Entries by Chet Zelasko

The Link Between Fat Intake and Heart Disease

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The second batch of headlines I referred to Tuesday related to an article published in the journal Open Heart (1). The study was a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials done before the dietary guidelines on fat were put in place in 1977. The studies analyzed showed no reduction of heart disease when subjects were placed on a low-fat diet; therefore the current study’s authors concluded that the original low-fat recommendations in the 1970s had no scientific basis.

Sorry, but we didn’t need randomized controlled trials in this case—and here’s why.

In the late . . .

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Eggs Are Okay!

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Actually they were always okay, but I’m ahead of myself. As American Heart Month continues, we’ve seen more headlines regarding dietary fat and cholesterol in the past couple of weeks, and I’ll cover them in the next two messages. Let’s start with eggs.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans are issued every five years. The Advisory Committee of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said we no longer have to be concerned about limiting dietary cholesterol to the amount in about one egg per day, a recommendation that’s been . . .

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The Mediterranean Diet and Stroke Risk

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As American Heart Month continues, let’s take a look at a recently published study on the Mediterranean diet and stroke (1); this study fits in nicely with Go Red campaign as well because it contained over 130,000 women educators who are part of the California Teachers Study. The study has followed these women since 1995, and over 300 articles have been published from data collected in this study.

Before I get into the nuts and bolts of the study, I want to make sure you understand what a stroke is: an interruption in blood flow to the area . . .

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What Is the Mediterranean Diet?

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One of the studies published this month examined the benefits of following the Mediterranean diet and its effect on the risk of ischemic stroke. Before I talk about the study, let me review some basic information on the Mediterranean diet.

The diet is so named because it’s the typical dietary pattern of people who live in and around the Mediterranean Sea including Italy, Greece, and Spain. People in those areas who follow the traditional diet have lower rates of heart disease. Here are the characteristics of the Mediterranean diet:

  • Primarily plant-based foods, such as fruits and . . .

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It’s American Heart Month

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February is American Heart Month as well as the big month for the Go Red for Women campaign. Both are efforts to call attention to the biggest killer of men and women: cardiovascular disease. The messages for the rest of this month will focus on preventing heart disease. I’ll review some recent research on heart disease that made headlines—some interesting, some misleading. I’ll also talk about a program I recently discovered that allows you to track your heart metrics to keep on . . .

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Problems with DNA Barcodes in Plants

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The question is simple: is DNA barcoding useful in assessing whether dietary supplements contain the herbs they say they contain? If we were looking at the raw leaves or seeds or flowers of the herb, yes. But that’s not what happened: scientists tested bottles of herbal preparations pulled right off the shelves. In my opinion, as well as experts in the field, looking for the DNA won’t work.

The way we use herbal products today is very different from the way herbals were used earlier in our history. We don’t use raw plants or poultices the way . . .

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DNA Barcoding in Plants

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I like to know how things work, and researching DNA barcoding in plants opened up a whole new world I was only partly familiar with. DNA barcoding is a method that examines regions on DNA to categorize animals, insects, plants, and just about everything else on this planet that has DNA.

I first learned about using DNA to identify organisms when I wrote the section on the microbiome in Real-Life Detox. Using specific regions of the DNA strand, scientists were able to identify more than 5 . . .

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Herbal Supplements Under Fire

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The health news headlines were all abuzz last week. The New York State Attorney General sent out cease and desist notices to four of the largest retailers in the country relating to the sale of several herbal products because based on testing hired by the NYS Attorney General’s Office, the herbal products did not contain much, if any, of the herbs on the label. Further, they contained some other substances that were not on the label such as rice and other plants.

You can imagine the result. Those opposed to herbal products yelled and screamed, “I told you so . . .

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Avocados: Nutrition Powerhouse

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Let’s finish up our look at avocados. I covered most of the micronutrients on Thursday but there’s one more group to go: the phytonutrients.

The avocado contains three classes of phytonutrients. The first ones are called phytosterols, plant-derived compounds similar in structure and function to cholesterol. Research shows that phytosterols may help prevent the absorption of animal cholesterol, and that can benefit our overall heart health.

Avocados are also high in carotenoid antioxidants such as lutein and beta-carotene. We tend to think about carotenoids in bright orange or red vegetables such as carrots or tomatoes. Those . . .

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Nutrients in Avocados

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Now that everyone who watched the Super Bowl has seen the ads for the avocado, let’s take a look at the nutrition profile of avocados without the pit and skin.

The first thing that jumps out is the fat content: 21 grams of fat in the average-size avocado. A close look shows only 3 grams are saturated fat; the bulk of the fat, 13 grams, is monounsaturated fat, the same healthy fat that’s found in olive oil. And even before you ask “Is avocado oil a good fat to use in salads and cooking?” the answer is . . .

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