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Welcome to our next meeting December 6th 2006 at the day Hospital Berwick Infirmary from 7.00pm – 9.00pm the guest speaker is Dr Higham followed by a small Christmas buffet.
Dr Higham is Honorary President of our group and his talks are most popular with the group and are the highlight of our year. This year we hope for even wider attendance, including professionals interested in our group.
MEETING REPORT - WHAT REALLY WORKS?
Phil Harris filled-in for Sister Janet Punton who was unable at the last minute to be the speaker at our last meeting. (Wednesday 1st November).
We had great displays:
- Terry managed to find ‘Our Group’ poster presentation (a heroic achievement given his recent house move.)
- Lesley Angell lent to us her poster boards celebrating the benefits of apples (summarising and quoting many scientific studies). Unfortunately Lesley had lost her voice otherwise we could have welcomed her attendance.
- Ross at the Green Shop kindly lent Phil a whole lot of heart healthy ‘whole foods’ for display. Did you know there were that many examples of grains and peas and beans? Phil does not know anywhere else where you can find such a huge range, including the oat bran. Terry mentioned the need for ‘whole grains’ rather than the rubbed and processed ones and said that he only knew two places where whole berries of barley can be obtained: the Green Shop and the Garden Centre.
- Ann Harris (and Phil) brought along from the garden different kinds of apples, and curly kale, spinach and winter salads (sorrel, parsley, rocket, land cress) and an electric blender for ‘fruit smoothies’. We demonstrated a blend of grape juice, frozen blackberries and gooseberries, whole fresh lemon and orange (with only the bitter yellow and orange thin ‘outer’ taken off), and to boost the whole, some dried blueberries, prunes and a banana.
- Broccoli seed for sprouting. (Terry introduced us to the value of a forkful of action-packed small first-leaved broccoli).
We welcomed another two new members (thanks to the two new members from the previous month who persuaded two more from Cardiac Rehab at the Swan Centre). Welcome – it is very encouraging to see new faces.
Phil spoke about the scientific evidence for the value of a ‘heart-healthy’ diet. The need for drastic change is more urgent if we are past the point of ‘prevention’ and need ‘therapy’, He knew that Nurse Punton recommended the same drastic change for diabetics who are all at very greatly increased risk of heart and arterial disease. She sees patients able to reduce their medication. Diet and exercise are the first-line treatment for mild ‘type2’ diabetes and for the insulin-resistance that is often the first sign of the growing problem.
What really works?
We know what does not work. A glass of fruit juice before a small porridge, followed by bacon and eggs and buttered toast, does not work. A ‘vegetable’ salty meat-stock soup and ‘meat & 3 veg’ (including potato) followed by apple pie with or without cream, or followed even by a raw orange or apple, does not work. Occasional snacks, once or more a day, pastry or digestive biscuits or even oatcakes and cheese, but with a few grapes thrown in, or a milky hot chocolate (we read cocoa is good for arteries) before bed, does not work. Even if you have an apple a day instead of an extra snack to fill the empty corner, that does not work.
Fruit and vegetables are good for you. Raw fruit, even juice (if it is not a dilute sugar ‘drink’) is good for you. The range of substances found in fruit that have been tested and that show some kind of positive effect, is enormous. There are an even greater numbers of typical ingredients that have not been tested yet. Range is an important word. Take fruit at every opportunity, but if you can only eat apples, eat apples, but not just as a conscientious add-on. The same applies to the green leafy vegetables, especially the ‘crucifers’. Take salads if you can manage them and the cooked helpings as well. Do use a lot of tomato and spices and herbs, particularly turmeric and green tea, because these seem particularly beneficial. But beware over-rating the protective value of even the best broccoli or fruit or spice or tea. The Finns who eat perhaps the most berries (and these are wonderful) of any people in the world, year round, had the highest heart disease mortality. This has declined markedly recently, but only because they changed major factors, like massively reducing their previously high butter consumption (as well as stopping smoking).
