The Mummies' Curse: Heart Disease

I'm going to be sure to show this one to my Wife. She thinks the reason why I have heart disease is because of what I eat... Looks like it just might be genetic instead.

Hardening of the Arteries... Well guess what... Egyptians had this problem to waaaaaaaay before fast food was around...

Source: US World News

Modern-day imaging techniques have unearthed hardening of the arteries -- or atherosclerosis, which causes heart attacks and stroke -- in mummies up to 3,500 years old.

Experts have long believed that atherosclerosis is a scourge of modern society, caused by meals snatched at fast-food restaurants and eaten in front of high-definition TVs.

"Perhaps atherosclerosis has been around a lot longer than we think. It might have been a malady affecting man long-term," said Dr. Clyde Yancy, president of the American Heart Association. "It doesn't necessarily change anything we know or do now, but perhaps some of the accoutrements of civilization are not only unhealthy now, they were also unhealthy then.

" The unusual findings were presented Tuesday at the American Heart Association's annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., and published simultaneously in the Nov. 18 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Originally posted by x2Strongx
I'm going to be sure to show this one to my Wife. She thinks the reason why I have heart disease is because of what I eat... Looks like it just might be genetic instead.

Hardening of the Arteries... Well guess what... Egyptians had this problem to waaaaaaaay before fast food was around...

It has nothing to do with genetics or fast food, it's caused by excess consumption of animal fats. It has everything to do with what you eat, sorry to bum your day out

reply to post by Rawhemp


Oh well... I guess I'll have to come up with some other excuse for not eating my vegetables.

I guess they must have eaten a lot of animal meat back then... Hey, I could always say the Egyptians didn't like vegetables too! Think it will work?

reply to post by Rawhemp


do you believe ancient Egyptians' diet was anything like ours? processed foods did not exist and animals, well, maybe a tiny minority had the opportunity. the question remains whether they used it or not, though.

Originally posted by x2Strongx
I'm going to be sure to show this one to my Wife. She thinks the reason why I have heart disease is because of what I eat... Looks like it just might be genetic instead.

Hardening of the Arteries... Well guess what... Egyptians had this problem to waaaaaaaay before fast food was around...

Genetics has a lot to do with it for many people. However, if you do have a genetic inclination to be that way, that's all the more reason to fight it with a good diet.

I'm betting you eat a lot of meat. If you don't want to change that try to add more onions and garlic to your diet and cut down on sweet things and bread.
Refined starch and sugar can quickly form sticky cholesterol, blocking up your arteries.

And exercise helps too, provided you don't push yourself too hard at first. Lifestyle changes need to be gradual.

One hint you won't hear from your doctor: cuddle a purring cat on your chest. I find that really helpful; it's like a gentle, deep, heart massage.

reply to post by Long Lance


Heart disease has nothing to do with processed foods, its caused by excess consumption of animal fats and to a lesser extent free oils. Processed foods just happen to contain a lot of these.

"They did eat animals. Drawings on the tomb showed they ate ducks and sheep and particularly salted fish,"

Agriculture was well-established and meat consumption appears to have been common among those of high social status.

Disease has nothing to do with genetics this is a cop out used by unhealthy people. There is absolutely no prove that this is true, if you think there is feel free to present it.

reply to post by Kailassa


Yeah... I'm a meat and potatoes kind of guy. I do exercise, (Wii Fit not included :lol

One thing going for me though is i do like Onions and a lot of garlic... MMmmm

Next time the cats are laying on my chest, I'll just tell her that it's therapeutic for my heart!

Thanks for the information!

So... Since the Egyptians... well at least the rich ones that were able to be mummified, maybe this is a genetic problem that has been handed from our oldest ancestors where they only ate meat such as the Neanderthal?

Or... it was something that was inherited when our DNA was mixed with E.T.'s?

Originally posted by x2Strongx
reply to post by Kailassa

 

One thing going for me though is i do like Onions and a lot of garlic... MMmmm

Onion and garlic both are powerful antibiotics, meaning anti-life, so not only are you bombarding your system with almost indigestible meat you are killing all the beneficial bacteria that does the digestion. I would stay clear of both onion and garlic if i were you.

I've been posting about the incidence of heart disease in Ancient Egyptians since I've been on this board.

Egyptians were mainly Agriculturists. Their staple food was bread and beer.

Contrary to popular belief, dietary fat and cholesterol consumption does not cause atherosclerosis. The literature and research just doesn't support the hypothesis.

Carbohydrates, specifically those easily digestible, cause the poor blood lipid profiles that lead to plaque formation and heart disease.

Those poor lipid profiles include:

- High Triglycerides (VLDL)*
- High LDL
- Low HDL*
- Increased Inflammation (C-Reactive Protein)
- Decrease in LDL size (not good)*
- Increased Glycation and Advanced Glycation End-products (AGE's)
- Increased Oxidative Stress (Reactive oxygen species, free radicals)

*Denotes those markers of most importance.

Rawhemp: Processed foods contribute heavily to heart disease. Animals fats, on the other hand, do not. Please review your biochemistry textbook for more information.

-Dev

Originally posted by DevolutionEvolvd.

Contrary to popular belief, dietary fat and cholesterol consumption does not cause atherosclerosis. The literature and research just doesn't support the hypothesis.

According to who?

Pooled results of dietary fat trials indicate that reduction or modification of intake of dietary fat reduces the incidence of combined cardiovascular events by 16% (rate ratio 0.84; 95% confidence interval 0.72 to 0.99) and cardiovascular deaths by 9% (0.91; 0.77 to 1.07). No effect was seen on total mortality.

www.bmj.com...

