Clogged Arteries Question

[xmelax35]

If you eat nothing but salad and fruits and vegetables everyday (everything say a nutritionist or someone would recommend, I guess) will it keep you from getting clogged arteries?

Probably a dumb question, but I was curious. I LOVE cheese and I admit I eat quite a bit of it and lots of people keep telling me I am going to have a heart attack because of my love of cheese. I have other heart related issues (not exactly clogged arteries but I am sure I have some percentage by my age).

Thanks ahead of time.

[Red_Star]

I LOVE cheese! I ate 3/4 of a block of cheese today.  Saturated fat does not cause heart disease.  In Sweden, one third of the population is eating the LCHF (Low Carb, High Fat) diet. Look up Diet Doctor.

[xmelax35]

I haven't been on for a few days because of pain issues, but I am back today. I wanted to say I read every reply and all very interesting replies and I do appreciate it. You all had interesting information that I will definitely refer back to along my way. The salt thing, I have to keep my salt intake increased, per the last Cardiologist (I haven't been back there in awhile but my regular doctor still agrees to keep it going). I have to increase it because of my last tests I had done at the Cardiologists. I had a tilt table and autonomic (something like that - I forget the actual name of it) and another test done and all were abnormal). I have low bp and high heart rate. Although there have been times it was one extreme or another - high heart rate to very very low one.

Anyway, I like some veggies, but others not so much. I absolutely hate salad. There is nothing that I feel makes it better. I feel like I could go outside and get some grass and to me it'd taste the same (that is my hate of salad, ha ha). I am not grossly overweight, but I am slightly and even for my height (tall side). I used to have a good metabolism, but not as I got older and more health issues (brain). I have been tested for  cholesterol and actually it came out fine. I was very very surprised - more like shocked. My husband eats better than I do and his was a little high - that is very strange.   With my bad concentration, I will have to read these over again a few times, but I wanted to thank you all for the wonderful input.  

[ed34]

What's interesting is that cholesterol levels in chimps tend to be higher than humans, even given their healthy diet. However, atherosclerosis is very rare.

[erijon]

I have read some interesting studies on cholesterol. The big question has always been how much is to much or too little. When basing the answer to that question on the findings in pure hunter gatherer societies the optimum number for LDL is 50.

[skydnsr]

Beano1964 has hit on something that is critical, which is the question of what can you stick with long term.  Frankly, I agree with HesAPooka that a plant-based diet is good, at least in theory.  And I also believe the stories from peple like Beano, whose lipid values improved on a low-carb diet.  Those two types of diet are almost the opposite of each other.  It just really does seem to me that different people need different types of diets.  In the big scheme of things, a lot of what is beneficial comes down to what you can maintain longterm, regardless of how "good for you" the diet is.  What seems to be the easiest and healthiest diet for me to do longterm is a balanced diet of minimally processed foods that is based on complex carbs, whole grains, lots of fruits and vegetables, fish at least twice a week, some lean beef and chicken -- and yes, I typically eat one or two ounces of full fat cheese every day.  As I stated above, I minimize added sugar and added salt.  I lost 30 pounds in the first year of switching to that way of eating from a diet that contained a lot of fast foods and convenience foods.  I now cook almost all of my own food, and I usually take my lunch to work instead of eating out.   I've maintained the weight loss for another whole year.  It has been a huge lifestyle change, but now I feel better, and I enjoy my food more, because it tastes better.  I don't feel I'm doing anything extreme or anything that I can't maintain.  It has taken time to put all the behavioral pieces in place, but it's not necessary to change everything at once.  I preferred to make slow, gradual, permanent changes, rather than going on a crash diet that I could not maintain.

