Dr John M

cardiac electrophysiologist, cyclist, learner

  • Home
  • About
    • About Me
    • About the Blog
      • General Cardiology and Internal Medicine
    • Six Reasons why I Blog
    • What’s Electrophysiology?
    • ICD/Pacemaker
    • Electrophysiology Column / Medscape
    • Contact
  • Afib
    • AFib
    • AF in Athletes
    • The best tool to treat AF
    • Know your CHADS-VASC Score
    • 3 non-warfarin anticoagulants
    • AF ablation
      • 13 things to know about AF
      • Atrial Fib Ablation -2012 Update
      • Gender-Spec results of AF ablation
    • Female gender and stroke risk in AF
    • My AF Story
  • Heart Healthy
    • Heart Disease (by DrJohnM)
    • Healthy Living
    • Exercise
    • Nutrition
    • inflammation
  • Policy
    • Policy
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Reform
  • Doctoring
    • Doctoring
    • Knowledge
    • Reflection
    • General Medicine
      • Does your cholesterol level matter?
    • General Cardiolgy – Medicine
      • What is a normal heart rate?
      • Cardiology/Internal Med
      • General Cardiology
      • Athletic heart
        • The ECG of an athlete
      • General Medicine
      • Stroke
      • Statins
  • Cycling
    • DrJohnM on Cycling
    • How I became a bike racer
    • My top 12 Likes on Cycling
    • Cyclocross
      • A CX-Primer
    • Fitness
    • Athletic heart
    • The Mysterious Athletic Heart

A maple frosted donut topped with bacon. Illustrative of KY’s sorry state of health…

October 29, 2009 By Dr John


The Courier-Journal had nutrition front and center the last two days.

First up; the trans-fat issue. I know, you say boring. Maybe, but trans-fats are seriously toxic to your arteries(not Staci toxic-really toxic). They are inflammatory to the inner lining of the arteries. Sound smart: call this the “endothelium.” Trans-fats are man-made (not found in nature) chemical fats. They are seriously irritating to the endothelium, making clots and blockages more likely.
What are trans-fats? Look for the word hydrogenated. Commonly, you see “partially hydrogenated” oils on labels. I had to give up one of my favorite pre-ride foods, Nutella, as it has partially hydrogenated oil.
Yesterday there was a public forum on whether Louisville should ban trans-fat. 50 people expressed their opinion. NY city banned trans-fat in 2006! Search google using the key words “New York City trans-fat ban,” and the first link is the article describing the ban and the second is an article citing the success of the ban. In this Forbes article they use the words, “in the beginning there were the usual nanny comments.” In the end though, just like the smoking ban, life went on and small business did not fail.
Although, we are happy in this community, these illustrations of how far behind KY is, are maddening. We are holding public forums on opinions about banning a toxic cooking oil, when one of the largest cities in the world has had it banned for 3 years. That’s enough time to have objective data on the success of the ban. Duh.
KY is top 5 in nation in obesity, heart disease and diabetes. Nope, NY is wrong, let’s keep frying with arterial toxins.
If this isn’t bad enough, today I read a 600 word essay in CJ on this delight.

A bacon topped maple donut. OMG! Let’s see. Processed white flour, trans-fat, high fructose corn syrup topped with saturated pig fat. I know, Mandrola, lighten up. The problem is people eat this stuff. Then, they see me because their heart is out of rhythm or they’re short of breath walking up an incline. Go figure. I pat their huge bellies and say: “what is that?”
If they are 65 or greater, then the government (that’s you) are paying for their heart, BP and diabetes care they wouldn’t have needed if not for “lifestyle” factors.
Since healthcare reform is likely going to increase government paying for care, then it seems OK (maybe prudent) that trans-fat bans and smoking bans be the norm.
Why do so many patients struggle so mightily with such easy nutrition decisions? Why does KY struggle with such easy health decisions? Are there really that many more masters of the obvious in NY?
JMM
  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • More
  • Reddit

Related posts:

  1. Health care reforn: So much anger and it hasn’t even happened yet…

Filed Under: Health Care, Healthy Living, Nutrition Tagged With: Donuts, Trans-fat

John Mandrola, MD

Welcome, Enjoy, Interact. john-mandrola I am a cardiac electrophysiologist practicing in Louisville KY. I am also a husband to a palliative care doctor, a father, a bike racer, and a regular columnist at theHeart.org | Medscape

My First Book is Now Available…

Email Newsletter

Search the Site

Categories

Find me on theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology

  • Electrophysiology commentary on Medscape/Cardiology

Mandrola on Medscape

  • My Medscape column on general medical matters

For patients...Educational posts

  • 13 things to know about Atrial Fibrillation — 2014
  • A new cure of AF
  • Adding a new verb to doctoring: To deprescribe is to do a lot
  • AF ablation — 2015 A Cautionary Note
  • AF Ablation in 2012–An easier journey?
  • Atrial Flutter — 15 facts you may want to know.
  • Benign PVCs: A heart rhythm doctor’s approach.
  • Caution with early Cardioversion
  • Decisions of 2 low-risk cases of PAF
  • Defining success in AF ablation in 2014
  • Four commonly asked questions on AF ablation
  • Inflammation and AF — Get off the gas
  • Ten things to expect after AF ablation
  • The medical decsion as a gamble
  • The most important verb in our health crisis
  • Wellness Requires Ownership

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.