Keep the Aspirin Handy!

[Roger Bissell]

For years, I have repeatedly had the experience that a particularly fatty meal would very shortly be followed by the vivid sensation that my circulatory system had become sludgy. According to the following article posted several years ago on CompuServe, my "subjective" experience was right on the mark. So, enjoy the holidays, but eat responsibly! :-)

Best to all,

REB

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One High-Fat Meal Can Hurt Your Heart

By Cathryn Conroy, CompuServe News Editor

Once a while it's okay to indulge in a jumbo-size burger and super-size french fries, right? WRONG! Order the salad and the low-fat dressing because a new study in the April issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine concludes that just a single high-fat, fast-food meal can have an immediate impact on your heart and circulation. We've known for some time that a steady diet of high-fat food can increase your risk of heart disease. But now, researchers are going so far as to say that a single, isolated meal can have the same effect.

According to WebMD, 15 healthy men were given a liquid meal containing 1,200 calories, 100 grams of fat, 50 grams of saturated fat, and 300 milligrams of cholesterol. (A quarter pound cheeseburger has about 500 calories and just over 30 grams of fat.) Five hours after they consumed this meal, coronary flow reserve decreased by about 18 percent. What is coronary flow reserve? Arteries supply blood to the heart. When an artery becomes blocked, the blood vessels that surround it expand to try to compensate for the decreased blood flow in the artery. Coronary flow reserve is the difference between normal blood flow and this increased, compensating blood flow in the blood vessels. Within hours, the high-fat meal also raised the level of triglycerides in the men's blood. When the same men were given a meal with same number of calories but just 10 grams of fat, there were no changes in triglyceride levels.

[Michael Russell]

So much for my Butternut Squash Gratin. :sick:

[BAMF]

I'm still pigging out. You only live once.

[Chris Grieb]

Mild over indulgence. Plan a walk. Let me add I hope everyone on Objectivist Living enjoys a Happy Thanksgiving. Don't forget Thanksgiving is the only holiday given part of a chapter in Atlas. Also this date is when John Galt's speech is given.

[BAMF]

I plan on walking away from the kitchen table to play video games. Does that count? Happy Thanksgiving to you as well, Chris (and of course everybody else!).

[Chris Grieb]

Kori; Many people watch football games. You're doing something. Enjoy!

[BAMF]

Hahaha. Screw football, I'm playing Guitar Hero!

[mweiss]

I think you're right about this, because I remember when I had my second stroke in 1992, I had eaten McDonald's food in the morning, and then a friend took me out to Subway that same evening for a sandwich. Hours later, I had a stroke, and I can remember thinking about it in the days that followed, how I had had an exceptionally fatty diet that day. The combinatio of McD's and Subway is deadly.

Regrettably, my diet has shifted away from healthfoods to pleasure foods. My wife loves to cook, but sometimes it is my turn to cook, and frequently I make Fettucine Alfredo, which everyone knows is "a heart attack on a plate."

We're having a traditional turkey dinner tomorrow, with mached potatoes, corn and stringbeans, and turkey stuffing with cranberry as the sideshows to the main attraction. We'll of course have lots of leftovers and be eating a lot of turkey sandwiches for the next two weeks.

Hard to believe another holiday season is upon us already!

[Barbara Branden]

Roger, I am extremely skeptical about this report -- as I am about all reports that involve such miniscule samples. For the past few decades, one terrifying report after another has been published, all designed to make us live on a diet of grass. And then, a few years later, we are told: Oops, excuse us, the opposite is true. We were not supposed to drink coffee, on peril of instant death; now, we are encouraged to drink several cups a day. And so on and so on with dozens of other foods and drinks.

I remember that a number of years ago an article appeared in The Los Angeles Times saying that a group of scientists had concluded, as a result of extensive testing, that cottage cheese caused cancer. That's when I decided that within the bounds of sanity I would eat what I wanted to eat. This is certainly not fool-proof, but it seems that our bodies are quite good at telling us what we should and should not eat. Here are two examples from my own experience. Ice cream ranks among my top favorite foods, and I consider Haagen Dazs to be among mankind's great benefactors. I happened to mention this to my doctor one day, and he said that my love for ice cream probably meant that my system was lacking a certain fat (I no longer remember what it was, although he did name it) which ice cream supplied. And in recent years, although I once ate a fair emount of red meat, I find that I no longer have a desire for it -- which I take to mean that if my system once required it, it no longer does.

In any event, a Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. And to my hosts, bring on the yams and stuffing!

Barbara

[Roger Bissell]

Barbara, I share your irritation at all the ping-pong health announcements that are foisted on us, and I agree that a certain amount of fat is necessary in people's diets. The problem is with the amount of fat. There is plenty of data correlating high-fat diets with heart disease. All this particular study showed is that high-fat intake has an immediate effect on arterial flow. A mega-cheeseburger with fries won't cause a heart attack in the vast majority of cases; one would have to be on the verge of a heart attack already for it to do so. In my case, it's highly unlikely, since my arteries are clean as a whistle, and my cholesterol ratio is excellent.

In general, I applaud the sentiment of "live, drink, and be merry," as you say, "within the bounds of sanity." I plan to have plenty of good, tasty food tomorrow. (I've actually started a day early with some of Becky's good homemade banana bread. Yum!) But I have several strategies for avoiding the worst over-eating pitfalls, and for minimizing my weight gain.

1. I'm doing vigorous aerobics (mostly walking, heh-heh) for 30-60 minutes a day. That will rev up my metabolism, so that it will burn off the extra calories more readily.

2. I'm going to use a salad plate (rather than a dinner plate), and I'm only going to put two items on my plate at a time. I'll allow myself to refill the plate as many times as I want, but I'll have less on my plate to feel that I have to finish (in order not to be wasteful). Most likely, I'll quit eating sooner. But if not, then at least I'll have the extra exercise of passing the food around another 2-3 times. :-)

3. I'm going to have a light breakfast and lunch, rather than starving myself to "make room" for the feast we'll be having tomorrow evening. That way I won't be famished, and I'll be less likely to overeat.

If that doesn't work, I have a drawerful of larger slacks and jeans to fall back on. <g>

[BAMF]

Break out the stretchy pants, Roger.

I also share Barbara's irritation with all the food warnings. Once, on a preview for the news, they said, "Are apples bad for you? Find out at 10." Uhh...yeah.

[Brant Gaede]

STOP EATING!!!!

--Brant

Edited November 23, 2006 by Kat

[mweiss]

Aout 20 some odd years ago, I think it was in an issue of Prevention magazine that I saw a comic strip which portreyed two doctors having a discussion. One doctor said to the other, "There's no doubt about it.... LIVING causes cancer."

So if we all die, we won't get cancer, right? Sounds preposterous. I'll go back to eating my egg pie and Danish butter cookies now...

[Jehni125]

If eating fatty foods makes you feel that sick than it might be a good idea to stop eating them!

I always feel more satisfied with a salad than with a burger!

Your body knows what it needs... Do what it tells you to!