Results Each increase of 5 percent of energy intake from saturated fat, as compared with equivalent energy intake from carbohydrates, was associated with a 17 percent increase in the risk of coronary disease (relative risk, 1.17; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.97 to 1.41; P = 0.10). As compared with equivalent energy from carbohydrates, the relative risk for a 2 percent increment in energy intake from trans unsaturated fat was 1.93 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.43 to 2.61; P

reply to post by x2Strongx


Link to JAMA study.

Computed Tomographic Assessment of Atherosclerosis in Ancient Egyptian Mummies

Fulltext PDF
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Just to comment on Rawhemp's BMJ study as a neutral observer.

Notice that the authors end with "No effect was seen on total mortality."

This is what Uffe Ravnskov, a cholesterol skeptic who questions the lipid hypothesis keep pointing out. No increase in total mortality rates are to be found in such fat/cholesterol/statins studies.

But on the other side, more cardiovascular events happen. You may not die, but may suffer from chronic lack of oxygen/ischemia.

Some things about grains to take in consideration.

If you subscribe to the blood type diet, people with type A do not get acidic with all grains, despite the high protein content of some grains.

Also do not forget that whole oats and barley have the soluble fiber Beta-Glucan, which lowers blood cholesterol by acting as a bile binder/sequestrant and preventing reabsorption in the intestines, thus forcing the liver to retrieve cholesterol from the blood to manufacture more bile.

To finish, the anti nutrient in grains and legumes, phytic acid helps keep Iron levels in check.

Among the academics in the medical/biological fields, there is growing concern with Iron because it is a powerful oxidant.

Phytic acid is considered to help, not harm.

Grains pack two benefits in one food.

First, their beta glucans decrease cholesterol.

Second, phytic acid normalizes Iron and avoid interaction with hydrogen peroxide.

[edit on 20-11-2009 by jjjtir]

Originally posted by Rawhemp

According to who?

According to whom? According to over 60 years of clinical evidence and 200 years of observational evidence.

Pooled results of dietary fat trials indicate that reduction or modification of intake of dietary fat reduces the incidence of combined cardiovascular events by 16% (rate ratio 0.84; 95% confidence interval 0.72 to 0.99) and cardiovascular deaths by 9% (0.91; 0.77 to 1.07). No effect was seen on total mortality.

www.bmj.com...

Congratulations on finding a study that is based solely on observations and proves nothing. How many times must this be stressed. Observational studies do not prove causality. From the article:

Design: Cohort questionnaire study of men followed up for six years from 1986.

It then goes on to read:

Conclusions: These data do not support the strong association between intake of saturated fat and risk of coronary heart disease suggested by international comparisons.

Results Each increase of 5 percent of energy intake from saturated fat, as compared with equivalent energy intake from carbohydrates, was associated with a 17 percent increase in the risk of coronary disease (relative risk, 1.17; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.97 to 1.41; P = 0.10). As compared with equivalent energy from carbohydrates, the relative risk for a 2 percent increment in energy intake from trans unsaturated fat was 1.93 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.43 to 2.61; P

I just came upon this article that is actually incredibly amazing, thanks for posting, I am glad I did a search.

I guess the so call modern over weight society and its links to fast food and hart disease is nothing but hoax.

As is been shown on this research hart disease has been humanity downside since ancient times.

This shows also that everything we have been geared to believe is nothing but a lie.

Fast food is not the one killing people or making people fat or prone to hart problems, it seems to be our destiny eventually.

Originally posted by marg6043
it seems to be our destiny eventually.

Unless people wake up and stop taking health advice from the mainstream.

People also need to take some control over there life, mdonalds isn't making you eat there cheeseburgers

reply to post by Rawhemp


Hey Rawhemp, can we at least agree that one Big Mac with 3 slices of tomato can help with a little antioxidant power from lycopene?

Look at the bright side...

At least 1% of Big Mac isn't that bad.

reply to post by Rawhemp


That is what we all believe, has been geared to believe, but see ancient people 3 thousand years ago, where dying from hart diseases and they have clean diets no preservatives and any of the supposedly bad for your health additives that we have today.

We most wonder . . . how is that possible. . .

Originally posted by marg6043

We most wonder . . . how is that possible. . .

They ate meat, grains and probably did little exercise. They basically lived how modern Americans live today.

reply to post by Rawhemp


I think only the upper classes may have been lazy, but the rest of the people were not.

Now I agree with the meat part of it, they did eat meat specially goats as that is today one of the main meat in the diet for people in the middle east.

Compare to the Asian cultures where hart diseases only has started to show up since western influences and fast food has reached their nations.

Interesting.

Originally posted by marg6043


I think only the upper classes may have been lazy, but the rest of the people were not.

The upper class are the ones that would have been mummified, this data comes from those mummies.

Asian people up until recently have subsisted on diets low in animal protien

It's great to find associations based on observations. Keep it up.

How can you completely ignore physiology and biochemistry while trying to find causality.......with observations?

I don't get it.

You realize that shaving less frequently is associated with heart disease? But no one is going around alarming people that shaving less causes heart disease.....becuase correlation doesn't prove causation.

Meat is not causing heart disease. Dietary fat is not a problem.....BLOOD FAT IS. Saturated fat increases HDL, which is a very good thing.

Your body is not a kitchen sink that clogs when you pour fat down the drain. Eating saturated fat doesn't "clog" your arteries.

To touch on exercise: Exercising may help cardiovascular function by strengthening the heart muscle....but observations suggest that exercise plays little role in atherosclerosis formation. Yes, many people who exercise don't get heart disease, but many people don't exercise and don't get heart disease.

Let's be smart here, guys. Nutritional science relies heavily on epidemiology and observational studies, and very well should, but ignoring human physiology is counterproductive and leads to bogus science.

-Dev