Want To Reduce Cholesterol Risk? Think Like An Eskimo
Lowering cholesterol is important business. The airwaves are
replete with messages promoting drugs to reduce cholesterol
risk. "Ask your doctor if Brand-X is right for you."
I am not here to minimize the importance and usefulness of
proper drug therapy in cholesterol management. Simply put drugs
save lives. For many they are an integral part of reducing the
risk of heart disease. In situations like these the mantra of
the 1960's, "Do drugs!" might be appropriate.
But there is a down side to drug therapy. It is expensive. And
drugs can have many negative side-effects. If given the choice,
would it not be better if you could reduce your cholesterol risk
without drug therapy?
Suppose for a moment that you and I lived inside the artic
circle... in an igloo. Since television reception would be a bit
limited we would have to content ourselves with more
conversation. What would we talk about? It is an interesting
scenario.
One topic of conversation that would not arise is that of
cholesterol management. It simply would not be an issue. We
would be ignorant of the topic. Not because we couldn't watch
the local news, but because we would have no problems with our
cholesterol levels. Wouldn't that be a switch?
For us our whole world would be our freezer. But the contents of
that freezer would be a bit different than the freezers we have
now. There is, however, one thing that would be the same. In
both scenarios our freezers would be stuffed with fatty foods.
In fact it could be argued that the artic freezer has more fatty
foods than the one I have out in my storage room.
Towards the middle of the last century researchers discovered
that the Inuit Eskimos had diets high in fat yet had very low
incidence of heart disease. This flew in the face of our ideas
concerning heart disease and fat.
The fact is the Inuit Eskimos had stable cholesterol profiles
and low triglycerides. Their blood platelets also were not as
sticky as their American and European counterparts. They stuffed
their faces with fatty foods all day long and yet had healthy
hearts. Apparently they could teach us a thing or two about
cholesterol management.
As you can imagine this discovery gave rise to a flurry of
scientific studies. The flurry still has not subsided. Finally
we could have our fat and eat it too. We have learned some
things since then. We now know that not all fats are the same.
We know that there are some fats which are known as essential
fatty acids. They are necessary for proper health and our bodies
cannot produce them.
The particular essential fatty acid that the Eskimos were
getting in abundance - they still are I suppose - is known as
omega-3.
Since the startling discovery involving the Inuit Eskimos
omega-3 has received abundant attention among researchers. The
result is that omega-3 has been used in the treatment of a
variety of chronic health conditions. Some of these include...
* High Blood Pressure
* Stroke
* Diabetes
* Arthritis
* Osteoporosis
* Depression
* ADHD
* Eating Disorders
* Skin Disorders
* Asthma
* Macular Degeneration
* Cancer
This list doesn't include heart conditions such as arrhythmia,
sudden cardiac death, and serum cholesterol and triglycerides
levels.
So where do we get this marvelous omega-3? It primarily comes
from two sources. Vegetative sources such as flax seeds and
broccoli are rather high in ALA which is a form of omega-3. The
other two forms, EPA and DHA, are found in cold-water fatty
fish. These two omega-3 varieties are responsible for the low
incidence of heart disease among those who consume large amounts
of fish like salmon, mackerel and tuna.
How much fish is enough? Well, for those of us who do not live
in igloos it is a lot of fish. Two or three meals per week
including fish high in omega-3 is a good start for those who
have no history of heart disease.
However if you have an arrhythmia, high triglycerides, high
cholesterol or atherosclerosis build up, two to three meals per
week including cold-water fish probably isn't enough. You may
want to consider taking a quality fish oil supplement. It is a
great way to get sufficient levels of omega-3 without the fear
of contaminants like mercury poisoning. A few of the best ones
don't even have a fishy aftertaste.
So, if you are concerned with heart health and would like to
live without the drugs, eat more fish. Eat it every day. If you
can't eat it everyday, consider fish oil supplements. Think like
an Eskimo.
For more information on cholesterol management and omega-3
please use the links below:
Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes
Omega-3 Supplements
Optimal Heart
Health Home Page