I Beat Heart Disease; So Can You

About the Book

The material in I Beat Heart Disease, So Can You does contain some elementary biochemistry. I believe that even a cursory reading of this book will provide enough information for the reader to get the main points so that he or she can decide what course of action to take. The general public may find Part 1 and Part 2, Chapters 2 and 3 more to their interest.

In my case I did not delay to get medical help. Within one month I had all the necessary medical tests done and had a successful surgery which has given me at least 25 or more years of life. Just walking 10 minutes a day three times a day has been shown to help a person's heart. It is not necessary to weigh the foods and watch calories too much. I now find it easy to follow the reasonable Willett diet to eat a healthy mix of vegetables, fruits, nuts (walnuts), high-fiber carbohydrates like wheat breads, high fiber low carbohydrate pasta, and eating salt-water fish, and white meat of chicken and turkey in place of beef and pork.

Drinking one glass of wine a day may be beneficial for increasing a person's blood HDL level, but drinking more than this may negate the beneficial effect of one glass per day. A good breakfast is important because the body has gone without food for 10 or more hours and one's blood sugar level is low. The brain depends on a continuous supply of blood sugar to function properly. Finally, eating must be enjoyable. As Dr. Willitt says, it is ok to have a piece of chocolate once in a while. Eating small amounts of pastries is reasonable. Avoid eating foods high in saturated fatty acids and trans fatty acids. Eat fish that are high in omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids. Take lipid-lowering drugs as needed. I wish all readers of this book good health and a long healthy life.

About the Author

Guido V. Marinetti has a Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry and is Professor Emeritus at the University of Rochester Medical School. He taught undergraduate, graduate, and medical students biochemistry for 40 years. During this time he did research on developing chromatographic methods for separating and analyzing phospholipids, and studied the arrangement and functions of phospholipids in cell membranes. He taught medical students how to treat patients having coronary artery disease (CAD) caused by high levels of blood cholesterol and triglycerides with diet, drugs, and exercise.

Marinetti edited a three volume series entitled Lipid Chromatographic Analysis (Dekker, 1976) and authored a book entitled Disorders of Lipid Metabolism (Plenum, 1990). He also has published 168 articles in a variety of well-known biochemical journals.