A Cardiologist’s Recommendations for Enjoying the Holiday Season

Life’s short so as a practicing cardiologist I recommend that my patients enjoy the holiday season and all of the decadent treats and trimmings (without going too hog wild). After all, healthy nutrition between New Years and Thanksgiving far outweighs not-so-healthy nutrition between Thanksgiving and New Years.    Here are several tips I recommend so that my patients can have their (holiday) cake and eat it too.

1. Enjoy 2 spoonfuls of any/every decadent dish served.  After all, we only remember the first and last bites anyway!
2. Remember the slogan “a little dab’ll do ya” when it comes to condiments, toppings and fillers.  When added to your meal, the brain receives signals that you are not full and as a result you will tend to eat 30-40% more food.
3.  Walk it off.  After a large meal, as little as a 15-minute walk will improve your blood sugar and blood fat (triglyceride) levels.

 

More tricks of the trade can be found in “Heal Your Heart: The Positive Emotions Prescription...”, Amazon’s #1 Rated Book in Heart Disease.  All proceeds are donated to the American Heart Association.

Dr. Michael Miller is a cardiologist and Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.  He is Chair, ATVB Clinical Lipidology Council of the American Heart Association and a member of AHAs Lifestyle Leadership Committee.

No Stroke of Luck: Why New Hypertension Guidelines will Save Hearts & Minds

 

New hypertension guidelines out this week now define high blood pressure (BP) as a systolic (top number) of at least 130 mm Hg or diastolic (bottom number) of at least 80.  These levels have come down from the “140/90” definition of hypertension established two decades ago.  Prior to that time…when I was a medical student, much less emphasis was placed on systolic BP.  In fact, physicians would simply take your age, tack on the number “100” and determine whether your systolic BP exceeded your age…if not, no worries.  But over the years, we’ve come to realize that living with a BP of 140/90 DOUBLES your risk of stroke or heart attack death and levels of 160 (systolic) or 100 (diastolic) QUADRUPLES risk!  Fortunately, it’s no stroke of luck that lowering systolic BP to 120 mmHg saves hearts and minds!

If you are told that your blood pressure is high at your physician’s office, you should check it at home using a digital monitor.  I suggest finding a quiet room, sit for a few minutes and obtain an initial BP reading. If elevated (as is often the case), discard the first reading and then take the average of a 2^nd and 3^rd BP reading spaced 3-5 minutes apart. Repeat this process at approximately the same time each night for 1 week to get a reasonably accurate assessment of your BP readings at home.

If your blood pressure is 130/80 or higher at home, I suggest the following to bring it down to a normal level (less than 120/80):

• Weight loss: 5-10% of body weight loss can lower BP ~5-10 mmHg.
• Try the DASH diet (aiming for less than 1500 mg of sodium or ¾ of a teaspoon of salt daily). A DASH diet can lower BP ~7-12 mmHg, and may be independent of weight loss.
• *Increase potassium intake by ~3500 mg daily. The amount of potassium in top food sources is illustrated on page 42 of “Heal Your Heart”). Increasing potassium by ~3500 mg per day can lower BP ~8-12 mmHg.
• Moderate activity such as brisk walking (3-4 miles/hr) for 30 minutes at least 5 days a week can reduce BP another ~5-10 mmHg.

*discuss further with your doctor if you have kidney problems

Dr. Michael Miller is a cardiologist and Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.  He is also a member of the American Heart Association (AHA) Nutrition Council and his latest book is “Heal Your Heart: The Positive Emotions Prescription to Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease” – 100% of book proceeds are donated to the AHA.

(S)oy Vey: FDA Moves to Revoke a Health Claim!

In an unprecedented move, the FDA has moved to revoke the health claim approved in 1999 that eating soy protein protects against heart disease.  This recommendation was largely based on the lack of conclusive evidence that adding soy protein based products (or supplements) reduces risk factors associated with heart disease.

Here’s what we know:

1.  Adding soy protein to the diet generally has a modest effect on lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol (-3%).  However, when soy protein is substituted for animal-based proteins, LDL lowering is 2-3 times as high (6-10%) and viewed as protective to your heart.
2. Soy protein can improve vascular health.  We reviewed all of the published studies and found that isoflavone-containing soy products dilates blood vessels and improve function of the inner lining of your blood vessels (endothelium).
3. Soy products contain powerful antioxidants (isoflavones include daidzein and genistein) and high intake is associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular death.

Bottom Line:  Substitution of soy for animal protein (~25 grams per day) is considered to be protective to your heart.  The best sources of soy protein are edamame beans, tempeh, tofu and soy milk (see soyfood protein content chart).

Dr. Michael Miller is a cardiologist and Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.  He is also a member of the American Heart Association (AHA) Nutrition Council and his latest book is “Heal Your Heart: The Positive Emotions Prescription to Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease” – 100% of book proceeds are donated to the AHA.