The best basis that we know of is a ‘whole-food’ staple diet, which means whole grains, with some legumes (peas, beans, lentils, chickpea, some soy etc) with very generous fruit and vegetables combined daily to be our staple food. Added fat and oil is not a good idea, but some ‘extra-virgin’ olive oil, and nuts rich in monounsaturated fat, and seeds rich in Omeg-3 fat (see Wally’s article in this Newsletter) are useful for the ‘whole’ nutrition that they contain. Some fish or a high DHA/EPA capsule could be a good idea.
Phil adds for the benefit of visitors to our website that keeping a strict low calorie diet is already discussed on the website. In (good) scientific studies it has been shown that such strict routine, which allows fish and very lean meat and a lot of fat-free dairy and egg-white, as well as massive vegetables and generous fruit, and nuts, will produce startlingly low (good) risk factors for artery disease. The difficult bit is the strict very low calories (hunger). High intakes of animal derived protein without rigorously restricting calories might not be a clever longer term move, with regard to risks for cancer. (For example, unrestricted low-fat diets that used the same high amount of animal protein as the typical American diet, but changed the source of protein to mostly fat-free dairy, did not help women prevent breast cancer, in the huge “Nurses Study” in the USA). A modest reduction in calories while on a ‘whole food’ staple diet with generous fruit and vegetables and a routine of modest exercise, is a more achievable goal for most of us. Countries where this is still the norm do very much better than us for both heart disease and cancer.
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OMEGA-3
Omega-3 is said to prevent heart disease, cancer, depression and even help kids concentrate on their school work. Phil had some useful facts and figures on it and hopefully covers it elsewhere in this newsletter. The Government recommends that we each consume 450 mg. of the fishy DHA/EPA ‘long chain’ type each day. That is not a lot; less than half a gram. Normally two portions of oily fish per week would satisfy the Omega-3 quota, but some farmed fish do not get enough fish meal in their diet and are not as rich in Omega-3 as the wild ones.
Also, although we keep hearing Omega-3 mentioned and that it does us good, and that we get it from eating oily fish, if you are one of the 7 out of 10 people that does not eat oily fish, or the thought of a salmon salad, or a plate of smoked or soused mackerel makes you turn all the colours of the rainbow around the gills, where else can you get it from?
I have read of alternative sources of Omega-3 and will reproduce them below. I try to include how much of the product you would need to eat to reach the RDA = Recommended Daily Allowance. There is a snag, the Omega-3 from plants (linolenic acid) is not as effective in our bodies, as the fish type, and presumably needs to be taken in larger amounts to give the same benefit.
The benefits of Omega 3 might not be as great if we take a lot of Omega-6, which can interfere with the way the body processes Omega-3 and can reduce the benefits. Anyway any high fat diet, for example, Omega-6 in spreads or oils, or saturated fats in milk, cheese and meats, is not recommended for heart patients. We should lower our total fat intake and get most of it as monounsaturated fat (rapeseed oil, olive oil, almonds), as well as our Omega-3.
Kingsmill Head Start Omega-3 Bread
RDA requires 18 slices a day. Being a staple food you would think this an easy way to get your allowance, but 18 slices equals about 1,746 calories in bread alone. Also, this is the plant type, so it is a very dilute source indeed.
Danacol
RDA requires 2.25 bottles a day. This cholesterol lowering drink has good levels of Omega-3, but the manufactures recommend that you only have one bottle per day. Probably the plant type anyway, so you will need an alternative source to reach the RDA. Could be cheaper to go for a gel supplement?
Flora Omega-3 Plus.
Flora says that a 20g serving of its flora Omega 3 Plus spread contains 135mg offish source omega-3 and 600mg of plant source omega-3. A spokesperson for the brand said recently that the original Flora product already contained plant source omega-3, from linseed and rapeseed oil.
That could mean 13 teaspoons for the RDA allowing that not all the Omega-3 is ‘fish type’. That is still additional calories and Omega-6 although this ‘healthy’ spread is half as fattening as butter. Spread thinly on 4 slices of bread will give you about a 1/3 of your RDA, but on four of the Kingsmill bread (above) you will get 5%
This spread also contains good portions of Folic acid and vitamin D. Some healthy spreads claim no trans-fats. You should always check that. Maybe there are better and cheaper ways of getting your Omega-3?
