Participants: Don Mackintosh, Tim Arnott
Series Code: HFAL
Program Code: HFAL000086
00:47 Hello and welcome to "Health for a Lifetime"
00:49 Today, we're with Dr. Tim Arnott 00:52 He is a physician at the Lifestyle Center in Oklahoma 00:56 Welcome doctor! Thank you, it's good to be here 00:58 We're going to be talking today about heart disease, 01:00 and so if you have someone in your family 01:02 that has heart disease, or if you would like the information 01:06 yourself, get a pen or a pencil, take a few notes... 01:09 You're going to find that this is a fascinating program 01:12 as we talk more specifically about CHOLESTEROL! 01:15 Doctor, what exactly is cholesterol? 01:17 How does the body produce it or DOES the body produce it? 01:21 What is it? Cholesterol is a type of fat. 01:25 It's a waxy substance and it's very, very important to the body 01:30 In fact, every cell of the body has cholesterol in it. 01:33 And what the cholesterol actually does is it 01:36 sits in the cell wall... 01:38 In other words, the covering of the cell 01:40 is where the cholesterol is found. 01:42 And it stabilizes that cell wall, gives it STABILITY. 01:46 Otherwise, we'd be much more "fluid" individuals; 01:50 so it gives us some stability. 01:51 So it's a GOOD thing, I mean, so often we hear about 01:54 cholesterol and it sounds like it's just a BAD thing, 01:56 but we really NEED it! 01:58 You know, if it wasn't for cholesterol, 01:59 none of us would be here. 02:01 Because cholesterol is actually what is used... 02:05 The raw material for something called "progesterone" 02:09 Progesterone is that very important chemical 02:13 that keeps the pregnancy developing. 02:16 And so if it wasn't for cholesterol, 02:18 we couldn't produce children. 02:21 Now, you are a specialist in family practice, 02:23 and you've done work in lifestyle medicine as well 02:25 at the Lifestyle Center in America there, 02:27 what, doctor, is a good cholesterol level and why? 02:32 Well that's a very important question... 02:35 And as we look at that question, 02:37 I'd like to take our listeners out to Massachusetts. 02:41 There's a little town outside of Boston called "Framingham" 02:45 and our government has been studying this very question of 02:50 "Why people die of heart disease" for over 50 years 02:54 in Framingham, Massachusetts, and they've learned some 02:57 very exciting things. 02:59 There are a group of people in this country, 03:02 less than 1% of us, but there's a special group, 03:07 and that group, in over 40 years developed NO heart attacks; 03:13 NO heart disease in over 40 years! 03:16 These are individuals with a total cholesterol LESS than 150. 03:23 Now, what's important about that is that many of our 03:27 listeners have probably been to the physician's office, 03:30 and they've had their cholesterol tested... 03:32 And when you look at the sheet where the cholesterol 03:37 is actually reported... 03:38 Over on the right-hand side, you will see a normal range... 03:43 Normal and then what you have... EXACTLY 03:46 And typically, most labs will tell you that if your 03:50 total cholesterol is less than 200, you're okay. 03:55 Yeah, that's right... 240 or less or something like that, 03:57 they say, "You're just fine" 03:58 You're just fine, that's right. 04:00 So a LOT of people are walking into the physician's office 04:03 and they're being told you're okay. 04:06 But you're saying, it has to be below 150 04:09 to really prevent or avoid heart attacks. 04:12 Well what we saw at Framingham, in over 40 years, 04:15 is no one developed heart attacks if their 04:18 total cholesterol was less than 150. 04:21 So, that becomes the new goal standard. 04:25 And what people don't understand is that if your 04:28 total cholesterol is between 150 and 200, 04:33 individuals with cholesterols in that range 150-200 04:38 have 35% of ALL the heart attacks in this country. 04:43 Is that right? Between 150 and 200. 04:46 Now if they got their lab report back, 04:49 and they looked at it, it would be in the normal range. 04:51 Say a cholesterol of 180 or 190, 04:54 it would be in the normal range, 04:55 but yet those individuals have heart attacks. 04:57 So, you're saying we need to be ABNORMAL. 05:00 We need to be abnormal. 05:02 We need to shift the normal range down about 50 points. 05:06 So how can we do that? 05:07 Well, that's a very interesting question, 05:10 and I think what we are learning is, 05:14 ...if I may take us back to a study in the 05:16 "British Journal of Medicine" 05:19 What they found in that study as they were looking 05:20 at different populations of people, 05:22 is the AVERAGE cholesterol in different groups. 