Don’t believe me?  Watch this video…

http://www.icyou.com/topics/health-wellness/nutrition/dangers-trans-fats-partially-hydrogenated-oils-trans-fatty-acids

Things you can do to avoid trans-fats:

1.  Shop the perimeter of the grocery store

2.  Choose foods in their whole food form

3.  Avoid fast food such as fried chicken, biscuits, french fries, and other fried foods

4.  Avoid processed foods such as crackers, most cookies, baked goods, junk food

5.  Read ingredient labels.  Even if it says there are zero grams of trans-fats you still need to check the ingredient list.  If you see the words ‘Hydrogenated oil’ or ‘Partially hydrogenated oil’ that means it does contain trans-fats.  Don’t buy it.

6.  Cook at home.  Most restaurants use cheap oils.  Steam or lightly cook your foods over medium heat with olive oil, coconut oil, or sesame oil.  Also eat plenty of raw fruits and vegetables too.

Doing this may seem hard at first since many foods contain a small amount of trans-fats.  But a little adds up to a lot!  And trans-fats stay in the body for months after you consume them, damaging your arteries and putting you at risk for heart disease and stroke.  But if you make an effort to avoid trans-fats you will be eating a lot less junk food and hopefully replacing those foods with real foods like beans, lentils, whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables.

Off you go!

Read this article by George Lundberg, MD, former Editor in Chief of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) for 17 years, and the past President of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists. He is an outspoken critic of how medicine is currently practiced. He calls for sharp curtailment of heart surgery, mammograms, PSA testing, and much more in order to save money and lives.   (www.drmcdougall.com)

Seven Ways to Reduce Unnecessary Medical Costs— George D. Lundberg, M.D.
I believe that there are still many ethical and professional American physicians and many intelligent American patients who are capable of, in an alliance of patients and physicians, doing “the right things.” Their combined clout is being underestimated in the current healthcare reform debate.
Efforts to control American medical costs date from at least 1932. With few exceptions, they have failed. Health care reform, 2009 politics-style, is again in trouble over cost control. It would be such a shame if we once again fail to cover the uninsured because of hang-ups over costs.
Physician decisions drive the majority of expenditures in the US health care system. American health care costs will never be controlled until most physicians are no longer paid fees for specific services. The lure of economic incentives to provide care that is unnecessary, unproven, or even known to be ineffective drives many physicians to make the lucrative choice. Hospitals and especially academic medical centers are also motivated to profit from many expensive procedures. Alternative payment forms used in integrated multispecialty delivery systems such as those at Geisinger, Mayo, and Kaiser Permanente are far more efficient and effective.

Fee-for-service incentives are a key reason why at least 30% of the $2.5 trillion expended annually for American health care is unnecessary. Eliminating that waste could save $750 billion annually with no harm to patient outcomes.
(more…)

Appropriate Planned Vegetarian Diets Are Healthful, May Help in Disease Prevention and Treatment, Says American Dietetic Association

FOR RELEASE JULY 1, 2009

Media contact: Jennifer Starkey
800/877-1600, ext. 4802 (more…)

High blood pressure is often caused by, or, can cause atherosclerosis, or arteriosclerosis which means the arteries have become hardened or thickened due to either fatty deposits or calcium deposits on the walls of the arteries.  If left untreated patient could have a heart attack or stroke.
Cause of heart disease: if the high blood pressure is a result of thickened arteries then the cause is diet, and it can be reversed with diet.  Arteries become thickened and hardened from eating saturated fat and cholesterol.  These are found in all animal foods, even low fat, even organic, even fish, even eggs.  A diet that contains no animal foods, and instead is full of whole plant foods (not refined or processed, and no trans fats) will reverse heart disease. (more…)