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Berwick Area Heart Support Group March 2007 newsletter
Next meeting March 7th at the day Hospital, Berwick Infirmary from 7.00pm – 9.00pm Guest speaker: (This talk is RESCHEDULED from February)
Dr Mike Lavender is Director of Public Health with the NHS Northumberland Care Trust, and is based at Morpeth. One of his big interests is smoking cessation. That is, he wants to persuade all of us, collectively and individually, to stop smoking for our own health and for the sake of others. You can learn at his talk just how important that is for heart disease and other arterial problems. Health promotion generally and an overall reduction in risks to health must be of interest when we know that the vast majority of our serious illness and disability in middle age could be prevented, if we started early enough. Prospects for a disability-free old age could be much improved as well! Interestingly, also, occurrence of different health problems varies very considerably across both the County and the Borough. Mike Lavender gave a well-attended talk to our Group a while ago and it is great to welcome him back. The Group welcomes anybody interested in health promotion who wants to attend.
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February Meeting Report
Due to the severe weather conditions on the morning of the last meeting, and the forecast for the remainder of that day ( February 7th) Dr Lavender and ourselves thought it would be best to reschedule his talk for this month March 7th.
In place of Dr Lavender’s talk we had a quiz and a discussion on Fibre, rather than do a report I have made up a small Fact Sheet on fibre.
Terry
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What is fibre?
Fibre in food is the part you cannot digest. It will pass through; modified perhaps by the bacteria in your gut. Fibre comes exclusively from plants and is made up of a number of complex carbohydrates. There are broadly two types of fibre: soluble and insoluble; those that can dissolve in water and those that cannot. There are few calories, vitamins or minerals available in the fibre fraction itself, but when fibre is obtained with the natural ‘whole food’, it will typically bring with it a lot of important vitamins, minerals or other protective ingredients. Green leaved vegetables for example, particularly kale, are high in Vitamin K that protects both our heart and bones.
Soluble fibre - includes for example fruit pectin, and gums and mucilages, such as those from linseed. Good sources of soluble fibre include generally all fruits, vegetables, seeds and grains (if they have not had the outer layers taken off), and especially the bran fraction of oats and barley. Linseed otherwise known as flaxseed, and all the ‘legumes’, such as beans, lentils, peas are good sources and there are several different kinds of chickpeas that are enjoyed by many when used in Indian and Greek cuisine as Dahl or Hummus. Similarly, ‘whole’ Soy products will have soluble fibre although the concentration in the ‘milks’ is quite low. Soluble fibre can help to lower blood cholesterol levels, and as a bonus helps with constipation.
Insoluble fibre – All the ‘whole food’ sources of soluble fibre also contain an additional insoluble fraction. This fraction includes the celluloses, hemicelluloses and lignin, which make up the structural parts of plant cell walls. Good sources are, for example all food grains if they come with their outer layers, especially the bran of wheat, sweet corn or rice, the skins of fruits vegetables, nuts, seeds, and of course, again, the legumes. Beans are a plentiful source. Insoluble fibre adds bulk to faeces and helps prevent constipation and associated problems such as haemorrhoids. It is worth noting that although rice bran, like oat and barley bran seems to bring extra useful properties, wheat bran on its own is mostly a ‘bulking factor’ and brings no special advantage for your heart, especially if it comes in a box with a large dose of salt and sugar.
What does fibre do?
Fibre is very useful for healthy bowel function and general health. When fibre passes through the bowel it absorbs a lot of water, so it increases the bulk of the waste matter. This also makes the waste softer and increases the speed and ease with which it passes through the bowel. The digestive system is lined with muscles that massage food along the tract from the moment a mouthful is swallowed until the eventual waste is passed out of the bowel (a process called peristalsis). The two types of fibre both help to speed up the process. On the other hand, because sugar or easily digested starch is less concentrated in ‘high fibre’ foods then we are less likely get a ‘sugar rush’ after our meal. Compare for instance eating an apple and drinking apple juice.
Dietary fibre is needed to keep the digestive system healthy but it also contributes apparently in several ways to other processes, such as helping control blood glucose sugar levels. ‘High fibre’ ‘whole food’ diets are now standard recommendations for people suffering pre-diabetic conditions. This change in food seems to do more than control the sugar absorption, and can reduce for instance muscle ‘insulin resistance’ that leads to full diabetes. Similar food recommendations are made these days in order to encourage better control of cholesterol and blood fat levels. In countries with traditionally high fibre diets, who eat perhaps five times as much fruit and vegetables and use for instance ‘unpolished’ rice and ‘Dahl’ as mainstays for their food, diseases such as bowel cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, diabetes and coronary heart disease are very much less common than in “the West”.
Why is fibre important for weight loss?
