My Dad did
Statins scared the crap out of him. He used to have an affinity for cheese and icecream. He switched to soy cheese and quit ice cream all together.
That is just the tip of the iceberg though. He ultimately re-vamped his entire diet. Went really low fat for a little while, dropped a tonne of weight (from 170 to 135) and then folded in a little more natural peanut butter (the good stuff that doesn’t have added hydrogenated oil) and a little more olive and canola in the stir fry when the doc said to stop losing weight.
His breakfast went from toast and honey (with bacon and eggs on weekends) to oat meal with egg beaters and a small side of OJ. His lunch went to peanut butter and honey (sometimes tuna or lean turkey) on whole wheat with a banana (from a baloney on whatever bread was cheap and chips). Mom cut back on the fried stuff for dinner and dad’s pre-dinner snack went from cheddar cheese and crackers to just some crackers.
He still eats a fair amount of carbs but none of the nasty {processed carb + loads of oil} snack foods (like 99% of the potato chips on the market).
Don’t know if he feels the better blood but the weight loss feels good. It is easier for him to walk a long ways (my brother dragged him for a 13mile walk down at Back Bay NWR and False Cape SP back near Christmas). He also said getting down to the floating dock and back at low tide is easier (pretty much required a pull up on the bottom end of a spring tide).
Checked it out of the library
this weekend. After reading the Intro, I’ve decided I need to purchase it. I also cheated and flipped to the back to the recipes. I’ll be making a few of those soon.
Thanks for the heads up on this.
I’m a heart patient in cardiac rehab
Rehab nurses are more informative than cardiologists. Liver manufactures cholesterol while you sleep. Statins, like Zocor help with that but don’t help much with cholesterol from the foods we eat. They do however help fats from sticking to artery walls.
Diet and exercise are the key. If that doesn’t work, take the statins. Heart attacks absolutely suck. I’ve had 3 in the last 10 months. 5 stents, quadruple bypass, and an implanted cardioverter defibrillator. I’m 43 and have never been overweight, never had high blood pressure, I’ve always been active. Trouble is I smoked. That’ll send your cholesterol to the moon.
ER is seeing younger people and more women with heart attacks these days.
Take care of yourselves fellow paddlers.
A heart attack struck my younger
brother on the night before Thanksgiving. He was very fortunate to be saved by a called in surgical team and a stent. As I told him, you have another chance left, and there are still many things you can do. Smoking cigarettes was his problem, and that became disastrous. You still are courageous for sharing your experiences, and you also have some Spirit left. Best wishes to you. Be thankful for what you have and make the best of it, in stride with your capacities.
My most recent one…
…was the day after Thanksgiving. Hope all’s well with your brother.
Make sure he continues to take his Plavix. He will block off his stents in a short time without it.