Archive | September, 2009

Artery-clogging trans fats banned in all B.C. restaurants today

30 Sep

 

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Good news for foodies here at home: British Columbia became the first Canadian province to restrict trans fat in restaurant food this week, but as critics point out, the restrictions on the unhealthy fat won’t apply to packaged food sold at grocery stores.

Trans fats are found in things like cake and muffin mixes, croutons, cookies, taco shells, frying oils and margarine. “We want healthier food choices to be the easier choice,” said Ida Chong, BC’s Minister of Healthy Living and Sport, in a statement released on September 29th. “Consumers won’t see or taste the difference in the meal they’ve ordered, but with restrictions on industrially produced trans fat, they will be eating foods that have been prepared using healthier ingredients,” said Chong.

Trans fat comes in two forms. One form is naturally occurring in ruminant meat, such as beef or lamb as well as dairy products. The other is industrially produced, in partially hydrogenated oils, margarines and shortenings, and hidden in prepared foods like donuts, croissants and other baked goods, according to provincial health officials.

The industrially produced trans fat increases our risk of coronary heart disease by raising levels of low-density lipoprotein known as bad cholesterol and lowering levels of good cholesterol, leading to blocked coronary arteries and heart disease.  (more…)

Doctors should start screening teenagers for heart disease risks

30 Sep

 

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I didn’t have a heart attack last year because I had one stressful morning at work, or ate one piece of bacon. In fact, at Mayo Clinic, we learned that most cardiovascular disease is actually 20-30 years in the making. So why are we waiting decades for cardiac symptoms to become severe enough to be noticed?

About one third of young people ages 10-19  in North America have LDL (bad) cholesterol levels that are too high (considered by many to be a risk factor for developing heart disease).  In some cases, high cholesterol runs in families. This is called familial hypercholesterolemia. About 1% to 2% of children have this condition, and they should have their cholesterol levels checked before they are 5 years old.

When the bodies of young soldiers (many just in their teens) who died in the Korean and Vietnam wars were autopsied, most had coronary arteries that were already showing signs of dangerous plaque deposits. Several studies have shown that fatty plaque buildup begins in children as young as 10, and progresses slowly into adulthood. This disease process is called atherosclerosis, which leads directly to heart disease.  (more…)

“Wouldn’t I be silly to make it myself?”

29 Sep

 

soup campbells vintage

“Go to all that bother.. when Campbell’s is so homey and nourishing?  Not me!”

“When I was a little girl, I remember we always made our own vegetable soup.  Mother used to devote just hours to to it. But one day when she was rushed, she tried Campbell’s Vegetable Soup.  My dad’s not so easy to please, but he ate a bowlful, and then another.  Since then, Mother has served Campbell’s… and Dad’s been as pleased as a kid!

“I’m married now myself and — well, we young-marrieds all feel that same way.  I mean why bother to make vegetable soup when Campbell’s Vegetable Soup is so wonderful — a grand-tasting beef stock and all those 15 garden vegetables.  Why, every time I serve it, my husband says: ‘Gosh, darling, this is really swell!’  And what better music can a wife hear than that?  Now I ask you!”

After I picked myself off the floor where I’d fallen down laughing, I pondered what effect this magazine ad from the 1940s actually must have had on women who read it.  And for those concerned about heart health, the widespread marketing of highly processed, high-fat, high salt, low-fibre, mass produced industrial food was a grim development. (more…)

40 profound life lessons that a heart attack can teach you

28 Sep

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Many heart attack survivors I’ve met will readily describe, surprisingly, how their heart disease has actually been a “gift”, which sounds positively goofy unless you’ve been in the cardiac unit yourself.  (more…)

Happy World Heart Day!

27 Sep

world heart day.posterOver 17.2 million people around the world die each year from cardiovascular diseases, making these the leading cause of death worldwide. Yet 80% of premature deaths from heart disease and stroke could be avoided by controlling the main risk factors: tobacco, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity.

Businesses around the world, as well as leading organizations such as the World Health Organization and the World Economic Forum have recognized the importance of employee health to achieve core business objectives. Many have committed to include health promotion on their corporate agenda.

Yet it is mostly large corporations in developed countries that offer workplace health programs.

There is an urgent need to extend these benefits to all employees, in other industries and sectors, and in other parts of the world. In particular, workers in low- and middle-income countries, where over 80% of deaths from cardiovascular disease currently occur, could benefit greatly from the implementation of such programs.

Find out more from the World Heart Federation.

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