Customer Reviews
Healthy Tips for Those Statistically at Risk of Heart Attack - By: Donald Mitchell, 20 May 2004 
This book is a good companion to Dean Ornish's wonderful book on Reversing Heart Disease. In that pioneering work, Dr. Ornish portrayed how going to extemely low levels of fat consumption along with other helpful lifestyle changes can unblock arteries & recreate coronary health for those with problems.
In Good Fat Bad Fat, Drs. Castelli & Griffin show how those who are at statistical risk of heart disease can change their habits to stay healthy, & not have to reverse heart disease.
The book is filled with valuable advice about what all of those ratios mean that your doctor will describe to you (cholesterol levels, HDL/LDL ratio, triglycerides, etc.), how you can tell if you are at risk of having heart disease, & simple steps you can take to avoid developing heart disease.
Unlike many books I read, this one gives you a simple formula for changing your diet (10 or 20 grams of bad fat intake a day, depending on your risk of heart disease). Bad fat is saturated fat & trans-fatty acids. You get to pick your poison. There's lots of information on what the amounts of these fats arein various foods, & suggested menus & items with low levels. I'm not very handyin the kitchen, so I cannot tell you how easy or hard these recipes are to prepare. You'll have to size them up yourself.
I think you could eat very well & stayin this diet. You just won't be eating many double cheeseburgers with large fries & a milkshake at the local fast food stand.
There's also important advice about smoking, alcohol, exercise, diet, aspirin, & drugs for reducing cholesterol.
The main things that I thought were missing related to some research that I read shows that those who have taken tetracycline have fewer heart attacks (suggesting that bacteria play a rolein arterial plaque formation), that you have to watch the type & timing of sugars (see Sugar Busters! & Eating Well for Optimum Health) if you want to keep your weight at the right level, & the role of relationships (outlined by Dean Ornishin Love & Survival)in extending life & avoiding heart disease. But you can read those books & add their perspectives to this one, & be even healthier.
Now let me give you the personal part of how I came to read this book. My internist for many decades just retired, & I had a physical today. The new man told me bluntly that I was at risk of heart disease & needed to do something about it if I wanted to keep writing all those books I want to write. He outlined a program & told me I would be measuring my blood cholesterol as often as every 3 months, & suggested a stress test. I can tell you that I changed my dietin a heart beat. I had a little turkey with mustard & lettuce & tomato for dinner. I hit my goal on bad fat for today, & plan to do it every day from now on.
As he said to me, "You're a smart guy. Tell me what advice you would give you if you were me." I got the message. I hope you will, too. Over half the population needs to make the same changes. Overcome your disbelief stall that it cannot happen to you. By changing your behavior, you can turn your hope into realityin this area.
Live long & prosper! Health must precede happiness, peace & prosperity for the best results!
practical guide to healthy eating - By: , 24 Jan 1999 As a practicing cardiologist, I find diet education very challenging. Most books & pamphlets are overly complicated & leave patients confused about fat & cholesterol intake. Good Fat, Bad Fat takes a very simple practical approach which focuses on bad fat (saturated fat & trans fatty acid) intake. The information is easy to digest (pun intended) & very simple to implement. Unlike other fad approaches Drs Castelli & Griffin's advice is scientifically sound & based on solid research evidence as well as their personal experiences. This is a relatively short, easy read. I recommend it to all of my patients.
