Words of Wisdom From Peoria

This morning I checked my email and an article caught my eye — one that had been forwarded by a member of my mailing list who lives in Peoria, Illinois. I had to laugh, even though I have never been anywhere near Peoria. The cause of my amusement was my memory of something one of my instructors from medical school used to say to one of my classmates way back when. “Bob, what will they think of this in Peoria?” Or, the alternate: “Bob, if you don’t watch out and start picking up speed, it’s quite possible you could end up with a practice in Peoria.

Of course, as far as my instructor was concerned, there were only two cities in America, New York and Boston, and practicing anywhere else just wouldn’t have occurred to him.

I think by now Bob has probably figured out that there are indeed qualified medical practitioners in Peoria, as well as equally qualified specialists.

The cardiologists at St. Francis Medical Center there held the first annual Cardiology Cookout, in what they hope will become an annual event.

The St. Francis cardiology staff, besides staging a fun event, were trying to remind attendees that cooking can be pleasurable, and that cooking tasty food does not automatically mean that food is not good for you.

More than one hundred people attended the event, and all were given samples of food that are healthy for the heart, as well as recipes that they can use to create the heart-healthy foods at home.

I think that’s an admirable idea.

The staff at St Francis had some recommendations, and I found this one very helpful.

One question I always get asked is about the optimal amount of calories that a person should eat daily.

The simplest way for you to calculate this is to take your weight and multiply it by 15.

For example, if you weigh 170 pounds you would multiply 170 by 15, which totals 2550 calories. You would need to eat that many calories daily if you wanted to keep your weight at 170.

For someone who wants to drop weight, they need to multiply their weight by 13 instead of 15. Using the 170 pound example, this totals 2210 calories. That equals a daily decrease of 340 calories. Two easy suggestions for dropping the daily calorie count: One, if you drink two sugar-filled sodas a day, make the change to plain tea, or water. This shaves off 220 calories right there. Two, try switching to mustard, instead of mayonnaise on your sandwich, and you will have pretty much taken care of the 340 calories that you are trying to take out of your daily diet. Follow those easy guidelines, and in one week you will have decreased your caloric intake by 2380, which pretty much equals a whole day of calorie consumption.

This plan for success doesn’t even include the extra calories burned by exercise.

Weight loss does occur without exercise, but doing both will speed up your success.

The cardiology staff from St. Francis also advocates the daily consumption of omega 3 fatty acids by taking fish oil supplements. It’s important to choose a fish oil supplement that is made from fish that rank low on the food chain, such as anchovies and sardines. The consumption of these types of fish oils means there is less potential for contamination from environmental factors.

They’re walking right up my alley now, since I have an enteric coated essential fatty acid softgel, with the highest concentration of EPA/DHA on the market. This pharmaceutical grade fish oil, from the deep arctic waters of Norway is cholesterol free, mercury and PCB free, and meets the highest international and national standards for purity.

Dr Kent Wise, a cardiologist at St. Francis says, “We don’t believe other supplements, such as Vitamins C, or E, or folic acid, do much to improve heart health.”

He goes on to say, “We are convinced that fish oil has an impact on lowering triglycerides, one of the detrimental fats found in the blood. Furthermore, some evidence has shown that fish oil can lower the risk of sudden death.

Here are more suggestions:

Stay away from fast food (pack your own healthy lunch, instead).

Decrease the amount of salt you are eating. Try to steer clear from salty snacks like chips and pretzels, and check the salt content of packaged food.

Try to increase your daily intake of fiber. Some good options are plenty of fruit and vegetables, as well as beans and barley.

And in the summertime, patronize the farmers’ market.

That’s all good advice, whether you got it in Boston, New York, or Peoria.

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