I did nutritional counseling with a man after his heart attack.  Here is his story based on his meetings with me and the additional research and reading he did:

As many of you know on January 3, 2006 I suffered atherosclerosis…the medical term for a heart attack.  About 50% of people die from this condition when it occurs.  I was one of the lucky ones.

Looking for answers

I began to believe that nutrition has a huge influence on heart disease, but who and what do you believe?  About a year ago I wanted to lose a couple of pounds so I went on the Nutri-Systems Diet.  It worked.  I lost the weight in a month.  Then I began to research foods cooked in a micro-wave, processed foods, refined foods and how they can harm your body.  WHAT?  I lost the weight.

• Do I need more fiber?
• More fruit?
• More vegetables?
• Do carbs make me fat?
• Is organic really better?
• I heard bagels are good…I heard they aren’t.  Too much starch?  I was frustrated.

Finding a nutrition professional

I didn’t know where to turn so I researched it further and found the best nutritionist/dietician I could find.  Someone I could ask anything about food and nutrition.  I had a lot of questions.  Still do.  She [Trulie] has worked with the Physicians Committee for Research Medicine in Washington, DC and was research coordinator for a revolutionary program for reversing diabetes.  The first thing she told me was that heart disease can be reversed.  I was sold.

I asked her why she chose this line of work and she said she was overweight (hard to believe now) and didn’t feel good—so she did something about it.  In our meetings she broke down

1. macro-nutrients (protein, carbs and fat) and
2. micro-nutrients (vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals).

Optimal health comes from a diet loaded with 14 different vitamins, 25 minerals and 10,000 phytochemicals.  The phytochemicals have a profound influence on humans cell function.  Our body cells can only heal, repair and detoxify with foods rich in micro-nutrients.  We hear a lot these days about free radicals which attack our cells and cause disease.  I believe now through my limited research, reading and questions that chronic diseases are largely the result of infinitely complex assaults on our bodies resulting from bad food.

Protect health with a powerful diet

I know the last sentence in the above paragraph is hard to comprehend, but I am beginning to believe that certain foods are just a lot better for us than others.  My new encyclopedia of health then gave me a reading assignment.  She handed me a book called The China Study (I highly recommend you read it) and told me to read the chapter (Broken Hearts) on heart disease.  I liked that information so much that I bought my own book and read it cover to cover.  It was fascinating.  The writer, Dr. T. Colin Campbell questions the status quo.  Many years ago as a scientist and nutrition expert he worked for the government and later became involved in a study to understand why people in parts of China and other countries did not get heart disease and cancer.  Most believed it must be genetics, but when they moved to America and ate the western diet they got just as sick as us.  The study found that the Chinese ate

• less animal-based foods and
• more plant-based foods.  More fruits, vegetables and grains!  Foods high in micro-nutrients with great anti-oxidant power.

My dietician provided me with beneficial information to share.   It became obvious that the best foods for me are a heavy dose of many fruits and vegetables.  The more the variety the better.  I knew I wouldn’t eat 5 or 6 fruits a day, but my nutritionist showed me how to blend a great tasting smoothie with 6-8 fruits, flaxseed and other high anti-oxidant nutrients.  I am eating many more vegetables and better grains.  My cholesterol is extremely low and I am feeling great.

Our health is a choice

In closing I believe we can do better than pills and surgery.  We can go directly to the bottom line.  We can reduce our cholesterol and when that is done you cannot deposit fat and cholesterol into your arteries.  PERIOD.  It happens through nutrition.  My research has of course concentrated on heart disease, but every year that passes, there is more proof that a plant-based diet has similar effects on chronic diseases.  It is now believed that at least half of all senile mental impairment is caused by vascular injury to the brain.  Eat more fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

Over the years that I have been studying and counseling others in nutrition, I frequently hear people complain that nutrition information and recommendations are confusing and too frustrating to implement. I can sympathize with this sentiment. When one week a study saying that fiber prevents colon cancer (and so one should increase fiber intake) and then the next week another study comes out saying fiber does not prevent colon cancer, which do you believe and which dietary changes should you make?
As a registered dietitian, I have had the requisite training and knowledge to comb through the confusion and help you come up with realistic changes that can add to your health. While public diet recommendations are aimed at populations, registered dietitians can help with creating a personal nutrition plan for individuals who have unique needs and goals. In the meantime, here are some principles to follow to ascertain whether the latest nutrition and health headline is worth making changes for.

1. Is this the first time you have heard this claim being made? Not all brand new nutrition news should be tossed out the window. But there should be some skepticism that this research may not play out to be the final truth. New studies need to be validated by further study. Also, newer studies are often smaller and have less statistical power than studies building on previous studies. But when another study comes out saying to eat more fruits and vegetables, this is a claim you have probably heard before and further validates the truth that more fruits and vegetables should be eaten.
2. Check the source. The study should be published in a peer-reviewed journal such as the Journal of the American Dietetic Association or American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Unpublished studies or those that have not been published through a journal where it has been scrutinized by other nutrition experts may not be a valid. Anecdotal evidence needs to be tested in order for it to stand the test of time. Individual testimonials may be true but have not been separated from confounding variables to establish cause and effect relationships.
3. Studies done on animals have less validity than those done on human beings. It may be interesting to hear that rats lose weight consuming herbal supplements, but since we live in a very different world with different bodies than rats, it is best to wait to see if the same results ring true for human studies. Test tube studies are usually done on human cell lines making it more valid than those on animal cells, but the results would still need to be tested on human subjects before the results can be applied.
4. If the study is a review of many studies, it will have more validity as it evaluates a collection of studies on one topic. A meta-analysis is an example of this. For example, a recent meta-analysis on supplementation with various vitamins resulted in a collection of data with several hundred thousand people. People should take notice of the results of this kind of study and consider the results and recommendations.
5. Keep in mind that many media reports about nutrition research are highlighted as a way to increase ratings and sell newspapers/magazines and not to ensure you receive good nutrition information. If the conclusion seems outlandish or “too good to be true” it should be read with a critical eye.

