Busy week for American Heart Association officials, who staged their annual Scientific Sessions meeting at McCormick Place.
On Monday, it was publicized that a Duke University study showed that research subjects on the high-protein, low-carbohydrate Atkins diet lost more weight (31 pounds on average) than individuals following the heart association’s low-fat eating plan (dropping 20 pounds) during a six-month period.
What’s more, participants were more likely to stick with the Atkins diet–and its nearly 60 percent of calories from fat–than the AHA approach. Total cholesterol fell slightly in each group, but the Atkins followers experienced better numbers for good HDL cholesterol and potentially unhealthful triglycerides.
Though not conclusive, the study of 120 people reheated the debate about whether Americans should be consuming virtually unlimited helpings of bacon and eggs for breakfast (hold the toast) and substituting pork rind snacks for potato chips. Experts appearing on television representing the Atkins view couldn’t help smiling.
For his part, the AHA president, Northwestern Memorial Hospital cardiologist Robert Bonow, said the organization will reconsider the three-decades-old Atkins diet as more research results become available.
Nobody knows what happens to someone who stays on a strict Atkins high-protein plan for years. Even Dr. Robert Atkins himself has discussed relaxing the plan (and eating more carbs in the form of fruits and vegetables) after a more intensive early phase.
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Then, on Tuesday, the heart association turned its attention to fish oil, which is high in two omega-3 fatty acids known as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (FHA). In the past, it recommended increasing consumption of fatty fish (salmon, herring, mackerel, sardines, lake trout, albacore tuna) to twice weekly for prevention of heart disease. Now it recommends about 1 gram of EPA/DHA, preferably from fatty fish but capsules are OK, on a daily basis if a patient has documented coronary heart disease.
If a person needs to reduce a high triglycerides count, the AHA now urges 2 to 4 daily grams of EPA/DHA capsules under a physician’s care.
There is worry about some types of fish containing mercury, PCBs, dioxins and other environmental toxins. The AHA discourages children and pregnant women from eating too much tuna, say, no more than once a week, for fear of exposure to excessive mercury.
The question is, why eat tuna at all unless you can be assured that the particular fish or brand doesn’t contain mercury?
On Wednesday, a special session sponsored by Mars Inc. explored the cardiovascular benefits of chocolate and wine. Both contain flavonols,which are a more potent subset of the thousands of flavonoids in plant foods.
Flavonols are abundant in red wine, purple grape juice, black tea and minimally processed cocoa and chocolate, while the still nutrient-packed flavonoids are most concentrated in cherries, berries, citrus fruits, apples and onions.
The first Wednesday speaker was Harold Schmitz, a research scientist at Mars who is based in McLean, Va. During a subsequent interview, Schmitz was purposefully conservative about the current effectiveness of cocoa and chocolate products to offset heart disease.
He explained that there is no commercially available cocoa beverage product that mimics the fresh cocoa drinks that seem to maintain healthy hearts in such populations at the Kuna Islanders off Panama. Schmitz said chocolate products vary widely in flavonol content; even some dark chocolate has few flavonols.
Food companies process out the flavonols in cocoa, mostly for appearance and taste. A similar problem exists when winemakers produce white wine and even certain forms of red wine (the most healthy wines are fermented in both the skins and seeds).
Mars has patented a cocoa-processing method that retains more flavonol, creating a Cocoapro product that has been supplied to flavonol researchers but not yet to consumers.
“Someday soon we might well be recommending a daily cup of cocoa to go with your preventive dose of aspirin,” Marguerite M. Engler, a researcher and vice chairwoman of physiological nursing at the University of California at San Francisco.
The research news on red wine is more positive, but British researcher Roger Corder said that “five red wines will have different flavonol contents.” Corder discussed the alternatives to red wine, mentioning cranberry juice as a potent source of flavonols. Trouble is, most commercial cranberry drinks are no more than 25 percent pure juice.
“You would have to drink a liter of the cranberry drink to match the flavonol content of two glasses of typical red wine,” said Corder. “To some people that’s attractive, but to myself and others we’ll stick with the red wine.”