Why are heart attacks still happening?

4. March 2012 William Davis (10)
I'm a cardiologist. I see patients with heart disease in the form of coronary artery disease every day.

These are people who have undergone bypass surgery, received one or more stents or undergone other forms of angioplasty, have survived heart attacks or sudden cardiac death, or have high heart scan scores. In short, I see patients every day who are at high-risk for heart attack and death from heart disease.

But I see virtually no heart attacks. And nobody is dying from heart disease. (I'm referring to the people who follow the strategies I advocate, not the guy who thinks that smoking a pack of cigarettes a day is still okay, or the woman who thinks the diet is unnecessary because she's slender.)

Two high-profile deaths from heart attacks occurred this week:

Davy Jones--The iconic singer from the 1960s pop group, the Monkees, suffered sudden cardiac death after a large heart attack, just hours after experiencing chest pain.

Andrew Breitbart--The conservative blogger and controversy-generating media personality suffered what was believed to be sudden cardiac death while walking.

It's a darn shame and it shouldn't happen. The tools to identify the potential for heart attack are available, inexpensive, and simple. The strategies to reduce, even eliminate, risk are likewise available, inexpensive, and cultivate overall health.

The followers of the Track Your Plaque program who

1) get a heart scan that yields a coronary calcium score (for long-term tracking purposes)
2) identify the causes such as small LDL particles, lipoprotein(a), vitamin D deficiency, and thyroid dysfunction
3) correct the causes

enjoy virtual elimination of risk.
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Comments (10) -

  • Alexandra

    3/4/2012 1:02:04 PM |

    Just read this about Davy Jones:
    http://blog.sfgate.com/dailydish/2012/03/01/micky-dolenz-bewildered-by-davy-jones-death/

  • nina

    3/4/2012 9:30:09 PM |

    I saw some recent photos of Davy Jones and thought ''wheat belly''.  Sad, but avoidable.

  • PeteKl

    3/4/2012 11:00:30 PM |

    I don''t claim to entirely know the answer to this question, but I am willing to venture a guess to what might be part of the answer.  My suspicion is that in the end, for better or worse, most people value the opinions of their social group more than they value their health.  Currently Doctor, your recommendations are just too far from mainstream opinion and sadly will be ignored by all but the most thoughtful people.

    As anyone who has tried to modify their diet has probably discovered, the greatest challenge often isn''t dealing with cravings for a missing food.  Instead it is dealing with the social backlash to your lifestyle change from friends and family.  

    At first everyone is interested in knowing why you have made the change and they attempt to accommodate your choice.  However eventually they become annoyed as they realize the change you made is permanent.  I can''t tell you how many times I have heard some variation on the following when deciding where to eat with friends (usually given with a thinly veiled snide tone of voice):

    “I would really like to check out that new Italian restaurant, but Pete won''t eat pasta, so I guess we have to go back to the usual place.”

    It doesn''t matter how many times I tell people that I can always find something to eat no matter where we go.  Someone will still insist on making an issue of my dietary choices.  Things aren''t always this blatant, but it is frequent enough that I eventually start wondering whether I should change my eating habits or stop eating with friends.

    While dietary modifications elicit the most direct response, these types of responses seems to occur with almost any health related change.  If your friends and family aren''t themselves doing something or think the change is a dumb idea (no matter how flimsy the reasoning), most people will avoid making a change.  

    Even my own partner, whose father died suddenly of a heart attack last month and whose relatively young mother has been diagnosed with chronic heart failure ignores my suggestions (which are based on your recommendations).  He has asked me several times for advice that might help his mother and the response to my suggestions is always that it won''t work.

    I finally realized that he simply doesn''t want to challenge the rest of the family.  His older brother, a pharmaceutical representative, is viewed as the “expert” on family health issues and my partner refuses to butt heads with him despite what is at stake.  So I keep quiet and wish his mother the best.

    Much of this is understandable.  Humans are social animals and we have evolved to depend on our social group for survival.  On a savannah in Africa 50,000 years ago this made perfect sense.  But in a modern world of science and technology these natural social instincts are increasingly an obstacle to our health and many of us know it.

