Cardiac Dieting

If you had a cardiac incident, you are lucky to be alive. Don't feel sorry for yourself. Recognize that you have been given an opportunity to prevent such a thing from happening again. You should have a cardiologist, a private care physician, and I hope you had cardiac rehab. In short, you are now under the care of professionals who will monitor your cardiac health. Most people don't have that.

Weight is usually, but not always, an issue for cardiac survivors. However, even people who are not overweight usually have dietary issues. They may not have enough "good cholesterol," or too much "bad cholesterol," both of which affect blockages in the arteries. if you want to clean out your arteries, you should try decreasing foods which contribute to bad cholesterol. They usually are things which have fat or sugar in them. Red meats and delicious bakeries can put you back in the hospital. On the other hand, most seafoods will lower your bad cholesterol and increase the good cholesterol... unless you fry them.

Avoid fried foods. That's not easy, especially here in the Southeast. The lure of frying is that it is fast. Have you ever watched a cooking contest on TV? When they are timed, your chefs frequently resort to some fashion of frying everything they have. It may take a little more time, but baking is a great way to prepare your meals, as is broiling. Grilling food is alright, so long as the food is not covered with saturated, or polysaturated oils. I know butter is a natural product, but you need to reverse blockages in your arteries, so diminish use of butter. Eggs are high in cholesterol, and they're natural products, too! You're probably thinking that I'm going to tell you to live on hospital food? Before going further, you need to know I would never do that to you. You need a diet which tastes great, even better than what you had before your cardiovascular issues.

You should eliminate ordinary salt from your diet. If you're like me, you realize that we put salt on everything! So, will you have to eat bland foods? The answer is no. I'll explain later. Before then, you need to understand that ordinary table salt (Sodium Chloride) tends to make your body hold more fluids. That actually increases your body weight, which further increases the burden on your heart! you need to reduce burdens on your ticker, so why not drop table salt? Most women could drop a dress size by simply avoiding sodium salt. Instead, use a "salt substitute." The most common one is Potassium Chloride. It tastes the same. You can find it at any grocery store. Mortons sells it.

Cheese is another issue. Like other dairy products, it is high in fat, and it contributes to blocked arteries. So, now I'm telling you that you should knock out dairy products, salt, sugar, fried foods, and red meats? WHAT'S LEFT!?

I'm not actually telling you to quit dairy products. Skim milk has no fat in it. There are low fat cheeses and cool whips. Use alternatives. They are out there!

The alternative for sugar is Splenda. It tastes the same, but Splenda dissolves more easily, which is a bonus for iced tea drinkers. You can bake with it.

Let's put some of these lessons together and see how they taste. As aqn example, I baked a pumpkin pie last night. It was healthy and delicious. Instead of eggs, I used egg beaters. As a substitute for sugar, I used splenda. I used a salt substitute. i topped it with low calorie, low fat whipped topping. Try it. You can make similar substitutions for other recipes.

Pizza can be healthy, too. Use turkey sausage as your meat. Find low fat cheese at your local supermarket, and find some low sodium tomato sauce. In fact, you can skip tomato sauce by simply slicing fresh tomatoes for your first lawyer. Peppers, onions, etc. will taste great. Use spices, but be careful of sodium salt. use a substitute instead.

Here is a healthy, delicious dessert. I got the idea for it when dining at a restaurant in Myrtle Beach. They served a "strawberry shortcake" in a tall glass. There was a layer of ice cream in the bottom, topped by a shortcake, which had a layer of strawberries on it. Whipped cream finished it. It was NOT a healthy dessert, and I thought the shortcake was an obstruction. So, I have made different variations. As an example, instead of shortcake, I use shortcake cookie crumbs. Just take some fresh shortcake cookies and crush them. Put a layer of strawberry yogurt at the bottom of a stemmed glass. Mix fresh bananas with it. Top that with a layer of shortbread cookie crumbs (1 or 2 cookies is enough). Above the cookie crumbs, add a layer of strawberry yogurt with either banana bits or fresh peach chunks in it. Top that with a layer of sliced/chopped fresh strawberries, and finish it with no fat, low calorie whipped topping. I guarantee you will love it.

Good luck! Exercise and eat well!

K Clay D

The Second Amendment and North Carolina

North Carolina’s courts still do not view a citizen's right to keep and bear arms as an individual liberty protected by the Federal Constitution. They cling to the position that any right to possess or own a firearm is a "common law right" created by the Courts. Unfortunately, they have ignored the United States Supreme Court ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller. Instead, they follow a 41 year old Opinion written by the late Justice Suzie Sharpe in State v. Dawson (no relation). In 1968, she held that the right to possess firearms was a “common law” right created by the courts, not an individual liberty. Justice Sharpe ruled the legislature could regulate or prohibit possession and ownership of guns. All the State had to show was some "rational basis." In other words, North Carolina only had to find some arguable reason to justify its criminalization of gun ownership.

Pursuant to statute, N.C.G.S. 14-415.1, it is a felony for anyone ever convicted of a felony to possess a firearm. The ban is absolute. It applies to people who were convicted of non-violent offenses. The statute makes no exceptions for where the gun is kept, even if it is in the citizen's home. Long guns can not be possessed by a former felon. Even a person whose citizenship rights had been restored can be convicted of the offense.

Recently, North Carolina's Supreme Court had an opportunity to strike down the statute. In Britt v. North Carolina, a civil action was brought to declare it unconstitutional. The Court recognized the folly of applying the law to Mr. Britt, who had been convicted 30 years before of a nonviolent offense. He had since led a productive, law-abiding life. His case demonstrated how silly the statute is. However, the Court chose to side-step the issue. Through judicial gymnastics, it held the law was unconstitutional as applied to Mr.Britt and no one else. It was an odd ruling.

A minority of trial court Judges have held the statute violates our Constitution. However, the State's appellate courts have avoided the issue, as did the Supreme Court in Britt, supra. Perhaps, it will take a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling to make North Carolina recognize its citizens' rights to keep and bear arms? Eventually, the State Court will be confronted with another appeal from N.C.G.S. 14-415.1, as now written.

What makes N.C.G.S. 14-415.1 unconstitutional? States may regulate individual liberties through legislation. However, their laws must serve "a compelling State interest." That means to withstand judicial scrutiny, the law must be "narrowly drawn," so as not to infringe upon the protected right. Our law is not narrowly drawn, nor is there any State interest in prosecuting law abiding citizens, because they committed a nonviolent crime years before. For example, under the current law, a 70 year old businessman would not be able to possess any kind of firearm, if he was convicted as a teenager of "Larceny of Dog," or any other felony. Hopefully, our Legislature will rewrite the statute, so that it only applies to those who committed violent or firearm-related crimes. Until then, the fight continues.