The Polymeal

Reducing your cardiovascular risk without drugs   Frank Barnhill M.D.
 

We should all be interested in good nutrition as the means by which to lower our risk of heart attack and stroke, but often, we perceive diets as difficult, time consuming and inconvenient. Yes, in the past, even I’ve found fast food to be the answer to hunger when time was short or it was inconvenient to cook or find a healthier choice.

Since the American Heart Association lowered it’s recommendations for cholesterol, low density lipoproteins (LDL-c), and triglycerides, most of us will have to work harder on our diets to achieve normal values.

Studies have clearly shown a direct connection between low-density lipoproteins, the size of cholesterol particles and high-density lipoproteins (HDL). Small cholesterol particles are more likely to cause premature cholesterol plaques in your brain and heart blood vessels. In contrast, high levels of HDL are considered to be blood vessel friendly.

I know it’s often easier to take pills (the polypill theory) and feel that we can just forget good nutrition, because a lot of us believe medicines can cure or prevent anything. Using multiple cholesterol and lipid lowering drugs, beta blockers, folic acid, low dose aspirin and a special blood pressure pill can reduce cardiovascular risk by as much as 80%. Unfortunately, these drugs also have multiple side effects on the liver and other body functions and require frequent monitoring and in some cases are very expensive.

However, with improvements in medicine allowing the current generation a life expectancy of 90 or more years, it is fast becoming necessary for us to remain healthy, active and independent as long as possible. To reach this goal, researchers in the Netherlands and Australia studied dietary interventions that would lower cardiovascular risk as an alternative to the “polypill” concept. They named their non-pharmacologic approach the “polymeal”.

Here are the basics of the “polymeal”:

·        150 cc or 5 ounces of wine per day

·        100 grams of dark chocolate per day

·        400 grams of fruit and veggies per day

·        2.7 grams of garlic per day

·        68 grams of almonds per day

·        4 servings of fish per week

When compare to the “polypill”, the “polymeal” is thought to reduce cardiovascular risk by as much as 76%. And to top it all, the “polymeal” is much less experience, has almost no side effects, and is much tastier. Most patients who follow the “polymeal” diet do so at their evening meal.

We invite you to join the rest of us today in our quest to live a healthier, longer, productive life.

Dr. Frank

References: American Academy Of Family Physicians, March 2006

                    British Medical Journal, December 2004

                    British Medical Journal, June 2003

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