|
Berwick area Heart Support Group
September 2004 Newsletter
NEXT MEETING September 1st At theDAY HOSPITAL BERWICK INFIRMARY From 7.00pm – 9.00pm Guest Speaker Dr Chris. Plummer Cardiologist at Wansbeck General Hospital will give a talk on Pacemakers and related devices. Where are we in 2004?
From their invention in the 1960s, pacemakers have come a long way in treating heart rhythm disturbances and are now being used to treat some forms of heart failure. A development of the pacemaker, the implantable cardioverter defibrillator, invented in 1980, is now being used not only to control slow heart rates but also treat dangerously fast heart rhythms. I will show how these devices work and how we can use them to improve quality and increase quantity of life in our patients.If you’re reading this newsletter and you think you would be interested in this particular subject, please come along, you’ll be made very welcome.
Allerdean Country Fair
Andy and Phil attended a presentation evening at The Plough Inn, Allerdean where they were presented with a cheque for £50 towards the costs of the monthly newsletter.
**
Wally and myself have attended a six week course on ‘Self-management of Long–term Health Conditions, I think the most rewarding thing about the course was the fact that our own group has covered more than 75% of the subject matter we discussed. More on this next month.
Process Mapping Event Cardiac Rehabilitation across Northumbria Healthcare Trust and the North Locality of Northumberland
Phil and Terry attended a meeting at Lee Moor Alnwick on 19th July. 2004. There were representatives from all interested parties. The aim of the meeting was to follow the path of a cardiac patient from arriving in A&E through their time in hospital, recuperation time, cardiac rehab ect. And highlight all the problems areas in the system, And then find solutions to the problems
Terry
**
Last month we didn’t have a speaker, we joined up with the ‘Walking for Health’ group, and 35 of us went for a walk. There were two groups, one group did a shorter walk with Lesley and Bea, I don’t know exactly where they went, but the longer walk went down Marygate, into Woolmarket and up onto the Walls by the Lion House. We then did part of the Walls, coming off at the Nessgate, and then to the end of the pier. Retracing our steps we then went up across the Fields past the Golf Course, and back to the Hospital.There we had a seat, and a cup of tea and some light refreshments. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves, it makes a nice change to get out, and the weather was kind to us.
Thanks to, Kathy, Irene and Ann for the refreshments, also Lesley, Bea, Tom and Arthur, the walk leaders.
Whilst still thinking refreshments, if you tried the quiche, and thought that it was tasty but different, here is the recipe. Its Kathy’s, I take no credit for it, but I have halved the ingredients otherwise you will be feeding the 5,000.
1 ptk. Precooked rice. (flavoured if preferred)
Mixed vegetables
250 grm Cottage Cheese
3 eggs.
Method.
Partially cook mixed veg. Empty rice into ovenproof dish and spread across base, not too thick. Add mix veg. Mix cottage cheese and eggs together, and pour mixture over vegetables. Bake at about 180 degrees until firm to touch and a nice golden colour as all the good books say.
This is the basic recipe; there are all sorts of variations. I’m sure you will have your own favourite fillings; the good bit about this one is nopastry .So if you watch what you do put in, it could be a healthy meal.
Some other things I’ve read in the papers over the last few weeks. These are not must do’s, they are just for interest, and are suggestions for lowering blood pressure. Potassium seems to be mentioned a lot, it lowers the blood pressure because it helps the body get rid of the sodium.(Salt)
Bananas
Eat more potassium-rich fruit and veg. Bananas, potatoes; celery and wholegrain cereals are all good sources. The article I read suggested two bananas a day would make an impact, and that the riper fruits were better than the not so ripe ones.
Tomato Juice
By drinking just one glass of tomato juice for breakfast each morning you can lower blood pressure, but make sure it’s the low salt version.
Tomato juice contains gamma-amino-butyric acid, a deficiency of which can lead to hypertension (high blood pressure).
Mediterranean Style Meals
Studies have shown that Garlic can reduce blood pressure. Meals such as Spaghetti Bolognaise contain a combination of blood pressure-busting ingredients, such as tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. Black pepper, oregano and basil all used in Italian cooking, are good too.