05:27 And what they found was something very interesting. 05:29 Individuals who were eating an average American diet, 05:34 had a total cholesterol about 190 or 200 05:39 Individuals who were eating a vegetarian diet, 05:43 but using some dairy products, 05:45 had a total cholesterol of about 180. 05:48 And individuals who were using a TOTAL vegetarian diet, 05:52 - in other words, ONLY plants no other animal products - 05:58 their total cholesterol was about 160. 06:01 And in OTHER research, we find that the ONLY 06:04 individuals who were able to get their total cholesterol 06:07 DOWN, below 150, are total vegetarians 06:12 Do total vegetarians ever have problems with cholesterol? 06:15 And if so, why? 06:17 That's a VERY good question! 06:19 Because there are actually a number of individuals 06:21 out there, probably some who are listening in today, 06:24 who are TOTAL vegetarians and may have been 06:27 total vegetarians for years, 06:29 and yet, their cholesterol is running above 150 06:32 I can think of several... 06:33 We do a program that I'm involved with where we take 06:36 the blood levels as well, and there is one lady who 06:39 is a TOTAL vegetarian but she has a very high cholesterol; 06:43 always seems to have it. 06:45 And there is about 1 out of 500 individuals who actually have a 06:50 genetic problem and they actually don't make enough of 06:54 the receptors that absorbs the cholesterol... 06:59 and so they have a very high cholesterol level. 07:02 Is that dangerous for them? 07:04 Oh, it's absolutely dangerous. 07:05 In fact, these individuals have heart attacks in their 07:07 late 20s, early 30s, but that's a rare situation. 07:13 And I think the message we want to get out to individuals 07:17 is that it's possible to be a total vegetarian 07:20 and still be on a highly refined and highly processed diet. 07:26 And what I mean by that is 07:29 you know, take for example yesterday... 07:31 We were out looking for some bread in a grocery store, 07:35 and in many different products you find in the grocery store 07:40 you will find one particular ingredient... 07:43 You'll want to watch for this ingredient. 07:45 It's called "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil" 07:50 Now, it sounds healthy because it's vegetable, 07:53 and it's total vegetarian and yet this substance 07:57 "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil" 08:01 actually acts in the body JUST like saturated fat! 08:06 Now you might ask, "Well what is saturated fat? 08:08 And how does it interact with cholesterol? 08:11 Saturated fat is a fat that, at room temperature is solid. 08:16 So butter is a good example, 08:18 very high concentrations of saturated fat. 08:21 What we know is that the saturated fat that you eat 08:26 is actually 2 or 3 times MORE POWERFUL at raising your 08:32 cholesterol level than if you were to eat 08:34 cholesterol itself. 08:36 Oh so, if you eat it, it's just like turns the 08:40 ...magnifies the cholesterol that's there! 08:42 Well actually, the cholesterol 08:43 is made by every cell in the body. 08:46 But, most of the cholesterol comes from the liver; 08:50 at least 500 mg a day... 08:52 But when you INCREASE the amount of saturated fat 08:57 in the diet, it's like pushing down 08:59 on the accelerator and speeding up the cholesterol 09:04 manufacture, the cholesterol production 09:07 that the liver does. 09:08 So that's why it's important to move away from 09:12 partially hydrogenated vegetable oils in particular. 09:16 So, two things... 1. Try and get the cholesterol 09:19 below 150 total. 09:22 Secondly, avoid partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. 09:28 You know this is very easy. Okay 09:30 It may sound difficult, but actually if you choose 09:32 foods just as they come from nature... 09:35 If you get your food right from the Hand of the Creator, 09:39 you will miss out on all of these additives 09:43 that can actually increase the cholesterol level 09:46 such as partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. 09:49 So what we're talking about is when you go into the 09:51 grocery store... where you want to spend 09:54 your time is primarily the produce section... 09:59 fruits and vegetables. 10:00 Is there anything in the produce section that we should avoid? 