A change to whole food’ is not the only way to lose weight, but the feeling of fullness which fibre produces can help people who are trying to lose weight to control their appetite. Many overweight people experience several months of relatively ‘effortless’ weight loss if they make a major change to a regime of ‘high fibre’ with lots of fruit and non-starchy vegetables. They are also recommended to take more exercise at the same time. Weight loss achieved in this way can lower blood pressure, lead to better sugar control, and reduce general levels of inflammation in arteries and joints.
Risk factors for development of heart disease include blood cholesterol, triglycerides and diabetes
Whole foods and also the bran fraction of oats and barley are helpful in lowering blood cholesterol. Higher blood cholesterol levels are associated with the build up over decades, sometimes from teenage years, of changes in the artery linings. These changes begin as “fatty streaks” and gradually go on to become inflamed and permanent plaques or ‘lesions’ in the walls of arteries. Any inflamed lesion can become very dangerous because if it leaks or discharges into the artery it is very likely to cause a clot. A sudden clot blockage is particularly dangerous (we know it as ‘heart attack’) but the gradual narrowing of the artery caused by the swelling, can itself lead to intermittent interruptions in blood flow and give rise to the disabling symptoms of ‘angina’.
It is thought that soluble fibre lowers blood cholesterol by helping us excrete it. (Bile acids are made from blood cholesterol and these acids help digest dietary fats). Bile will bind to soluble fibre and then be excreted with the fibre. It is not clear whether fibre fractions of cereals are more protective against coronary heart disease than the fibre from fruit and vegetables, so it is better to enjoy both, and the other protective ingredients that come with the natural ‘whole foods’.
How much fibre should we eat?
In the UK most people eat far too little fibre, on average about 12 grams a day or less. Ideally, adults should aim for an intake of more than 18 grams a day.. Eating a lot more fruit and bulky vegetables and grains etc. however, does have consequences. You not only will need to adapt your tastes and cooking, you will notice other effects!
A word of caution is relevant. If you would like to increase your fibre intake from a relatively low level, it is best to do it gradually. This is because a sudden increase may produce wind, bloating and stomach cramps - and changes in frequency of bowel movements. Learn to cook beans properly! A gradual increase will allow you to adapt to problems.
Post script: you should drink enough fluid
A high fibre diet may not prevent or cure constipation unless you drink enough water every day. A high fibre breakfast could contain around 10g of fibre per serving and if these cereals are not accompanied by enough fluid there is a possibility of constipation.
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Wally’s Yarn
A Bit Of Tommy Cooper
Two blondes walk into a building..........you'd think at least one of them would have seen it
I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day but I couldn't find any.
I went to the butchers the other day and I bet him 50 quid that he couldn't reach the meat off the top shelf. He said, "No, the steaks are too high."
A man came round in hospital after a serious accident. He shouted, Doctor, doctor, I can't feel my legs!" The doctor replied, "I know you can't, I've cut your arms off".
Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly. They lit a fire in the craft, it sank, proving once and for all that you can't have your kayak and heat it.
Our ice cream man was found lying on the floor of his van covered with hundreds and thousands. Police say that he topped himself.
Man goes to the doctor, with a strawberry growing out of his head. Doc says "I'll give you some cream to put on it."
'Doc I can't stop singing The Green, Green Grass of Home'. "That sounds like Tom Jones syndrome. ' Is it common? ' "It's not unusual."
A man takes his Rotteweiller to the vet. "My dog's cross-eyed, is there anything you can do for him?" "Well," says the vet, "let's have a look at him" So he picks the dog up and examines his eyes, then checks his teeth. Finally, he says, "I'm going to have to put him down." "What? Because he's cross-eyed?
""No, because he's really heavy"
Two elephants walk off a cliff...boom, boom!
What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fsh.
Apparently, 1 in 5 people in the world are Chinese. There are 5 people in my family, so it must be one of them. It's either my mum or my Dad, or my older Brother Colin, or my younger Brother Ho-Cha-Chu? But I think its Colin.
Police arrested two kids yesterday, one was drinking battery acid, and the other was eating fireworks. They charged one and let the other one off.
"You know, somebody actually complimented me on my driving today. They left a little note on the windscreen. It said, 'Parking Fine.' So that was nice."
A man walked into the doctors, he said, "I've hurt my arm in several places"
The doctor said, "Well don't go there anymore
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Recipe of the Month
Microwave Cinnamon, Apple & Raisin Porridge
serves 2
Ingredients:
1 cup porridge oats
1 cup milk
1 cup water (For more intense flavour, use apple juice in place of the water)
1/3 cup raisins
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 apple -- peeled and diced (small pieces)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Method
Combine all ingredients in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 4 minutes, stirring at the end of every minute, or until thick and creamy Allow oatmeal to set in microwave for one minute then sprinkle with cinnamon before serving.
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