How About Some Advice From Peoria

Posted: March 8th, 2009 | Author: Dr. Bill | No Comments »

The first thing I saw when I opened my mail this morning was an article forwarded to me from someone on the mailing list in Peoria, Illinois. That brought  a liitle chuckle from me, even though I’ve never been there. One of my medical school instructors used to say to a classmate, “Bob, how do you think that will play in Peoria?” Or, in a little variation, “Bob, if you don’t pay attention… you could end up practicing in Peoria.”

Of course, as far as my instructor was concerned, there were only two cities in America, New York and Boston, and practicing anywhere else just wouldn’t have occurred to him.

I think Bob would be glad to know that there are, in fact, doctors in Peoria, and specialists, too.

The cardiologists at St. Francis Medical Center there held the first annual Cardiology Cookout, in what they hope will become an annual event.

What the staff wanted to do was show people that cooking can be fun, and that good food doesn’t have to be unhealthy.

Those who attended, over a hundred people, tasted samples of heart healthy foods, and were given recipes to take home.

I think that’s an admirable idea.

The staff at St Francis had some recommendations, and I found this one very helpful.

People are always asking how many calories they should consume.

The way to figure that out is to multiply your weight by 15.

Say you weigh 170 pounds. You multiply that by 15, which equals 2550 calories. To maintain that weight, that’s how many calories you would consume daily.

If you want to lose weight, you multiply by 13, which would be 2210 calories. That’s difference of 340 calories per day. If you drink 2 Cokes in a day, and switch to water, or tea, you have dropped 220 calories right there, and eating a sandwich with mustard, instead of mayonnaise, would save pretty close to the rest. Doing just those two things would reduce your caloric intake by 2380 calories per week, or almost a full day of food.

This doesn’t even take exercise into account.

You can lose weight without exercising, but when you do both, it’s much easier.

The cardiologists also recommended getting omega 3 fatty acids from fish oil supplements, taken from fish that are low on the food chain, such as anchovies, and sardines (less potential for environmental contaminants that way).

They’re walking right up my alley now, since I have an enteric coated essential fatty acid softgel, with the highest concentration of EPA/DHA on the market. This pharmaceutical grade fish oil, from the deep arctic waters of Norway is cholesterol free, mercury and PCB  free, and meets the highest international and national standards for purity.

Dr Kent Wise, a cardiologist at St. Francis says, “We don’t believe other supplements, such as Vitamins C, or E, or folic acid, do much to improve heart health.”

“Fish oil lowers triglcyerides, one of the fats in the blood. There is even some evidence that it lowers the chance of sudden death.”

Some more recommendations:

Stay away from fast food (pack your own healthy lunch, instead).

Reduce your salt intake (stay away from chips, pretzels, and packaged foods).

Eat plenty of fiber, including beans, barley, fruit and vegetables.

And in the summertime, patronize the farmers’ market.

That’s all good advice, whether you got it in Boston, New York, or Peoria.

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