10:04 You know, to my knowledge, there is NOTHING 10:07 in the produce section that will raise your 10:10 total cholesterol above 150. 10:12 Unless it's in a little box or container NEXT to the produce 10:14 thing that they want you to put on top... Exactly! 10:16 If the Creator produced it, and it hasn't had 10:19 something added or something removed, 10:22 it will not raise your total cholesterol above 150. 10:25 So I'm a total vegetarian, let's say, 10:27 and I take my cholesterol... it is still above 150, 10:33 or somewhere between there and 200, 10:36 and I'm trying to do these things you're mentioning, 10:39 and I've tried to cut out the 10:41 partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, 10:44 should I look somewhere else - is there anything else besides 10:47 the genetic and that substance? 10:49 That's a very good question! 10:51 And Dr. Gabe Mirkin out at Georgetown University 10:56 has been doing some nutritional research out there, 10:59 and he has found out something very interesting... 11:01 What he has found out is that whenever we eat MORE calories 11:05 than what we need for any given day, 11:07 the body has to take the excess calories and store it... 11:12 But in order to make those storage packages 11:15 that are headed out to the fat cells out to the storage areas, 11:19 it has to generate cholesterol. 11:22 So whenever you eat more calories than what 11:25 you're burning, you are RAISING your cholesterol level. 11:29 Now what most people may not understand is as we get OLDER, 11:33 the basal metabolism of the body, in other words, 11:38 the rate at which we burn up energy, 11:41 actually starts to decline as we get older. 11:44 So if you continue the same eating habits, 11:47 the same eating patterns, as you get older, 11:50 you're more and more likely to be taking in more calories 11:54 that you're burning up... So you need to eat LESS 11:55 as you get older. EXACTLY! 11:56 So the real KEY is as you get older, 12:00 go to a lighter and lighter EVENING MEAL, 12:03 because that one has the most power to actually 12:06 decrease the weight and decrease the calorie intake. 12:12 And this will help to reduce the cholesterol. 12:14 So, increase the things from the produce section, 12:20 decrease the saturated fat or partially 12:24 hydrogenated vegetable oil, ... Absolutely 12:27 Decrease the cholesterol below 150, if possible. 12:32 And make sure that you're eating LESS as you get older. 12:37 Now, what do you mean "when you're older" 12:38 Am I older? 12:39 Well, you know the other way around this is to increase 12:43 your exercise level. 12:45 Okay, so you can eat, even at my age... 12:47 So you are saying - I'm older. 12:48 Is that what you're trying to tell me? 12:50 Ha, ha, ha ha... No, that's not what I'm trying to tell you. 12:53 But honestly, I mean, it depends 12:57 on the individual's activity level. 12:59 And what I would say is this... 13:01 It's very important when you go to the physician's office 13:04 to get a COPY of that cholesterol level. 13:07 In other words, don't just have the physician tell you 13:10 what it is, because when you get home, you're going to forget 13:13 Get a copy of it, and KNOW where you are, 13:17 and then know what your goals are. 13:18 And if you're not reaching your goals of getting it down 13:22 to 150-160 or below, 13:25 then that's where you might 13:26 want to back off on the evening meal. 13:29 So, know what your goals are, 13:31 and then have a set of tools to get you there. 13:34 Now you're a family physician, 13:36 when is it that you should start knowing what your 13:39 cholesterol level is as an American, I mean... 13:41 Is it when you're in your teens? 13:43 Is it when you're 1-2-3 years old or 20s? 13:48 When should you start checking your cholesterol level 13:51 with a blood stick or however you do that? 13:54 Well that's a very good question because 13:56 what they're finding out now 13:58 is that if you are in your 20s and you have a total cholesterol 14:03 that's greater than 240, those individuals will live 14:08 6 years less than the rest of the individuals who have 14:12 total cholesterols UNDER 240. 14:15 So in your 20s, you need to 14:16 start getting it checked, or earlier? 14:18 They are recommending it... when you get to 20 years of age, 14:20 you should get it checked about every 5 years. 14:23 But I would say that if you're entering the 40s and 50s, 14:29 you probably should get it checked at LEAST every year. 14:33 But the KEY is to know where your goals are... 14:37 To know that that total cholesterol should be under 150 14:41 NOT just under 200. 