Week 4: Dr. Oz Diet Secret

Or at least that is my paraphrase of a Woman's World headline at the supermarket checkout. We expect miracles, and if it is in a pill ... so much the better. We know these headlines are false, but hope springs eternal in the human breast. By hope, I of course mean self-deception.

Or maybe the headline is "Cancer Cured by Asparagus." The person sharing this on Facebook will include a statement like,"Isn't God great?" Well, God is great, and asparagus is a great food that is an important part of my household's dietary choices as spring approaches and the price drops. But do we really expect a life long pattern of bad choices will be cured by gingko biloba and asparagus for dinner?

Based on the posts I read on forums or Facebook I can only conclude we do.

Or at least this is the lie we tell ourselves.

The truth is that we need to change what we eat, how much we eat, and where we eat it. We need to change our whole perception about food. We need to change where we spend our time, what we do with our time, and what we do with our bodies. We need to change our whole perception about our bodies and what to do with them. I can just see you cringing as you read this. How do I know this? I am cringing too.

The last thing I want to do is discourage you, or myself. But this is hard. 

We could blame our upbringing. "I can't help it, my mommy made me deep-fried banana peanut butter sandwiches." We can blame society. "Babylon the Great controls our food supply." We can blame advertising. "They're magically delicious." We can blame our metabolism. "I am hungry all the time." Or we can blame the person really responsible. Look in a mirror. I am not saying that all these excuses are not valid. They are. But ultimately who controls what you eat, what you watch, and what you do? You do. 

The last thing I want to do is discourage you, or myself. But this is hard.

But as The Sphinx said in Mystery Men, "If you doubt your power, you give power to your doubt."

Why am I giving you a pep talk in the blog post that is designed to discuss your blood lipid profile? The reason is simple. Your doctor might be suggesting you take a statin drug if your lipid profile is not quite right. Why do they do this? A lot of it is the modern philosophy of medicine--take a pill. But far more important is the attitude of the patient. The patient wants what the patient wants, and this is not to change their life. They want a Twinkie while watching football drinking beer with their statin. The doctor knows this. So out comes the prescription pad. You can't really blame him.

It is not in dispute that the most effective way to improve your blood profile is to lose weight. It actually does not matter how. But even more important is what you eat, although the dietary advice is not consistent. My suggestion over the next year is that you try various ideas out on yourself and see what works. Small incremental changes are best. 

Remember that all drugs have side effects, yes even vitamins. Statins have side effects too. For most people who refuse to heed the Santana song and "change your evil ways, baby," taking a statin may be for the best. Are you that person? I hope you are not. (Note that those with a history of heart disease might need a statin even if they change their evil ways.)

Note that I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on television or on the Internet. I am not giving medical advice. Obviously any change in medication must be done in consultation with your doctor. I sure consulted mine. He was quite helpful in gradually reducing my blood pressure medication as I lost weight. The side effects from my medicine, as I got healthier, actually went up and I needed to decrease my dosage to prevent fainting from low blood pressure. 

At my last appointment my doctor said that he had a different mix of patients as they were more willing to change. This is because we live in a mountain community where hipsters greatly outnumber rednecks. Hopefully I can eat properly and still not become a hipster!

My doctor also mentioned that there was a reason for someone to have high cholesterol. The body is producing it in order to fight inflammation. In my words, it is a sign of an underlying problem. There is nothing wrong with treating a symptom, but it is better if at the same time one treats the cause of the inflammation--what you eat, how much you eat, and your activity level. So if you and your doctor decide that statins are best, be sure to change your evil ways as well, but gradually over time.

I am not going to comment on your exact numbers. First I do not feel competent to do so. Secondly, get a print out of your lab results and that print-out will tell you the parameters for the various lipid types. The only one that may not be well understood is triglycerides. A much lower number may be optimal. This will be the subject of a future week. Note also that there is a difference between average and normal. This may skew the recommended numbers away from optimal.

The homework for this week is this presentation by Dr. Barron at UCSF obesity center.

Note that I think that LDL and HDL are good markers for lipid health, AboB and LDL particle number may be even better.

Week 4 Action Plan: This week continue writing down everything you eat. You have to know where you are to devise a plan to get where you want to be. Reduce/eliminate diet sodas and all caloric drinks of any kind. You want to change your taste buds as rapidly as possible.

If you have not done so, go ahead and make an appointment and get your blood lipid work done.