    Yet it still takes a strong, independent personality to ignore these impulses.  While I have been able to make a number of changes in my life based on your recommendations, it has still been difficult to consistently follow through.  

    Just a few days ago I was invited over to someone''s house to celebrate a birthday.  So what was on the menu?  Several wheat pizza''s, of course.  So did I tell the host that because of my heart problems I no longer eat wheat?  Sorry Doctor, I didn''t.  Instead I shut up, ate the pizza and  proceeded to raise my small LDL particle level for the next week (http://www.trackyourplaque.com/blog/2011/11/friday-is-my-bad-day.html).

  • Robert

    3/5/2012 7:42:48 PM |

    Since adopting a paleo/low carb diet in the last year, I am looking into getting an NMR lipoprofile test to get a baseline of how my particle count looks.  Under the section of treatment options on this particular site, the first line of start with eating right reads "Eat more whole grains, fruits and vegetables."  The very first thing listed is whole grains.  This is so frustrating to see on a site promoting a very useful tool in CVD risk evaluation.  I have read "wheat belly" and "track your plaque", both very good books.  I am also reading primal body, primal mind.  Heart disease runs heavily in my family and I''m pretty much going against what most people in my famliy do by following low carb/paleo eating habits.  I just dont understand why these larger blood test companies, even with all the evidence continuing to pile up, still suggest foods that will worsen the problem the tests are evaluating in the first place.  I guess you have to have confidence in the test they provide (NMR), but just ignore what they say are the best options for treating abnormalities of that test?

  • Dr. William Davis

    3/6/2012 3:47:32 AM |

    It is unbelievable, isn''t it, with all their insights?

    Give them time and they''ll catch on. In the meantime, ignore this nonsense, Robert.

  • Julie

    3/6/2012 6:40:58 AM |

    Dr. Davis,
    What would you recommend for someone who had recently one stent put in and is currently on a statin and plavix post -op?
    Is it necessary to take statins in this case? Any additional supplements etc.?

    Thank you in advance for your help!
    P.S. Loved your book!

  • Catherine

    3/7/2012 12:41:32 AM |

    Dr. Davis,
    Could you please consider changing your "categories" back to the old way you had them organized--single file, alphabetical and one type size? Although it may give a more creative look to the website, it is harder to find the material being sought. I send many new people to your site and they often complain about it.

  • Dr. William Davis

    3/10/2012 3:51:20 PM |

    Hi, Julie--

    This is precisely what the Track Your Plaque program is about.

    In a nutshell:

    1) Identify the causes specific to you, including lipoprotein abnormalties/lipoprotein(a)
    2) Supplement and normalize vitamin D and iodine/thyroid status
    3) Supplement omega-3 fatty acids
    4) Do the diet

  • The Worst Habits for Your Heart - Christian Forums

    5/30/2012 7:50:36 PM |

    [...] patients so that they avoid having a cardiac.   "Why are heart attacks still happening?"  Why are heart attacks still happening? | Track Your Plaque Blog     I’m a cardiologist. I see patients with heart disease in the form of coronary artery [...]

  • margaret

    5/25/2013 6:05:53 AM |

    Dr Davis
    Just found your interesting website.  I am trying to get my partner to cut out wheat (overweight, high chol and high BP).  Unfortunately, I can't find a doctor who conducts the tests you recommend.  Do you know of such in Australia (particularly Western Australia)?  

    Many thanks and I'll continue reading till we catch up down here!!

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Gluten-free is going DOWN

Gluten-free is going DOWN

16. June 2011 William Davis (18)
The majority of gluten-free foods are junk foods.

People with celiac disease experience intestinal destruction and a multitude of other inflammatory conditions due to an immune response gone haywire. The disease  is debilitating and can be fatal unless all gliadin/gluten sources are eliminated, such as wheat, barley, and rye.

A gluten-free food industry to provide foods minus gliadin/gluten has emerged, now large enough to become an important economic force. Even some Big Food companies are getting into the act, like Kraft, that now lists foods they consider gluten-free.