14:43 Do you get yours checked every year? 14:44 Yes, I usually do, yes. 14:47 I'm not going to ask you what it is... 14:49 But that's important to know 14:51 and so this is something you should be doing. 14:52 Your doctor probably won't tell you to get it checked 14:54 every couple of years normally. 14:57 They may or they may not. Okay 14:59 So we need to get it checked. 15:00 We need to decrease the amount of food that we're eating 15:04 especially if we're not exercising... 15:06 If we're not meeting our goal. 15:07 Right, if we are not meeting our goals. 15:08 We need to have some kind of target, 15:10 and that target, you're suggesting, for everybody 15:12 is 150 or less. Absolutely! 15:16 We're talking with Dr. Tim Arnott 15:19 We're talking about cholesterol and heart disease. 15:22 And we've got some very practical suggestions 15:24 about what to do to know where we are... 15:27 And we have talked about how we need to set goals 15:31 and look at that 150 level as being optimal. 15:35 When we come back, we're going to talk more 15:37 about practical things to do to lower our cholesterol 15:40 We're glad that you have joined us, 15:42 and we hope that you DO join us when we come back! 15:46 Have you found yourself wishing that 15:48 you could shed a few pounds? 15:49 Have you been on a diet for most of your life, 15:52 but not found anything that will really keep the weight off? 15:55 If you've answered "yes" to any of these questions, 15:58 then we have a solution for you that works! 16:00 Dr. Hans Diehl and Dr. Aileen Ludington 16:03 have written a marvelous booklet called... 16:06 "Reversing Obesity Naturally" 16:08 and we'd like to send it to you FREE of charge. 16:10 Here's a medically sound approach successfully used by 16:13 thousands who were able to eat more and lose weight 16:16 permanently without feeling guilty or hungry 16:19 through lifestyle medicine. 16:21 Dr. Diehl and Dr. Ludington have been featured on 3ABN 16:24 and in this booklet, they present a sensible approach 16:27 to eating, nutrition and lifestyle changes 16:30 that can help you prevent heart disease, diabetes, 16:33 and EVEN cancer. 16:34 Call or write today for your free copy of... 16:36 "Reversing Obesity Naturally" 16:38 and you could be on your way to a healthier, happier YOU! 16:41 It's ABSOLUTELY free of charge, so call or write today. 16:47 Welcome back or welcome if you've just joined us. 16:50 We've been talking with Dr. Tim Arnott 16:52 He is a specialist in lifestyle medicine, 16:55 and also family practice. 16:57 We've been talking about heart disease and cholesterol. 16:59 And we've discovered that our body makes it, it's essential... 17:02 The problem is that we, many times, have TOO MUCH of it 17:05 because of the diet that we eat, 17:07 and we've been talking about how it is that we can 17:09 LOWER our cholesterol levels... 17:11 And you've suggested a very, well, it's lower that most of us 17:17 think about, but a goal of 150 to have our cholesterol level at 17:22 Now, let's say I go to my doctor and say, "I heard this program 17:27 on TV and the physician there 17:28 was saying my cholesterol needs to be at 150." 17:31 Is the doctor going to be aware of that? 17:32 Well, more and more people are becoming aware of this. 17:36 In fact, the editors of "Scientific American Medicine" 17:40 a MAJOR textbook in internal medicine, 17:43 have now come out and recommended, as of 1998, 17:47 that the IDEAL total cholesterol is under 150. 17:52 So it's making headway; more and more individuals are 17:57 understanding this and it's primarily from the research 18:00 that's coming out of Framingham, Massachusetts 18:02 Now, you mentioned that we should be getting 18:04 our cholesterol checked by having our blood drawn 18:07 at least in our early 20s. 18:09 But let's say that I am 10 years old or 15 years old, 18:12 what should my cholesterol be at 10 years old, 15 years old 18:16 What should the level be? 18:18 Well USUALLY it's going to be 100 plus your age. 18:23 That's probably a normal cholesterol 18:26 until you reach the age of 50. 18:29 100 plus your age is the goal standard 18:33 for a total cholesterol or less. 18:35 Now, when we were talking before, you also mentioned that 18:37 as we get older, we sometimes need to decrease the amount of 18:41 food that we're eating depending on what our exercise is. 18:44 Is this the REASON that we have increased cholesterols 18:49 when we get older... is because we're not exercising 18:51 as MUCH and what role does exercise play 18:55 in LOWERING cholesterol? 