Change the channel for a healthier diet

Want a diet that’s sure to clog arteries and lead to high blood pressure? Of course not, but if you look to your TV for inspiration, that’s exactly what you’ll get. In fact, if you let TV ads be your nutrition guide, you’d get 25 times the daily recommended servings of sugar and 20 times the recommended servings of fat—but less than half the recommended servings of fruit, vegetables and dairy a day. That’s according to a study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. Researchers looked at what would happen if you ate 2,000 calories worth of food that’s advertised on TV. Then they examined ads shown during 84 hours of prime-time programming and 12 hours of Saturday morning broadcasts during one month. The ads featured products heavy on saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium, while light on fiber, potassium, calcium and vitamins A, E and D. So be kind to your heart: Don’t let a clever ad influence your shopping list!

When omega-3 supplements aren’t helpful

All you hear about omega-3 fatty acids is that they’re good for your heart. Omega-3s are found in flaxseeds, walnuts and fatty fish like salmon and mackerel. (The American Heart Association recommends two fish meals a week.) But if you have heart disease and already consume your fair share of omega-3s, chances are that taking omega-3 supplements isn’t going to do much to help your heart. In a Norwegian study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers followed more than 2,400 people (mostly men) who were taking cholesterol-lowering medications and found that only those who had a very low dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids cut their risk of heart attacks or death by taking more of these supplements. What’s more, previous research has found that omega-3 supplements only help heart disease patients to a point. While taking more supplements didn’t prevent heart problems, it didn’t hurt, either. In any case, talk with your physician before starting any supplements, especially if you have heart disease.

Grass-fed cows produce healthier milk

Turns out there really may be greener pastures—when it comes to milk, anyway. Previous research has shown that dairy cows that consume a fresh-grass diet make milk containing five times as much conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a healthy fat thought to protect the heart and aid in weight loss, as milk from cows chowing down on processed grains. Grass-fed cows are common in countries like Costa Rica, but cows in the United States typically feed on processed grains. Harvard School of Public Health researchers recently looked at 4,000 Costa Ricans and found that people who had the highest levels of CLA in their fat tissues had a 36 percent lower risk of heart attack than those with the lowest amounts, even after adjusting for heart-disease risk factors. Experts suggest that CLA could help offset the saturated fat found in whole milk. The next time you head to your local farm or whole-foods market, opt for a greener milk.

Ultrasound predicts stroke

It turns out that ultrasound can tell you if you’re at risk for a full-blown stroke or mini-stroke caused by a narrowed carotid artery—even if you have no symptoms, British researchers say. They studied 482 patients whose carotid arteries were narrowed by at least 70 percent, administering ultrasounds every six months to look for blood clots and plaque linked to narrowing of the arteries. Those patients who had clots and plaque identified by ultrasound were two-and-a-half times more likely to experience a stroke or mini-stroke than those without clots and plaque. What does this mean for you? This simple imaging test may help physicians determine if you’re a good candidate for endarterectomy, a surgical procedure that removes plaque from the carotid arteries and can lower the risk of stroke by as much as 75 percent, for those with narrowed arteries.