Columbus Omega-3 Eggs
RDA requires 4 eggs. The chickens that lay these eggs are fed on a special diet of soya, cereals and oil rich seeds. Columbus, however, feeds its hens omega 3’s derived from flaxseed (linseed) and the feed does not provide the ‘long-chain’ omega-3 types. More recently Stonegate Farms under the brand name “Intelligent Eating Healthy Eggs” use chicken feed containing DHA rich tuna oil that does contain the EPA types that are best for us, as I understand it
St Ivel Advanced Semi-Skimmed milk
RDA requires seven glasses. This is Omega-3 enriched milk. If using the full fat version you would only need two glasses. Full Fat is recommended by the manufacturer for toddlers. (Phil adds; milk fat is mostly saturated fat and this should be minimised to very low levels for heart patients.)
Rapeseed Oil
RDA requires 3 tablespoons. As indicated already, our bodies are not too good at converting vegetable obtained Omega-3 into the more beneficial long chain ones our body uses, and 3 tablespoons probably would not equal the RDA.
Flax Seeds and Linseed.
RDA requires 1.25 tablespoons. These are the same seed, ‘flax is the American term.. ,. Flax seeds are the richest source of vegetarian omega-3. 10 gms or a teaspoonful contains 2.5 gram of Omega-3. Crushing the seeds, or using coffee grinder with a bit of oats to make it less sticky, before sprinkling over cereals etc. gives the best uptake.
Walnuts.
RDA requires two handfuls, but, remember again this is the ‘plant type’. Walnuts, however, seem to contain other ‘artery-friendly’ ingredients, and studies show heart patients get on better with walnuts in their diets. (See also Almonds below). Unfortunately walnuts also are very fatty (Omega 6) so watch this if you have other sources of fat in your diet anyway or if you are watching calories.
Almonds
Almonds contain Omega-3 but less than Walnuts and probably should not be considered for their ‘Omega-3’ value, but they are rich nutritionally and also have ‘heart-friendly’ ingredients, and have figured successfully in big studies of diet and blood pressure. They are lower in total fat than Walnuts, and the fat is mostly monounsaturated, which is the recommended fat type.
Cod Liver Oil
RDA requires one teaspoon. Just one teaspoon will give you your daily recommendation of long chain omega-3s. If you don’t like the taste (once tasted, never forgotten), try one of the flavoured sorts.
I can remember from 30 years ago when I was just a little kid in short trousers, we used to get this every winters night before going to bed, a teaspoon of cod liver oil and a teaspoon of some malted extract stuff. I supposed it must have worked but whilst the malt was not too bad the cold liver oil tasted horrible so now I cheat, I have just started taking it in capsule form. The only time you know you have taken it is when you burp
Fish Oil
Boots do a high strength long-chain EPA/DHA capsule that gives you the RDA. Does not have a ‘burp factor’, very often, or so Phil says.
Berry Drinks
There are some commercially produced berry drinks on the market made with grape, cranberry, raspberry or blue berry juice which have some Omega-3 content together with very beneficial antioxidants, although the fruit content can be very dilute in ‘drinks’ compared with ‘juice only’, but again Phil covered this in his talk at the last meeting and hopefully it is covered elsewhere in this issue.
Wally
Recipe of the month
Lentil soup
This soup is a meal in itself served with a fresh wholemeal roll
Ingredients
1 pint (600ml) fatless vegetable stock
1 oz (25g) lentils
4 oz (100g) turnip, peeled and chopped
4 oz (100g) carrots, chopped
2 oz (50g) parsnips, peeled and chopped
2 oz (50g) leeks, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cooking Instructions
1. Place the stock in a saucepan, add the vegetables and lentils and bring to the boil
2. Season to taste, cover and simmer gently for twenty to twenty five minutes
3. Serve with a warm wholemeal roll and low-fat spread
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