Everyday Systems

greetings to all!

I've been faithfully noessing since I started again in January....and I've been reading the board every day but not posting much.

Then...I've been out of pocket.

I've had a lot of fatigue, and pain between my shoulders when I walk fast. Doctors haven't thought much about it, but thank goodness they were persistent. Long story short, I had a heart cath. on Wednesday, and they found my LAD ("The Widow Maker") 100% blocked! I got 2 stents, and I am feeling a lot better. I can actually feel the blood flowing to my heart!

Everybody has really been shocked, because I guess I have a reputation of being at least a little careful about what I eat. I'm sure some of the junk I 've eaten in the past entered into the equation, but the doctors say that my heredity plays a big part. Grandparents on both sides of my family had terrible heart disease.

But...the reason I'm writing.

The doctor has put my on a low fat/heart diet. I told him (and the dietician) about No-S and that I had lost some weight.

They told me to keep doing the No-S, but to write down my fat grams and not go over between 50-70 a day (paying special attention to keep the mono's high and the trans and saturated very low.)

Everybody at the hospital said that they hadn't heard of No-s, but that it seemed like the smartest thing that had come down the pike in a while!

I'm tired today, so I'm going to end this post. Say a prayer (or think a kind thought) for me!

blessings,

John

Glad they caught it, and that you're feeling better.

Sending good thoughts and best wishes your way.

Hang in there!!

KCCC

PS - FWIW, my father-in-law has had stents for over 20 years now, and is going strong in his mid-eighties. He's been good about lifestyle changes too, of course, and the combination has made a huge difference.

I'm sending lots of healing thoughts your way....Lori

Wow!! You are lucky!!
Glad you got treatment and are healing Brother John.
Love

I hope you feel better soon.

I pray that your body will continue to heal itself and you recover quickly from your surgery.

(((((((((((((((((((Hugs)))))))))))))))))))
Mo

John,

Thank goodness that your blocked artery was discovered before it caused any damage! Hope you have a speedy recovery.

Brother John,

Sorry to hear about your condition but glad they caught it in time!

It's nice to hear the doctor and dietician approved of your doing No-s (and in general). Thank you for relaying that!

Prayer said! (+ bonus kind thoughts)

Looking forward to your feeling well enough to post again soon,

Reinhard

Sorry to hear about what you experienced and hope things go well for you.

I also had a blockage of the LAD and had no symptoms until the day I had a heart attack about 14 years ago. In my case it would have been the "widower maker" -- and it almost was. I just had a little blockage, but those are the most dangerous because they're not "stable" and little pieces tend to break off and cause the damage -- and death.

I'm going to make a rather strange suggestion. Instead of relying on fat-reduced products to lower the fat in your diet, try eating less of the things that are high in fats, especially saturated fats. The exception would be something that's reduced-fat, but with nothing added to improve texture or taste. Your food will taste better and be more enjoyable.

I'm a huge fan of the Mediterranean diet, mostly because I like the food, but also for the health benefits. They tended to have very low rates of heart disease while eating full-fat products. With the exception of olive oil, they didn't consume a lot of high fat foods, especially those high in saturated fats.

It took me over 5 years to find a way of eating that was not only healthy for me, but that my family also enjoyed -- and I'm still refining it. To make a long story as short as possible, I ended up with something similar to what Mark Bittman writes about in Food Matters. I eat meat only once a day, and while the rest of the day often isn't totally vegan, I don't consume much dairy or eggs. There are days when I do have meat more than once and I reserve red meat for S days. But I really enjoy the food; it tastes good!

About two years ago I gave up all fat-reduced foods. A few months later I was due to have blood work, including cholesterol levels. I briefly considered cancelling the appointment and going back to the lower fat products ( and eliminating butter!), but decided against it. To my surprise, my cholesterol was almost 10% LOWER than it had been previously and it's stayed that way.

I don't put much stock in studies anymore, but supposedly there have been studies that "prove" that the low-fat diet promoted by the American Heart Association doesn't do much, if anything, to prevent or reverse heart disease. However, diets that are naturally lower in saturated fat do prevent or reverse heart disease. This would include everything from various traditional/indigenous diets to vegan diets.