Dr Symko Concord Area Functional Neurologist reveals what is the most important thing you can do to help prevent a stroke.

What is one of the primary causes of heart attacks and strokes?

It is triglycerides (the other blood fat), that is the primary risk factor increasing your chance of having a heart attack or stroke.

Many people are surprised to learn that even though triglycerides are a fat, the unhealthy diet that raises triglycerides has nothing to do with fat intake; triglycerides (and cholesterol as well) are elevated by eating sugar.

The other dietary factor that in some cases will raise cholesterol is polyunsaturated oils (the ones that the propaganda says will help prevent cardiovascular disease).

Neither triglycerides nor cholesterol are elevated by eating saturated fat in general or high cholesterol foods in particular. Remember, while cholesterol is not a primary risk factor for cardiovascular disease, triglycerides are, and are probably the most significant.

A study published in Circulation (October 21, 1997, shows the result of Harvard research indicating that …

THE 25% OF THE POPULATION WITH THE HIGHEST TRIGLYCERIDE TO HDL RATIO HAS 16 TIMES MORE HEART RELATED EVENTS THAN THE 25% WHOSE RATIOS WERE THE LOWEST.

What raises triglycerides?  Starchy foods and sugary foods.  The most important thing you can do to reduce your risk of heart attack or stroke is to either significantly reduce your starch and sugar intake or completely eliminate it.

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Dr. Symko Concord area Functional neurologist has some interesting information about preventing a stroke:

A study done by Gilman, et al and published in the December 24, 1997 Journal of the American Medical Association found that …

THE MORE SATURATED FAT YOU EAT, THE LESS LIKELY YOU ARE TO SUFFER A STROKE.

This study found that polyunsaturated fats have no protective effect.

Best of all, this study actually was able to quantify the protective effect of saturated fats:

YOUR RISK OF STROKE DECREASES BY 15% FOR EVERY 3% INCREASE IN YOUR SATURATED FAT INTAKE.

Here is another interesting study done by Leddy, et al and published in 1997 in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Volume 29.

The subjects of this study were elite male and female endurance athletes, who were placed alternately on a high fat diet and then a low fat diet.

On a high saturated fat diet the patients maintained low body fat, normal weight, normal blood pressure, normal resting heart rate, normal triglycerides and normal serum cholesterol levels.

All their fitness and training parameters were maintained at the elite level. When put on the low fat (high complex carbohydrate) diet, however, it was found that the low fat diet negated many of the beneficial effects that exercise is expected to produce.

The athletes experienced a measurable decline in athletic performance. Most interesting, however, was the fact that the subjects on the low fat diet actually suffered a significant drop in HDL cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol), along with higher triglycerides (both of which are significant CVD risk factors. —

In fact, the ratio of triglycerides to HDL cholesterol is probably the number one risk factor for CVD.

In other words, you want high cholesterol of the HDL type, and low triglycerides. Another interesting factor is the high complex carbohydrate diet is loaded with gluten. This is found in wheat products particularly the whole grain variety. Gluten is inflammatory and can cause LDL cholesterol to rise.

Dr. Symko Concord area Functional Neurologist shares research that links gluten sensitivity to autoimmune thyroid

1. Am J Gastroenterol. 2001 Mar;96(3):751-757.
Prevalence of thyroid disorders in untreated adult celiac
disease patients and effect of gluten withdrawal:
an Italian multicenter study.

• The greater frequency of thyroid disease among celiac disease patients justifies a thyroid
  functional assessment.
  • In distinct cases, gluten withdrawal may single handedly

  reverse the abnormality.

2. Horm Res. 1999;51(3):124-127.
Prevalence of celiac disease in patients
with thyroid autoimmunity.

• On a gluten-free diet, an excellent clinical and histological response was recorded, with an improvement of
  hypothyroidism and reduction of the thyroxine dosage.
• Our data suggest a significantly high
  prevalence of gluten intolerance in patients with
  autoimmune thyroid disorder, in particular those with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.

3.Autoimmunity. 2008 Feb;41(1):116-121.
Celiac disease in North Italian patients
with autoimmune thyroid diseases.

• An increased prevalence of celiac disease was demonstrated in adult European and Italian patients
  with autoimmune thyroid diseases; conversely, an increased prevalence of autoimmune thyroid disease
  was demonstrated in patients with gluten intolerance.
• Gluten sensitivity is significantly increased in patients with thyroid autoimmune
  disorders. For this reason, it is important to screen for gluten sensitivity in patients with autoimmune thyroid disorders

The conclusion is if there is any question of an autoimmune thyroid condition get tested and if gluten sensitive eliminate it from your diet.

Dr Symko Concord MA functional neurologist share more research on gluten’s impact on the brain and nervous system.

Dr. Symko a Concord Functional Neurologist gets a great e-mail from a patient:

Hi Dr. Symko,

 I just want to thank you for your kindness and just doing what you do best for my Uncle.  He’s my godfather and I told my godmother about you and swore up and down that if anyone could figure out his pain, you could, and if you couldn’t you’d find someone who could.  You never let me down.   I do swear by you.  You’ve saved my life and I tell everyone — I’ll tell the world!  The fact that I go what feels like forever with NO pain is … life changing and it’s all due to your hard work and persistence and caring way.  Thank you.

FYI – California Pizza Kitchen has quite a few GF options on their menu — I ate there this weekend in Boston — had a salad (how hard can that be to make GF?!) and it was perfect.  They have separate areas I believe and it all turned out nicely. They said they are working on a GF pizza crust.  Can’t wait!

Have a great weekend!