Matters of the Heart

Sometimes, I am appalled at people- appalled.  Here someone sits, he/she just had their cardiac cath done (for their encroaching cardiac disease), and as they wait for discharge they are eating McDonald’s while STILL IN THE CATH LAB.  Out. Of. Order.  No MA’AM/SIR.  For the love, this is why they’re sitting in the cath lab for that cardiac cath in the first place.  It’s only day 2, and everyone I’ve seen on this rotation eats terrible, with known cardiac disease.  I respect their choice to eat what they want, but it’s sort of frustrating to see them back for their second stent, or re-stent, or second open heart surgery.  Didn’t they get the picture the first time? Their old ticker is being choked by atherosclerosis.  Literally choked.  Just because there is a stent/graft in there now, doesn’t mean the pathology doesn’t still exist.  It’s not erased.  It’s just placated.

I just want everyone I love & know to be on the SD- not that I would ever impose it upon people, but I want them to lead healthy, long lives.  The USDA & USDHHS recently released their new recommendations for a healthy diet, and I was glad to see that the SD incorporated most, if not all, of them.  Here’s the document itself:  USDA Guidelines .  It looks like a long-ish read at first, but it’s really light reading & just scanning over it was really helpful.  It is also more helpful than it has been in previous years.  For example, last year’s recommendations simply said “eat more vegetables,” which could, for some people, be interpreted as “I’ll just add some extra tomatoes to my B.L.T.”  Or, if you are my hubby, the ketchup he put on his french fries counted as his “vegetable” (pre-SD, of course).  Now, they have more specific recommendations, such as “Fill half of your plate with vegetables.”  It’s a little more tangible a goal for which people strive.

For any fellow neuro nerds: the beginnings of neurological proof that meditation is good for lowering stress and anxiety, increasing capacity to learn, and  making us more empathetic!  Two of my many loves: neuro and yoga.   NY times Meditation article

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