100%

Scanned image of the page. Keyboard directions: use + to zoom in, - to zoom out, arrow keys to pan inside the viewer.

Page Options

Share

Something wrong?

Something wrong with this page? Report problem.

Rights / Permissions

The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes. These materials may be under copyright. If you decide to use any of these materials, you are responsible for making your own legal assessment and securing any necessary permission. If you have questions about the collection, please contact the Bentley Historical Library at bentley.ref@umich.edu

December 29, 1989 - Image 73

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1989-12-29

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

HEALTH

CHOLESTEROL
COUNTS

MICHAEL ELKIN

Special to The Jewish News

I

was looking for a kinder,
gentler cholesterol. One
that wouldn't skyrocket
just because I was eating ice
cream and cheesecake. One
that wouldn't have my physi-
cian shaking his head and
saying, "You do want to live
a long life, don't you?"
Last year when I was 38,
my cholesterol count had
soared close to 300! What I
wanted to do was bring it
down closer to earth - say
200, a safe level.
According to the American
Heart Association, your
cholesterol level should be no
more than 200 if you're bet-
ween the ages of 20 and 30,
and no more than 220 if
you're between 30 and 40. If
you are over 40, it should be
below 240. The incidence of
coronary disease starts to rise
when cholesterol levels ex-
ceed 200 milligrams per
deciliter of blood.
How can you feel safe when
your cholesterol — that horrid
fatty, waxy substance that
clogs up arteries — is building
with every egg you eat? That
also goes for a steak sandwich
or a buttered bagel, or any

food derived from an animal
source.
"All right," I said, steeling
myself for the worst. "I'll just
have to cut out food."
It wasn't that easy. Even-
tually, wouldn't you know it,
I got hungry.
Who was I kidding? Every
Thstykake had my name on
it. Sara Lee and I had been
dating for close to 40 years;
now, suddenly, I was going to
break up with her just as she
was coming out with a new
line!
One thing I wasn't was a
gigolo. Faithful through and
through, I had never met a
saturated fat (the one that
raises cholesterol levels) I
didn't like.
When it came to diet, I had
less will than wallet. Besides,
who needed to worry about
health at my age? But
middle-age spread, my doctor
warned me, can start sooner
than one thinks. Indeed, my
stomach preceded me into a
room. "Oh, here comes
Michael," someone would say
as I was rounding the corner.
Maybe that's an exaggera-
tion. But my problems
weren't. My meals and snacks
could have fueled a grease
fire. Not that I loved only junk
food; I was a gourmet, after

As your levels go
up, your life
expectancy goes
down. That's why I
now eat bagels
without cream
cheese.

all, a devotee of fancy foreign
cuisine — French fries,
Danish pastries, Peking duck.
Could I survive on a diet
like this the rest of my life?
Fat chance, said my doctor.
Fear may prove to be the
best diet incentive after all.
"All right," I said to myself
again (overeaters tend to talk
to themselves quite a bit).
"I'll try one more time."
This time I succeeded. After
consulting several doctors
and nutritionists, I learned
that you can have your cake
and eat it too — within
moderation, of course. Listen
to Dr. Joel Morganroth, direc-
tor of cardiac research and
development at Graduate
Hospital in Philadelphia:
"You know, we talk about peo-
ple having a sweet tooth
when what we really mean is
that they have a fat tooth.
People like candy or ice cream
because of the fat content, the
substance that makes the pro-
duct feel smooth and silky."
That smooth, silky feeling
hardens by the time it
reaches the heart. "Heart
disease is by far the number
one killer in this country,"
says Morganroth.
In the past five years, he
notes, people have been tak-
ing cholesterol seriously. Yet

according to a recent article
in Prevention magaine, only
42 percent of those surveyed
were interested in restricting
their cholesterol intake.
Not that we should get rid
of all our cholesterol. "You ab-
solutely need cholesterol in
your system," says car-
diologist Dr. Leonard
Horowitz of the Philadelphia
Heart Institute. "If you cut it
out totally, you'd literally fall
on the floor. Some cholesterol
is important in maintaining
the cell membranes. It's also
important in the manufac-
ture of hormones, notably in
the adrenal gland."
In Japan, notes Horowitz,
talk of cholesterol is nearly
nonexistent, because the
average cholesterol count is
150. In the United States, the
average hovers around 200.
"We eat such fatty foods," he
says, "that the blood vessels
are continuously under
stress. The walls of the
arteries get deposits, like pla-
que."
According to Dr. Albert
Brest, director of cardiology
at Thomas Jefferson Univer-
sity Hospital in Philadelphia,
reducing your cholesterol
level by just 25 percent can
reduce your risk of heart at-
tack by 50 percent. "How you

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

15-F

Back to Top

© 2024 Regents of the University of Michigan