18:56 Well actually, a very interesting study was done 18:59 at Stanford University... 19:01 And what they did was they took the 2 diets that are 19:05 recommended by the "American Heart Association" 19:08 called a Step 1 and a Step 2 diet. 19:10 The Step 2 diet is a little bit more conservative; 19:13 you're allowed a little less cholesterol, 19:14 a little less saturated fat. 19:16 And what they found was that they were not able to 19:21 get individuals cholesterol levels down on 19:24 on those Step 1 and Step 2 diets. 19:27 In other words, the diets that are currently being 19:31 recommended to help us avoid heart disease 19:33 ...they showed did NOT lower cholesterol 19:37 UNLESS the individuals exercised! 19:40 The individuals who did the Step 2 diet, 19:43 the special heart prevention diets AND exercised 19:47 were able to lower their cholesterol. 19:49 So what we can see happening here is... 19:52 as you exercise, the basal metabolism of the body 19:56 actually speeds up... you're burning off more energy. 19:59 Even after you exercise because that effect of exercise 20:02 LASTS for many hours. 20:04 And so you are actually burning off more calories, 20:07 and remember, your cholesterol RESPONDS to this balance of 20:12 the energy that you take in 20:13 versus the energy that you burn off. 20:15 So if you're burning off MORE, 20:17 your cholesterol level is going to tend to be lower. 20:19 So it REALLY is important to exercise... 20:22 Your diet IS important but EQUALLY important 20:25 would you say exercise is? 20:26 You know, one of the other important things about exercise 20:30 that sort of relates to cholesterol is that 20:33 in the body, the Creator has put in these extra blood vessels 20:38 They are called "collateral" blood vessels. 20:42 In other words, in the heart there are 3 main arteries, 20:46 but there are these collateral arteries that also go down the 20:50 same general pathways, but in a little bit different routes. 20:55 And what can happen is if you exercise on a 20:58 REGULAR basis, you know, vigorous exercise 21:02 to the point of sweating... 21:03 Over time, those collateral blood vessels, 21:06 those extra blood vessels, will actually ENLARGE, 21:09 and in a sense, you can do your own bypass. 21:12 Now I'm not recommending that, someone who needs 21:16 a bypass, they can just exercise and perhaps... 21:18 You're talking about bypass surgery, in other words, 21:20 if they get blocked, they bypass it with another artery 21:24 or vein that they take from somewhere else. Exactly 21:27 But this is an important concept in physiology that individuals 21:31 can understand... that they can actually INCREASE the flow of 21:34 blood to their tissue and actually move blood around 21:38 those blocked areas through an exercise program. 21:41 We've talked about diet and how it can lower our cholesterol... 21:44 We've talked about exercise and how it can do the same, 21:47 and help us avoid a heart attack like you're talking about here, 21:49 or surgery... something to that nature. 21:52 We've talked a lot about plant foods 21:56 and a total vegetarian diet. 21:59 Are there any plant foods that could actually 22:02 ELEVATE our cholesterol? 22:05 Well according to Dr. Gabe Mirkin, 22:08 there at Georgetown University, 22:10 what he has found is that the SATURATED fat that we eat 22:17 here in this country is not largely used for energy. 22:22 Now what he has found in the research literature 22:25 is that in individuals who aren't eating enough calories, 22:29 ...in other words, they don't have much to eat, 22:31 the saturated fat that they take in 22:34 is actually burned for energy. 22:35 But in a society such as we have, 22:38 where we have PLENTY to eat, 22:39 that the saturated fat that you eat, 22:42 isn't USED for energy. 22:44 It actually goes to RAISE your cholesterol levels. 22:47 So like nuts? 22:49 So ANY FOOD that does have saturated fat in it... 22:54 If you are on a diet that has plenty of calories... 22:57 If you get TOO MUCH of those saturated fats, 23:00 you could POTENTIALLY raise your total cholesterol level. 23:03 So, yes, if you eat too many nuts, too many olives, seeds, 23:08 avocados, and your cholesterol is not in that area where you 23:13 want it to be, you might want to decrease 23:16 those higher fat plant foods. 