Given these strategies to determine credible nutrition information, you should be able to better wade through the confusion. If you are interested in also gaining more nutrition knowledge to navigate through the grocery store or peruse menus for foods that will also contribute to your health and well-being, my services would be beneficial.

If you have ever spent an entire day outside in the heat of the summer or even just a pleasant spring day, you have likely experienced waning energy from a lack of water. Our body’s cells are dependent on fluid to function. Water is very important to health and keeping everything functioning as it should.

Most people believe that when it comes to water, less is more. While switching from a sugary drink to water is always a good thing for health, guzzling endless glasses of water throughout the day is not the best way to keep hydrated.

The human thirst drive is believed to be slightly behind a person’s need for water. Staying on top of hydration is a good strategy to avoid the energy drain and other symptoms that can accompany a need for more fluids.

The best strategy for this is to make use of the opportunities for eating foods to also ingest more water. By eating foods that are not only rich in nutrients (vitamins, minerals, fiber, phytochemicals), but also good sources of water, staying hydrated becomes more convenient.

Of course, by avoiding those things that leach fluids from cells one can make a significant impact on how much additional water is needed. Alcohol, sugar, caffeine, high sodium content foods and dry foods (baked or crispy) can leach water from cells requiring a replenished source. In contrast, raw fruits and vegetables, soups and other watery foods add liquids.

Given our already high daily intake needs for fruits and vegetables, eating salads, raw vegetable crudités, and fresh fruits is an excellent opportunity to increase not only the water needed in our bodies, but also the numerable nutrients necessary for for health. In fact, if someone were consuming recommended servings for fruits and vegetables by having a few pieces of fresh fruit at breakfast, a large salad for lunch with more fresh fruit as a dessert, another salad and fresh fruit at dinner, consuming additional water would be obsolete. Or, if you were also drinking several glasses of water with this menu, you might never leave the bathroom!

Many people are wondering what to think of fat. Low fat diets were the big fad of the early 90s as many processed foods were re-made into low fat options. People assumed that since the foods were now low-fat, they could consume a much bigger serving. Unfortunately, many of these foods had a similar calorie amount as the original higher fat food since lots of sugar was added to these foods (like cookies and crackers). Therefore, eating these foods did not result in weight loss. But there is more to the story than whether a food is low or high in fat.

For weight loss and overall health, it is necessary to reduce fat intake. Why is a low-fat diet a healthy diet? First, consuming a lower fat diet will result in reducing calorie intake which will help to achieve a healthy weight. A healthy weight is crucial for preventing many chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and cancer. At 9 calories a gram, fat has more than twice the calories of carbohydrate and protein (4 calories a gram). Reduce your calorie intake by reducing fat.

Secondly, low fat foods have more nutrients than higher fat foods and a healthy diet is one high in nutrients. The lowest fat foods are whole plant foods. The following chart illustrates this:

What plant foods lack in fat, they make up for with loads of nutrients especially when consumed as whole foods and not as processed foods. This is also important when consuming fewer calories. Despite consuming fewer calories, one should still aim to meet their body’s high needs for nutrients such as fiber, vitamins, antioxidants, minerals, and phytochemicals. These are needed to prevent diseases and maintain a healthy well being.

Lastly, research shows that people who consume low fat diets have better health than those who don’t. These people have a reduced incidence of diseases and normal body weights and body fatness. So while nutrition research continues to determine what precise nutrient intakes are optimal for preventing diseases and overall health, we see in observational studies that the general pattern for health is a low fat diet.

Americans consume too much fat and too many bad fats. Saturated fat is the biggest problem. The biggest source of saturated fat in Americans’ diet is animal foods and more specifically, cheese. Another bad fat is trans fat which is mostly consumed through fried restaurant foods, commercial baked goods, meat, and dairy products. Both of these fats wreak havoc on our health by increasing risk for heart disease and cancer.

Some plant foods are high in fat but also very high in nutrients and should be included in moderate amounts in our diet. These include nuts, seeds, avocados, and soybeans. Omega-3 fatty acids are important fatty acids that should be emphasized when choosing higher fat foods. The widely known source of these fats is fish but plant foods such as flaxseed, hempseed, walnuts, soybeans, and leafy greens also provide this fat. This is especially important information for children, pregnant and nursing women who should avoid exposure to the environmental contaminants found in fish but maintain an adequate intake of omega-3 fatty acids.

While the fat in whole plant foods is a healthier or “good fat,” it is still fat that should be minimized to maintain a low-fat diet. Remember, all fat has more than twice the calories of protein and carbohydrate whether it is good or bad fat. Therefore, too much good fat can mean a bigger waistline too.

In summary, here is a list of pointers regarding fat:

1. Eat a low-fat diet by consuming a variety of whole, low fat, plant foods.
2. Reduce/eliminate bad fats by reducing/eliminating meat, dairy, and fried foods.
3. Consume omega-3 fatty acids from plants food sources most often, and if desired, fish less often.
4. When adding fat to dishes, choose whole foods like nuts, seeds, avocado, and nut butters rather than oil as these foods have more nutrients.

Also posted here.