#147 Cholesterol Myth & a Wake Up Call (Medically Speaking)
This post I am writing about a book that I recently read called “The Great Cholesterol Myth”. I put a link to it below. I wish I had read this book years ago. It seems to be very well supported by numerous studies. Full disclosure - I did NOT review all of the dozens of reports and studies that the author cites. I did click to review two of them just to see whether those studies existed, and they said what he said they did. And they did. It is fairly well written too. It tells an interesting story and tells it well.
https://www.amazon.com/Great-Cholesterol-Myth-Disease-Statin-Free/dp/1592335217
In essence, cholesterol is not the issue. Sugar is the issue. And in particular, raw sugar plus highly processed carbohydrates. I.e., the good stuff. Cakes, pasta, bread, croissants, etc. ☹
I was suggested this book by a friend of mine some months ago, and I bought it, but never read it. When it comes to medical stuff, I definitely have a tendency to want to hide my head in the sand. And unfortunately, Mark, who died a few months ago, was the guy that normally kept me on track and checked this stuff for me in and told me what I needed to do. 😊 Now I have to do this myself.
But, two weeks ago, just as I was going to bed in my apartment in Istanbul, I started feeling really strange. I wasn’t comfortable, both my arms and hands were tingling (both, not just my left), I felt a bit of a hot flush and I just didn’t feel well. I took my blood pressure and when it showed that it was 166/90 that was when I became quite concerned. I normally am around 115/75.
I went to the emergency room here in Istanbul at the American Hospital, and by the time I got there, my blood pressure had started to go down. (Anxiety was part of the picture here as well. On my own, in Istanbul, no support network (except a couple of friends I could at least call and let know what was going on.). They gave me a sub-lingual blood pressure medication, ran some blood tests, took an EKG, and observed me for a couple of hours. Since I wasn’t dying, the EKG showed nothing serious, and my blood pressure had returned to normal, they released me.
The next day I followed up with a cardiologist at another hospital. The only thing that she did different than the emergency room was a more comprehensive blood panel, and a echocardiogram to make sure that my heart valves were okay. And they were. She said they were functioning just fine.
However, neither institution could give me any clue as to why all of a sudden, my blood pressure had spiked the way that it did. And it continued to do so for a couple of days, and then I gave up and started taking the blood pressure medication that the cardiologist prescribed.
But, that day, I decided that maybe I should read that book, and really take a look at what might be causing some of the problems. And, it was an eye-opener. I will recap very briefly a key portion of the book, but honestly, I recommend that everybody read this book if they can. It really contains some very valuable information, and some lifestyle choices that are well worth following, I believe.
I am on day seven now of trying to follow the regimen, that is, I have done the two biggest things, which is to cut back on sugar, and cut out the processed carbs. It hasn’t been as hard as I thought it was going to be. I have still eaten some carbs, but a mere fraction of what I was eating every day for most of my time here in Istanbul. I totally fell off the wagon here.
My goals from trying to do all this are the following:
· Get off BP meds - I.e. no BP problems
· Have better energy levels
· Reduce body fat composition to around 8%
· Get rid of the ‘fatty liver’ problem I’ve had for years
· Reduce future possible cardiovascular issues
· Not have to do an angiogram
It is early days yet, but I would like to say that I am noticing a small increase in my energy levels. And even just in 7 days, I’m feeling a little lighter. My pants feel looser. My BP is fine but since I’m taking this BP med that is kind of irrelevant. I need to wait to see if some of my numbers such as insulin levels, Fasting Blood Sugar, and triglycerides go down before I will experiment with stopping the BP medications
I have to admit when you look at what the authors of the book say you should eat, there are some restaurants where I can’t eat most of what is on the menu. And in most of the cafés, Starbucks, and the like, I can’t eat any of the stuff that’s in the display case. None of it. It is all just crammed with processed carbs and sugar.
So, I am still struggling a little bit with it. But, on day seven, if I am to be totally honest, I am not experiencing the horrible cravings that I expected to have for the bad stuff.
And based on what I’m reading, it could very well be my diet that affected my blood pressure. In essence I probably have an insulin resistance problem.
Insulin resistance is when cells in your muscles, fat, and liver don't respond well to insulin and can't easily take up glucose from your blood. As a result, your pancreas makes more insulin to help glucose enter your cells.
And, if one is, like me, ingesting massive amounts of processed carbohydrates every day, it is easy to get caught into a vicious circle.
The author cites a study that showed that insulin resistance is directly related to high blood pressure. High insulin levels communicate to the kidneys and tell them to retain sodium, which leads to more water retention, which builds volume in the blood vessels, and in addition, narrows artery walls. Put those two things together (and other factors which I didn’t want to list here) I can see where what I’ve been eating might very well have led to the blood pressure issue that I experienced.
My current plan is to spend approximately three weeks with this dietary change that I have done, and then do another blood panel when I get back to the United States next week. I think that three weeks should be enough to show a fairly significant change if there is going to be one.
And also, and I did this actually the day that I experience the blood pressure problem, I stopped taking the statins to control my cholesterol. The book strongly recommends against statins in any case. But, I was already experiencing side effects with the statin that I was taking, primarily in the form of joint and muscle aches and so I decided to stop on my own. And, low and behold, those various joint and muscle aches have gone away completely just two weeks after starting.
Basic Eating Rules:
Dump Sugar: Sugar, soda, fruit juice, candy, cake, etc. [I’ve basically done this for a long time except for chocolate]
Dump Processed Carbs: Pasta, breads, commercial cereals etc. [This is the killer for me]
Dump Processed Oils: Canola, Crisco, safflower, corn, soybean oils. [Pretty easy]
Dump Trans Fats [No fast foods - read labels if it contains the word ‘hydrogenated’]
Dump Processed Meats (Deli) [Slightly tough but I don’t eat much of this anyway]
USE GOOD OILS: olive oil, sesame oil, or macadamia oil. Lard is ok as well.
INCREASE NON-PROCESSED CARBS: Eggs, Beans, Legumes, Vegetables, Fresh Fruits
EAT WILD SALMON, GRASS FED BEEF, CHERRIES (+ cherry juice)
EAT NUTS, DARK CHOCOLATE (>60% Cacao), TURMERIC, PURE POMEGRANATE JUICE, GREEN TEA, GARLIC
There is tons more but really – READ THE BOOK.
So that is the end of my proselytizing … for now anyway 😊 I’ll update later next month if my energy levels and blood test results show anything interesting. Or not.