid values (total cholesterol, LDL

cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides), either thru dietary or

pharmacological measures, or both. Lipid abnormalities are very much

under treated in medicine.

Those with Coronary Artery Disease need to exercise, but as you

pointed out above, they should not do super intense exercise like an

athlete (e.g. they might exercise at a training HR of 65-70% of

maximum rather than 80%-85% of maximum HR. And the exercise

recommendation will be based on the severity of the heart disease.

Just walking is an excellent exercise, especially for those who

are " out of shape " or at particularly high risk. You can gain most

of the health and longevity benefits of exercise by just walking (see

s newer books regarding how much to exercise in order

to get a 58-65% reduction in all-cause mortality--it's a lot less

than you might think).

A famous cardiologist said: 'Everyone should establish a daily habit

of walking their dog, whether they have one or not.'

Bob Bessen