Not to forget the Spanish, who, as a nation, have the lowest death rates in the world from cardiovascular disease. Scientists suspect meals like paella are responsible. It is made with Saffron, which contains crocetin, which is another chemical which lowers blood pressure. Paella is also made with red peppers, full of potassium and useful antioxidants, and paella rice is full of fibre.
Milk
People who drink Low-fat, or skimmed milk, and who eat low-fat dairy products, are less likely to get high blood pressure. Calcium is one factor, but milk contains potassium and magnesium, which also helps.
Fish
The old favourite, oily fish. Mackerel, salmon,sardines etc. Omega-3 oils have been shown to lower blood pressure. But to minimise the risk of contaminants, women should eat no more than two portions per week, men and boys, four.
Click to return to index
Salt
THIS IS WHERE WE CHANGE; WE HAVE TO EAT LESS OF THIS.
Eating less salt is the single most important thing we can do. Apparently we eat about 50 times more than our ancestors, and it causes the body to retain fluid, increasing our blood pressure. On average we eat 9.5 grm. of salt a day (That’s two teaspoons). When you consider we should eat no more than 6 grm. even down to 3 grm. if you already have high blood pressure, or heart problems..
As much as 80% of our intake comes from prepacked food such as tinned soups, savoury snacks and ready meals. Read the labels, if it gives a sodium level instead of salt, you have to multiply the figure given by 2.5. So a sodium level shown as 0.6 grm. becomes 1.5grm. of salt, for some of us that’s half our daily allowance. No wonder the manufacturers use sodium levels instead of salt….
But not all high salt foods taste salty. One of the biggest sources of salt in our diet is bread. I’ve had look at the most popular sliced loaves in the supermarket, most of them average 0.5grms. of salt per slice. So again, all I can suggest is, read the labels.
Click to return to index
Wally’s Yarns
Change of subject now.
My grandson Jack, who’s 8, has grown up, believing that you have to have grey hair to be old enough to drink beer. This is because it was the first thing I thought of when he wanted to try my beer when he was a toddler, and was not hard for him to believe as all the adults in our family have one or two grey ones, and I’ve got enough for all of us.
We were both at the hairdressers a couple of weeks ago, and as it was hot I asked for my hair to be cut a little shorter than usual. Mr Burgeon did cut a little deeper and in doing so found a patch of darker hair on the back of my head. Jack who was sitting, waiting, notice this patch of darker hair, and informed me, and all the shop that I would soon have to stop drinking beer, as I was losing my grey hair, it was turning black. The age of innocence, long may it continue.
A teenage lad was revising for his exams and was trying to do his homework. He asked his Dad for some help as he was having difficulty starting a crossword which contained many of the words he needed to know. His Dad helped him with the first word and then suggested he went to his room to finish it. Half an hour later he went back to his Dad and said that he had finished, but needed a hand with the last word. He Dad said, “If it’s the last word you need you better go and see your mother, she always gets the last word in this house”.
Later he asked his Dad, “What is the difference between theory and reality?”
His Dad thought about it and said, “Go and ask your sister if she would sleep with the window cleaner for one million pounds”
When he got back the lad said, “Yes Dad, my sister said she would sleep with the window cleaner for one million pounds”
“Right then, go and ask your Mother if she would sleep with the coalman for one million pounds”
Again when the lad got back he said, “Mother said, yes, she would sleep with the coalman for one million pounds”
His Dad said, “There’s your answer son, in theory, you and I are living with two millionaires, but in reality, we are living with two women with loose morals.”
Click for Wally’s Yarns
Wally Selby.
*****
Recipe of the month
Prawn and Rice Salad
225g cooked peeled prawns, fresh or frozen
90g cooked long grained rice, chilled
1 x 225g tin pineapple pieces, in natural juice, drained
½ cucumber, diced
25g mixed nuts, roughly chopped (optitional)
1 x 15ml (1 tablespoon) Low fat mayonnaise
a few whole prawns to garnish
method
1 In a large bowl, mix together the prawns, rice, pineapple, cucumber and nuts.
2 Stir in the dressing.
3 Garnish with prawns and serve with crusty wholemeal bread and salad
click for recipes
Healthy Eating
Are all calories alike?
