Chewing the fat
I used to say that people should be responsible for their own eating habits. But you know what? If it takes a lawsuit (or 20) to get America eating right and to get all the fast food restaurants to cut the trans fats, then I say keep the lawyers coming.
One of the most recent lawsuits involves one of the biggest offenders against America's waistline: Kentucky Fried Chicken, which now goes by KFC, and its parent company, Yum Brands Inc.
The suit, filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, claims (correctly, in my opinion) that KFC's meals are alarmingly high in killer trans fats, at least partially because of all the hydrogenated oils they use for frying up their chicken. The group is trying to force the restaurant to stop using the unhealthy, artery-clogging oils that are so trans-fat-laden that they're bound to make a person's arteries just as crispy as the chicken they're selling.
Well, after taking a look at KFC's nutrition charts, I say this restaurant is guilty as charged.
A KFC meal of one extra crispy fried chicken thigh, a side of coleslaw, and a side of potato wedges contained a whopping 7 g of trans fats (out of 49 fat grams altogether) not to mention 1,840 mg of sodium (almost your entire daily allowance). And let's face it: most people eat more than one piece of chicken.
So, in other words, this stuff is basically heart disease in a bucket.
Trans fats come from food that's been prepared with hydrogenated oil in order to give it a longer shelf life. Like most chemically altered foods, this stuff is entirely unnatural, and your body doesn't know what to do with it. And, unlike other things like sodium or protein, there is no daily allowance for trans fats. You know why? Because no amount of trans fat is really good for you.
The end result of ingesting this garbage is usually clogged, hardened arteries, and, ultimately, heart disease. And let's not forget about obesity, which puts you at risk not just for heart disease, but also a multitude of other diseases, like diabetes, arthritis, and cancer.
But let's not throw all the blame at KFC. Let's check out some other fast-food favorites:
McDonalds: A cheeseburger meal, with medium fries and a small Coke, contains 6 g of trans fat.
Burger King: A five-piece chicken tender meal, with medium fries and a medium Coke has 6.5 g of trans fats.
Arby's: A large roast beef sandwich and a large side of curly fries has a huge 8 g of trans fats.
The fact is, though, even without trans fats, these foods are still bad for you. They're all high in sodium, fat, and cholesterol, which means they're all high in risk.
I can't give you any other advice than to cut this stuff from your diet right now. If that means taking a few extra minutes to grocery shop or pack a lunch, then so be it. You may spend a few extra minutes preparing healthy meals, but you'll gain that time back later on, when you're out enjoying your life instead of stuck in a hospital room.
Green tea could keep you cancer-free and heart healthy
Smoking is a major cause of heart disease and lung cancer -- we all know this. Yet, for some reason, these two diseases aren't as big a problem in Asian countries, where smoking is just as popular and common as in America (if not more so). It looks like the difference is one unlikely little drink: green tea.
Recently, a group of researchers presented a good deal of evidence linking green tea to better heart health and a lower risk of cancer.
In a lot of Asian countries, drinking green tea is a commonplace social custom. The researchers thought this could explain the noticeably lower rates of cancer and heart disease among Asian smokers.
Heart disease develops when your arteries become hard and narrow, usually due to a build-up of cholesterol-containing plaque (which are often result of bad LDL cholesterol) on your artery walls. Smoking makes it worse, because it lowers your levels of "good" HDL cholesterol, which can help prevent heart disease.
Here's where the green tea comes in.
Green tea is rich in natural antioxidants called catechins, which are known to protect you from all sorts of things, including inflammation, cancer, and heart disease. Antioxidants help fight off free radicals that can damage your body's cells and eventually lead to disease. (Free radicals occur naturally in the body, and are naturally kept under control in healthy people. But when external sources -- like tobacco smoke -- get involved, they can take over, putting you at a higher risk of disease.)
Research suggests that the antioxidants in green tea can actually thwart the artery-destruction process by fighting off bad cholesterol. They also help keep your artery walls functioning properly and prevent blood clots.
And it gets better, because even more research suggests that green tea antioxidants can block tumor formation in your lungs.
Now don't get me wrong: I would never tell a patient to keep up the smoking and just pick up some green tea. But how about picking up the tea anyway, whether you smoke or not?
For a great-tasting, antioxidant-rich pick-me-up, I sweeten my own green tea with a little bit of grape or pomegranate juice. Also, you need to make sure you're drinking the caffeinated form -- the decaffeination process actually diminishes the levels of antioxidants in this drink. If you're not a caffeine lover, don't worry. Green tea has really low levels of caffeine as it is.
Until next time,
Dr. Alan Inglis
House Calls