So we have gluten-free breads, cupcakes, scones, pretzels, breakfast cereals, crackers, bagels, muffins, pancake mixes and on and on. All are made with ingredients like brown rice flour, cornstarch, tapioca starch, and potato starch. Occasionally, they are made with amaranth, teff, or quinoa, other less popular, but gluten-free, grains.

Problem: These gluten-free ingredients, while lacking gliadin and gluten, make you fat and diabetic. They increase visceral fat, cause blood sugar to skyrocket higher than nearly all other foods (even higher than wheat, which is already pretty bad), trigger formation of small LDL and triglycerides, and are responsible for exaggerated postprandial (after-eating) lipoprotein distortions. They cause heart disease, cataracts, arthritis, and a wide range of other conditions, all driven by the extreme levels of glycation they generate.

Eliminating all things wheat from the diet is one of the most powerful health strategies I have ever witnessed. But replacing lost wheat with manufactured gluten-free foods is little better than replacing your poppyseed muffin with a bowl of jelly beans.

Whenever we've relied on the food industry to supply a solution, they've managed to bungle it. Saturated fat was replaced with hydrogenated fat and polyunsaturates; sucrose replaced with high-fructose corn syrup. Now, they are replacing wheat gluten-containing foods with junk carbohydrates.

For this reason, I am bringing out a line of recipes and foods that will be wheat gliadin/gluten-free, do NOT contain the junk carbohydrates that gluten-free foods are made of, and are genuinely healthy. They are tasty, to boot.

The gluten-free industry needs to smarten up. Having a following that is free of cramps and diarrhea but are obese, diabetic, and hobbling on arthritic knees and hips is good for nobody.
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Comments (18) -

  • Howard

    6/16/2011 1:44:29 PM |

    I had to chuckle when I saw the Adsense ad on this post from "Honey Bunches of Oats".  I get that crap on my blog, too.

  • Carolyn Trammell

    6/16/2011 2:47:00 PM |

    This is such a good reminder to avoid processed foods even gluten free ones. I have to ask myself why these kinds of foods are so popular even though they are usually expensive. I guess they are convenient and easy to grab and go and make a sandwich for lunch. Maybe it is time to experiment with almond flour and see what kind of bread it makes. I have the flour but haven't tried it. It's all about daily habits and having the right kind of foods on hand. Processed carbs seem to have a calming effect too which might be why I want to reach for them when I am feeling stressed. I mean why would bagels and bread be so popular if there wasn't something soothing about chewing on them. I'll let you know if I come up with a suitable substitute using almond flour.
    Dr. Davis, thanks for your work and for sharing it with everyone. You are improving  quality of life for many people.

  • Karl

    6/16/2011 3:25:55 PM |

    Any hint if the "gluten-free" wheat products are lectin free?  My hunch is they are not - thus we probably should avoid all wheat foods.

    Wheat has changed quite a lot in the last 50 years - twice the lectin containing gluten.

  • John

    6/16/2011 4:40:00 PM |

    @Carolyn I've never used almond flour to make bread, never eat bread anymore, because of Dr. Davis's no wheat advice on this blog which is great.

    I have used almond flour to coat fish with and then pan sear in olive oil. Especially with trout, kind of like Trout Almondine.

    Tastes great too.

  • Tiana MacLeod

    6/16/2011 4:58:37 PM |

    Oh please bring your products to Canada... I went to a gluten free food fair and didn't really try any food. Nothing was healthy and I was not impressed! All they had were substitutes for foods you shouldn't even be eating anyways, noodles and brownies, breads and cupcakes.. they even had samples of Chex cereal.. Not worth my $5 spent at all!!

  • Anne

    6/16/2011 6:04:58 PM |

    I agree, there is too much junk food in the GF world but it seems that is what the majority of the GF people want to eat. People have told me that being GF is a big enough sacrifice and they don't want to be deprived of any more foods.

    When I stopped eating gluten it did not take me long to figure out that I felt better when I eliminated all grains and sugars. Gluten was easy because it made me feel so ill, but it took me a while to completely get off sugars and other grains and go primal.

    I am interested in seeing what foods and recipes you will be bringing out.