Not all calories are the same, a calorie from fat is not the same as a calorie from protein or carbohydrate, either in the number of calories it contains or in the way it is metabolised in the body.
Fat has over twice as many calories as either protein or carbohydrates. (Fat has nine calories per gram, whereas protein and carbohydrate have only four calories per gram.).
Your body easily converts dietary fat calories into body fat. One hundred fat calories can be stored as body fat by expending only 2.5 calories, whereas your body has to spend 23 calories, almost 10 times as much to convert one hundred calories of dietary protein or carbohydrates into body fat. Only about 1% of dietary protein or carbohydrates end up as body fat because your body would rather use them up right away than waste energy to store them. So by keeping fat consumption low, not only do you tend to consume fewer calories, but also those calories are less likely to be converted into body fat.
Dairy products, which contain no fibre or complex carbohydrates at all, are about as high in fat as they come:. However, whole milk contains a large percentage of fat, skimmed or semi-skimmed milk is a more healthy option. Skimmed milk also contains more calcium than full-fat milk, because the mineral is found in the watery part of the milk and so is effectively concentrated by the skimming process.
Full cream milk is 3.3% fat by total weight, which doesn’t sound bad, but 50% of the calories in full cream milk are derived from fat 38% of the calories in semi skimmed milk come from fat, skimmed milk derives 10% of it’s calories from fat
The average daily consumption of fat in the U.K. is 102g for men = to 918 calories and 74g for women = to 686 calories which is approx. 37% of the recommended daily calories, your body only needs less than 20% calories as fat to provide the essential fatty acids
Carbohydrates provide the most easily accessible energy source for your body. The other main sources of energy are protein and fats.
Complex carbohydrates are low in calories, high in fibre, and are bulky, so they fill you up. Besides filling you up, they biochemically signal your brain that you have had enough to eat, whereas fat doesn’t.
Simple carbohydrates,do not fill you up. They have no fibre and are not at all bulky. When sugar is refined the fibre is removed and the warning signals that tell your brain you’ve had enough to eat are also removed, because of this, it becomes very easy to consume virtually unlimited amounts of it and thus a large number of calories without feeling full.
The sugar in complex carbohydrates is unrefined and absorbed into your blood stream slowly, so your blood sugar levels and energy levels remain more constant, in contrast, simple carbohydrates, means simple sugars are absorbed quickly, your blood sugar rises fast, in response your pancreas pumps out more insulin to lower your sugar level, so it then quickly falls, often lower than it was to start with, when this happens you feel tired and hungry, your body says “Hey, I need something to eat so I can raise my blood sugar back to normal” and when your body produces more insulin, you are more likely to convert dietary calories into body fat
Besides regulating your blood sugar level, insulin plays an important role in fat metabolism. Because insulin increases the secretion of lipoprotein lipase, (an enzyme that increases the uptake of fat from your bloodstream into fat in your body’s cells) when your body produces more insulin, you are more likely to convert dietary calories into body fat.
The daily recommendation of protein for adults (over the age of 19) is 55 g protein per day. But it’s the balance of foods we eat over a few days that’s important, rather than what we eat every day. So if you don’t manage to eat much protein on one day, you should aim to eat a bit more over the next few days. This is because the body contains a small reserve of protein so it can cope with day-to-day variations. However, eating large amounts of protein is bad for the kidneys, so it’s important not to eat too much protein, and it’s especially important to keep within twice the recommended amount.
Also, if you eat far more protein than you need, you will be taking in excess calories, and this means you will put on weight
Protein is formed from building blocks called amino acids. There are approximately 22 different kinds of amino acids that combine to form literally billions of varieties of proteins. Your body can make 13 of these amino acids. The other nine are called “essential amino acids,” since they must be supplied in the diet. Of these, only three lysine, tryptophan, and methionine are critical, since the others are plentiful in most foods.