[Beano1964]

I'm 49 years old and I've been on every diet you can imagine over the past 25 years. I've been on a vegetarian diet for 6 months at one time and not only did my cholesterol not go down a bit, my triglycerides actually got higher. I've been on low carbohydrate diets off and on for the past 10 years or so; in general, low carb dieting lowers my cholesterol about 10% and cuts my triglycerides in half.  Like skydnsr said, there are a lot of conflicting studies. Most studies are done to prove a theory, and they'll juggle the data to come up with whatever result they were looking for in the first place. But going strictly by my own experience...no scientific data to cloud matters...limiting sugars is far more important in losing weight and improving blood chemistry than eliminating animal fat. I lost weight on both diets, but the main problem is the same as every other diet; they're too hard to stick to long term.

[skydnsr]

I have not seen any studies that say that trans fats are good for you, however.  Or that longterm excessive calorie intake is good for you.  There are a few things that do seem to be universally agreed upon.  But just a few.

[skydnsr]

With all due respect, there are a lot of conflicting studies.  You can almost pick what you want to believe.  And there does seem to be a lot of individual variability.  In other words, the same things do not seem to be good for all people, necessarily.

[updownleftright]

There are studies that prove removing animal products from your diet and consuming a plant based diet can improve elasticity of your arteries back to that of a teenager, and reduce inflammation in the body tremendously. Of coure this can't be done over night but after 1.5-2 years you will see massive results.

[skydnsr]

I'm with the others in not thinking that cheese-eating is a big problem.  If you want to eliminate something harmful from your diet, eliminate added sugar.  It comes in many forms.  Anything on an ingredient list that says sugar, syrup, fructose, sucrose, maltose (or any other -ose word), honey, dried cane juice, etc., etc., etc. is nothing more or less than added sugar.  All types of processed foods are chock-full of added sugar.  A 12-oz. can of soda pop has, I think, 13 teaspoons of sugar in it.  "Natural" sugar is no better than high-fructose corn syrup.

Personally, I also try to minimize added salt in my diet, because my blood pressure is very salt-sensitive.  Salt is added to even more foods than sugar is, and that's a lot.

[ed34]

and not to mention that stress affects the immune system of course.

[jrbon]

In addition to the stress as mentioned by Ed,I will add the environment toxicity that we live in. That makes our immune system to over react  and inflammation grows all over our body and arteries.

Jesus

[ed34]

Well the food you consume accounts for roughly 20-25% of the cholesterol in your blood. Our Liver does the rest and even if you fasted, this would not affect the Liver production. Personally I think that cholesterol levels have little to do with it. I spent years lowering mine and it made no difference. Just because an autopsy found fat in some coronary arteries, everyone assumed that it was the cause.
Now cheese. I too live cheese and I can't get enough of it. Neither can the French who suffer little in comparison to other countries with heart disease. I watched a documentary a year ago where ten volunteers were used. All ten were given the same diet but 5 of them had cheese added to their diet. Cholesterol levels were taken from all subjects before the trial, and during the trial their stools were examined every day for levels of fat. The results shocked everyone. The 5 with cheese showed that fats were passing through their bodies much more than those excluded from cheese. Their blood cholesterol also reduced. Further analysis revealed something else. The fat in dairy products seems to break down in the gut differently to fats in red meat etc. They form a kind of soapy material which the body cannot absorb. This seems to also turn other fats from red meat etc into the same substance. All of it was passed right through the digestive tract without absorption.
My concern over cholesterol is just how important it is for the body. We need it or we will die. Some people who lower it too much obtain memory problems and muscle pain. If you ask any cardiologist "What is the minimum requirement of cholesterol for the human body?" not one will know the answer. Yet, they keep on saying LOWER IT MORE.
I don't think it's fats, I don't think it's smoking and I certainly don't think it's lack of exercise. I looked at the health records for the fattest people in the UK, I'm talking 50 stone or more. None of them have any artery issues yet they consume tons of fat a week. My personal opinion, it's stress. Society in developed countries has developed in such a way that it creates worry. We worry about keeping our jobs. We continually worry about finances. We worry about our children. Worry worry worry, that's all our society generates. Every single year I was having stents added to my arteries, 10 in total now. I did some research on relaxation and took some classes and for the last three years I've had no more stents added. It is difficult to convince yourself at first tho that worrying about something will neither change the outcome or change the cause. Worry or not, the world still continues turning.