23:18 They are not unhealthy for you if you are not overdoing it. 23:22 They are VERY healthy foods. 23:24 No question about it, we need ALL of these different fats. 23:27 We need SATURATED fat. 23:28 We need all of the different fats, but the point is, 23:32 if you're NOT getting the cholesterol down, 23:34 this is something else that you can think about doing 23:37 that may help you... 23:39 Decreasing the amount, the proportion of the nuts 23:42 and olives and those higher fat plant foods. 23:45 Now I know that the target here is 150 for our cholesterol, 23:50 but is it EVER POSSIBLE for someone to have 23:54 a cholesterol of 150 and still develop 23:57 a blockage in their arteries? 23:59 Well, you know, I was recently out at some meetings 24:01 at Loma Linda University, and a gentleman came up to me 24:04 who told me that his cholesterol level had been averaging 24:09 around 140 for many years, 24:12 and yet he had been diagnosed with coronary artery disease. 24:16 And, upon further questioning, he told me that 24:22 his homocysteine level was 15. 24:26 Now what individuals need to understand 24:30 if they're going to embrace this plant-based diet 24:33 is that something very important must be added to the diet, 24:39 and that is vitamin B12 24:42 because if you don't get enough vitamin B12, 24:46 there is an amino acid inside the body that can start to go up 24:51 And what we know now is that total vegetarians 24:54 have the lowest B12 levels of individual groups out there. 25:00 They ALSO have the HIGHEST homocysteine levels. 25:05 And homocysteine... In fact, 25:08 the "Physicians Health Study" done at Harvard University... 25:12 The individuals that were the top 5% for homocysteine 25:16 had almost 9 times the risk of a heart attack. 25:20 So you HAVE to have the vitamin B12 25:23 to DECREASE your homocysteine. Exactly! 25:29 You need adequate levels of vitamin B12 25:31 to keep the homocysteine level down. 25:34 And if that homocysteine level goes UP, 25:36 you can develop a blockage and have heart disease 25:38 just like anybody else. That's right! 25:41 And not only heart disease, 25:43 but ALSO stroke and cerebrovascular disease. 25:46 So, if I go to my physician and say, 25:48 check my homocysteine level, 25:50 are most labs set up to do that? 25:51 Can I do that just about everywhere now? 25:53 Yes, actually they can. 25:54 We use a lab, it's very easily able to do the 25:58 homocysteine level. 26:00 Do most people in the world have problems with heart disease 26:02 You know, according to Dr. William Castelli, 26:06 who was one of the directors of the Framingham Heart Study 26:10 that we mentioned earlier... 26:11 He was there for over 30 years INTENSIVELY studying 26:15 WHY do Americans develop heart disease, 26:18 and he was looking at the WORLD literature... 26:20 What he discovered was that 4 out of 5 people on this planet 26:25 cannot get their total cholesterol above 150. 26:30 So, in other words, they don't have all of the bad substances 26:34 here that we have to do that. 26:35 They're living on unrefined, unprocessed PLANTS primarily. 26:40 And the other thing that he found out was that 26:43 1 out of 5 people in this world 26:46 can't get their total cholesterol BELOW 150. 26:50 And I think I know where those people live... 26:51 mostly in Western countries, right? 26:55 That's right and what he found out was that 26:57 the first group... Those who can't get it above 150 27:01 they don't get heart disease. 27:03 The OTHER group who can't get it down BELOW 150... 27:06 They get the heart disease. 27:09 We've been talking with Dr. Tim Arnott 27:11 from the "Lifestyle Center of America" 27:12 We've been talking about heart disease as it relates to 27:16 cholesterol... 27:17 And we have learned that there are some special 27:19 things we need to do to avoid elevating our cholesterol 27:23 and that is not eating a lot of food, 27:26 especially if we're getting adequate nutrition, 27:29 make sure to decrease the saturated fat in our diets, 27:33 and many other tips that you've learned today. 27:35 We hope that this program has been helpful to you 27:37 and that if you have a family, that you are aware of 27:41 where you are in terms of your numbers; 27:43 even if your children or the young people in your home are 27:46 in their 20s, it's a good idea to get their cholesterol checked 27:50 to know where they stand. 27:51 We hope that today's program has been helpful, 27:53 and that as a result 27:55 you'll have health that lasts for a lifetime! |
Revised 2014-12-17