    Karl - from what I have read, all food contains lectins. Grains, legumes and nightshades have the highest amount. The Lowdown on Lectins

  • Dan

    6/17/2011 12:49:07 PM |

    They just can't get away from the notion that the body needs carbs and "healthy whole grains."  It's just more of what Kurt Harris calls "candy cigarettes."

  • Judy B

    6/17/2011 2:05:18 PM |

    This gluten-free food craze reminds me of an evening when I went to a vegan restaurant with a friend and the menu had a lot or"meat" dishes made out of various grains and tofu.  I had an allergic reaction to all the grains which my friend couldn't understand because all of the food was so "healthy"!

  • Tim

    6/17/2011 8:28:00 PM |

    Yeah, we were eating up some of the gluten-free foods, until I came across this blog and found out about cornstarch and potato starch, etc.  Most of the time, when they remove the gluten, they replace it with these kinds of ingredients.

    I know you're not crazy about grains, Dr. Davis, but what's your take on quinoa, since it is genetically a seed?


    Thanks for this blog, Dr. D!

    Tim

  • Anne

    6/18/2011 5:47:27 PM |

    Reasons I don't eat quinoa - it spikes my blood sugar and saponins and lectins contribute to leaky gut. Wish it were not true.

  • Licia

    6/18/2011 10:09:21 PM |

    Thanks so much Dr. D for all the hard work you put into the info you provide here in your blog!!! It is very informative and I appreciate all your information.

    Please tell us more about your GF line of foods and when it will be coming out. Thanks so much!

  • Paul Lee

    6/21/2011 10:48:09 PM |

    You can't trust the food processors. This reminds me of the stuff produced by Atkins, its  a question of breaking away from this approach to eating entirely, and going back to "real foods." I'm interested in almond flour though. As an experiment I ground down a packet of walnut halves in the blender to make a cheesecake base and then mixed with melted butter which left in the fridge to set. Just don't grind them up too much to get a bit of "crunch." I guess almonds would do too.

  • Helen Howes

    6/29/2011 3:24:33 PM |

    This works for me (diabetic, on steroids, tested thoroughly) and my SO (celiac and ulcerative colitis)

    Low Carb Gluten-free  Bread Substitute

    Makes 8 pieces

    Melt 100g butter in the microwave or a pan
    Add 200g almond flour (ground almonds)

    Flavour to taste with all or some of
    Grated cheese
    Finely chopped onion
    Herbs (dried or fresh)
    Pine nuts
    Cashews etc etc

    Or for a sweet version, flavour with
    Cinnamon, nutmeg and/or ground ginger,
    Lemon or orange peel
    Pour the batter over fruit (eating apples, berries, plums, dried or fresh apricots) This adds to the carb count...


    Stir all very well and add one large or two medium eggs and a little milk or water to make a stiff batter (think cake-mix) For the sweet version make the batter a little thinner so that it pours nicely

    Decorate with flaked almonds if you like..


    Oil and flour (use cornflour or gram flour for gluten-free) a flat baking tin

    Bake for approx 35 minutes at 200c.  It’s done when a knife comes out clean

    Looks like flapjack, tastes like heaven

    Savoury version has around 4-6 g carbs per piece
    Sweet about 6-8 according to the fruit used

  • Sheryl

    6/29/2011 10:54:42 PM |

    I avoid gluten products as much as possible.  Now that I'm following The Glycemic Load Diet (by Dr. Rob Thompson), my grain intake is so limited anyway, that it's not a problem.

    I am very interested in low carb/gluten free products.  I notice the Atkins bake mix is full of gluten, and their pasta is laughable - full of gluten and too high a carb count for my liking

    Please bring us some healthy, gluten free products.  There is too much gluten free junk out there!

  • gluten free fruit cake

    7/6/2011 7:16:24 PM |

    There needs to be more gluten free recipes. Thanks for your efforts.

  • Gwen

    7/17/2011 1:59:04 PM |

    How does a thin person maintain a somewhat normal weight without consuming at least some grains?  Also, having hypoglycemia, I could not maintain any level of energy without ingesting some carbs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

  • Steve L.

    7/22/2011 5:36:54 AM |

    The gluten free industry will have to go into the animal husbandry or vegetable farming business to have a more beneficial impact.  I'm thinking they'll go down fighting instead.

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