Autorentext

Gerald Reaven M.D., Terry Kristen Strom M.B.A., and Barry Fox

Klappentext
The doctor who identified Syndrome X--the hidden condition that puts 60 million Americans at risk for heart attacks--presents a six-step program that promises to improve cardiac health for Syndrome X sufferers and the general population as well.

Zusammenfassung
Is Your So-Called Good Diet Slowly Killing You?
If you have Syndrome X -- and 60 to 75 million Americans do -- the widely recommended low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet may be the surest route to a heart attack. Now, Gerald Reaven, M.D., the pioneering Stanford University doctor who discovered Syndrome X, explains why:

• Even if your total cholesterol level is perfect, it may not shield you from a heart attack.

• Carbohydrates can be just as harmful as red meat or butter.

• A diet high in "good" fats (as much as 40 percent of calories) is actually better for you.

• The Zone diet, the Atkins diet, and the American Heart Association diet can each be dangerous under certain conditions.

• The failure of insulin, the body's "sugar cop," to process blood sugar is the key to Syndrome X.

• The Syndrome X diet and exercise program will keep you healthy and protect your heart even if you do not suffer from insulin resistance.

  Tested in carefully controlled research settings and in practice, the Syndrome X program is safe, effective, and easy to follow.

  Leseprobe
  Chapter One: The "Unknown" Heart Slayer

  Bob's life began to unravel one night after he and his wife, Eleanor, finished a healthy, home-cooked dinner consisting of fresh sea bass, spinach salad, baked potato and asparagus tips, topped off with low-fat carrot cake to celebrate Bob's fifty-eighth birthday. Fish, vegetables and low-fat dressing on the salad: just the low-fat diet the doctor recommended.

  Later that evening Bob took the couple's terrier, Cargo, out for an evening stroll. The birthday boy was looking forward to breathing in the crisp San Francisco air, but he also felt a little tired. And as he and Cargo headed toward the park he began to feel a slight pressure in his chest, right beneath his breastbone. Thinking it might be indigestion, Bob forced a burp to relieve the discomfort.

  Later, at the park, Bob was still aware of the uncomfortable heaviness in his chest. He had suffered from indigestion before, but this sensation was somehow different and frightening. Unwilling to admit that he was scared or that the nagging pressure was growing worse, he decided to wait it out.

  Eleanor peered over her magazine when Bob came back. "You look a little tired," she said. "Why don't we both turn in for the night?"

  "I'm OK," he replied. "You go ahead. I just need to belch but can't quite make it. I think I'll take something to settle my stomach. As soon as it goes away, I'll be in."

  Quickly downing a bromide, Bob sat down on the couch with a newspaper. Within a few minutes he felt a thin layer of perspiration on his forehead. As he drew his handkerchief across his forehead, he thought about his father's fatal heart attack at age sixty-one. It came as a complete surprise to the family because his father had no history of heart problems. Two years later, his father's brother Roy suffered a mild heart attack, living only four more years before dying of a second attack in his sleep.

  Fighting back his anxiety, Bob tried to reassure himself. "I hardly eat any saturated fat," he thought, "My cholesterol is low; I haven't smoked in years. I could lose a little weight, and my blood pressure may be a little high, but overall I'm in good shape."

  He settled back with his newspaper, but the feeling of pressure in his chest was getting worse, and his growing sense of fear made it hard to concentrate. Finally, a few minutes after midnight he went into the bedroom.

  "Eleanor," he said, grim faced, "I know this sounds crazy, but I think I'm having a heart attack."

  Instantly awake, Eleanor bolted upright. She gasped when she saw Bob standing by the side of the bed, pale as gray-tinged ice.

  In the emergency room, a physician questioned and examined the frightened man, then ordered an electrocardiogram and a blood sample. Although the tests were inconclusive (several hours may pass before tests can confirm a heart attack), the doctor kept Bob in the coronary care unit overnight to monitor his heart, and repeated the tests in the morning.

  Then Bob received the terrifying news: he had indeed suffered a heart attack. No longer fearful, Bob was incredulous?and angry. "Maybe I don't exercise enough and I've gained a few pounds, but I religiously follow a low-fat diet. How could I have had a heart attack?"

  The doctor could only shrug, saying, "I really don't know. Some people, lots of them, eat what should be healthy diets and have normal cholesterols, but still have heart attacks."

  rNeither the patient, his wife nor his doctor knew that Bob was a victim of Syndrome X, a silent condition that often triggers "the heart attack that shouldn't have happened."

  The "Unknown" Problem with a Paradoxical Solution

  There's good news and bad news in the battle against heart disease. The good news is that thanks to better methods of diagnosis, plus new drugs and surgical techniques, we can detect heart disease much sooner than ever, relieve chest pain and shortness of breath related to heart disease, bypass clogged coronary arteries, effectively treat people who have survived heart attacks and even, in some cases, stop a heart attack in progress.

  The bad news is that despite these tremendous technical advances, despite emphasizing good nutrition for two decades, despite lowering our cholesterol levels and cutting fat from our diets, we're still likely to develop heart disease and die of heart attacks. Heart disease remains the number-one killer in this country. Millions will fall prey to a fatal heart attack, many dying without any warning whatsoever. Every 20 seconds, someone, somewhere in America, has a heart attack. And every 34 seconds, someone dies of heart disease. Why? We have powerful drugs to lower cholesterol; high-tech coronary care units place tremendous amounts of technology at the disposal of doctors treating heart patients; triple and quadruple bypass surgeries to restore blood flow to the heart are now routine. Most everyone knows they should protect their hearts by eating a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet, and exercising regularly -- and many of us do. Why, then, are so many of us still dropping dead of heart attacks?

  The problem lies in a little-known but very common metabolic disorder called Syndrome X. If you have Syndrome X, your coronary arteries are under attack. These arteries, which bring fresh blood to your heart muscle, are being "cut" and "wounded," are filling with "scabs" and cellular debris, are slowly being dammed up and closed off. This quiet malady's most direct effect is to interfere with the ability of insulin to move glucose (sugar) into certain cells for later use. Unknown millions of heart attacks have been caused by the failure of insulin, the body's "sugar cop," to do its job. This means that, for tens of millions of people, cholesterol is not the underlying problem leading to heart disease. And that's why, if you have Syndrome X, simply lowering your total cholesterol or LDL "bad" cholesterol is not enough to shield you from a heart attack.

  Even stranger, to most people, is the idea that one way to guard against Syndrome X is to ignore the "best" medical advice, to shun the low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet everyone "knows" is good for the heart. If you have Syndrome X -- and 60-75 million Americans do -- that "good" diet can be deadly. If you have the syndrome, carefully dieting to lower your total cholesterol or LDL cholesterol won't solve the problem. In fact, cons…