The amino acids that come from plant foods are exactly the same as the amino acids that come from animal foods. When you eat protein from, whether from a steak or from a meal of rice and beans, that protein is digested into the individual amino acid building blocks. Your body then takes these amino acids and converts them into whatever proteins you need. Unlike animal products, though, no single plant source contains all of the essential amino acids. Fortunately, though, plant based foods contain the three critical amino acids in different proportions, so by eating a variety of foods, you will obtain all the necessary amino acids.
Recommended daily calorie intake varies from person to person, UK Department of Health Estimated Average Requirements (EAR) are a daily calorie intake of 1940 calories per day for women and 2550 for men. Since most adults in the UK lead a sedentary lifestyle, these figures apply to adults with low activity levels
The type of calories you eat is more important than the amount of calories. On average we consume fewer calories than our ancestors did one hundred years ago. Yet even though we eat less than our ancestors, we weigh more.The difference today is where the calories come from. In 1910, 60% of our calories came from carbohydrates and about 20% from fat, by 1999 about 40% of our calories come from carbohydrates, and about 40% come from fat, almost double.
Alcohol suppresses your body’s ability to burn fat. When you drink alcohol, your body burns fat much more slowly than usual. In one study, for example, researchers found that three ounces of alcohol reduced the body’s ability to burn fat by about one-third. The unburned fat may go to your waist, creating a beer belly. So it is not just the calories and the fact that alcohol is converted into simple sugars that make it fattening, but also the way that alcohol throws off your body’s normal disposal of fat in your diet
Pre-packaged foods usually contain a lot of extra salt, sugar and fat. Companies say that's what the British taste demands - but is it because that's what we get? If you only eat the odd packaged meal when you're short of time, then you're OK. If you live on packaged food then your salt, sugar and fat intake will be unhealthily high. Have a look at the nutritional information on the packaging and choose ones with less fat, sodium (salt), and sugar.
Four tastes are inherent to our tongue: sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Even so, these tastes can be modified. For example, you may have had the experience of reducing your salt consumption (after all the adverse press salt has received in the last week or so ) When you first reduce the salt in your diet, the food may taste to bland, but after about two weeks, your palate has readjusted. The taste for fat is an acquired one, so it is even easier to modify than one of the inherent tastes like salt.
A new system for classifying carbohydrates calls into question many of the old assumptions about how carbohydrates affect health. This new system, known as the glycemic index, measures how fast and how far blood sugar rises after you eat a food that contains carbohydrates. The new system (glycemic index) does not change the calories in carbohydrates, in the article I still refer to them as complex and simple carbohydrates, and probably the simplest way to remember the new system is complex carbs are Low in sugar Low-glycemic simple carbs are High in sugar High-glycemic
Click to return to index
From the newspapers
Diet Boost for Heart Patients
This was in the newspapers a month or so ago, and I though it was relevant to the above.
Doctors are hailing a ‘slow burn ‘ diet that helps heart patients recover faster from bypass surgery. A study has shown those patients who ate ‘ heart healthy’ foods for four weeks before their operation left hospital two days earlier than those eating normally.
The study showed that simple changes to everyday meals could help patients cope better with surgery, and the ‘heart health diet’ rapidly improved levels of cholesterol and other components in the blood.
The London Imperial School of Medicine compared the progress of 35 patients awaiting a bypass. For four weeks before hand half were asked to eat a diet containing foods with a low Glycaemic Index (GI ). The body breaks down these foods more slowly into glucose, resulting in a slower rise in blood sugar levels. Low GI foods pasta, muesli, brown rice, whole fruit, beans, pulse vegetables
The remaining patients ate their usual diets; including high Gi foods These release large amounts of glucose quickly, causing a rapid rise in blood sugars.
When I was researching for this article it made me ask myself “how much fat am I actually eating?” so I’ve been looking at nutritional information on packaging. And working out my fat intake. You get a shock when you find out how much fat you eat daily. Try it.
Terry
|
