This book is a good companion to Dean Ornish's wonderful book on Reversing Heart Disease. In that pioneering work, Dr. Ornish portrayed how going to extemely low levels of fat consumption along with other helpful lifestyle changes can unblock arteries and recreate coronary health for those with problems.In Good Fat Bad Fat, Drs. Castelli and Griffin show how those who are at statistical risk of heart disease can change their habits to stay healthy, and not have to reverse heart disease.
The book is filled with valuable advice about what all of those ratios mean that your doctor will describe to you (cholesterol levels, HDL/LDL ratio, triglycerides, etc.), how you can tell if you are at risk of having heart disease, and simple steps you can take to avoid developing heart disease.
Unlike many books I read, this one gives you a simple formula for changing your diet (10 or 20 grams of bad fat intake a day, depending on your risk of heart disease). Bad fat is saturated fat and trans-fatty acids. You get to pick your poison. There's lots of information on what the amounts of these fats are in various foods, and suggested menus and items with low levels. I'm not very handy in the kitchen, so I cannot tell you how easy or hard these recipes are to prepare. You'll have to size them up yourself.
I think you could eat very well and stay in this diet. You just won't be eating many double cheeseburgers with large fries and a milkshake at the local fast food stand.
There's also important advice about smoking, alcohol, exercise, diet, aspirin, and drugs for reducing cholesterol.
The main things that I thought were missing related to some research that I read shows that those who have taken tetracycline have fewer heart attacks (suggesting that bacteria play a role in arterial plaque formation), that you have to watch the type and timing of sugars (see Sugar Busters! and Eating Well for Optimum Health) if you want to keep your weight at the right level, and the role of relationships (outlined by Dean Ornish in Love and Survival) in extending life and avoiding heart disease. But you can read those books and add their perspectives to this one, and be even healthier.
Now let me give you the personal part of how I came to read this book. My internist for many decades just retired, and I had a physical today. The new man told me bluntly that I was at risk of heart disease and needed to do something about it if I wanted to keep writing all those books I want to write. He outlined a program and told me I would be measuring my blood cholesterol as often as every 3 months, and suggested a stress test. I can tell you that I changed my diet in a heart beat. I had a little turkey with mustard and lettuce and tomato for dinner. I hit my goal on bad fat for today, and plan to do it every day from now on.
As he said to me, "You're a smart guy. Tell me what advice you would give you if you were me." I got the message. I hope you will, too. Over half the population needs to make the same changes. Overcome your disbelief stall that it cannot happen to you. By changing your behavior, you can turn your hope into reality in this area.
Live long and prosper! Health must precede happiness, peace and prosperity for the best results!
