The following is a reprint from the blog "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb":

Dr. Agatston says livin' la vida low-carb can help make people heart healthy

There's a new book in the successful bestselling South Beach diet series from Rodale (who hired the former vice-president at Atkins to join their team in July this year!) that came out on Tuesday called The South Beach Heart Program: The 4-Step Plan that Can Save Your Life. Written by Dr. Arthur Agatston, creator of the low-carb South Beach diet program, this book tackles the most lethal health problem in America today--HEART DISEASE!

With the release of a Harvard Medical School report on the heart health benefits of a low-carb, high-protein diet this week, the timing for Dr. Agatston's book could not have been fortuitious. But it's something most of us who have been livin' la vida low-carb for a while have known already.

As a cardiologist, Dr. Agatston has a deep-seeded passion for sharing with his patients what they can do to prevent having a stroke or heart attack. In fact, he states in 2007 alone that over 600,000 Americans will suffer from a stroke while more than 1 million more will have a heart attack! YIKES!!! And these numbers are not coming down because the strategies for confronting heart disease have clearly been ineffective at best with their focus on making money on expensive surgery rather than natural prevention methods.

That's why Dr. Agatston and advocates for livin' la vida low-carb are attempting to get the word out about preventing these health calamities BEFORE they hit by using the latest medical knowledge and research to educate the public on the steps they can take in their own life to protect themselves. Millions of people have already experienced the lifechanging impact of the South Beach diet approach on their weight and health, so The South Beach Heart Program is merely an extension of that.

There are four specific areas that Dr. Agatston recommends:

1. Heart-healthy low-carb eating
2. Regular aerobic and core-strengthening exercises
3. The latest diagnostic testing (like the VAP test)
4. Heart medications when necessary

Other than that last one, which Dr. Agatston is a proponent of popular cholesterol-lowering drugs like the joint-jarring Lipitor (UGH!), I think he makes some valid points that unfortunately are being ignored by most doctors these days. It's not totally the fault of the members of the medical community, but there needs to be a better way to deciminate information to the physicians on the frontlines treating patients.

We see examples of how low-carb is indeed improving heart disease all the time despite warnings from the media and so-called health experts about saturated fat and meat consumption. But the research is in: heart health problems are NOT an issue with low-carb diets. PERIOD!

In fact, just the OPPOSITE is true! If you want to do something GOOD for your heart, then try livin' la vida low-carb. That's what Dr. Agatston is promoting in his new book and it's high time people start paying attention to this. What we are doing currently is the definition of INSANITY--doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result! Nothing is going to change until WE change our mindset about what to do.

I was pleased to see an essay by Dr. Agatston entitled "What Size Is Your Cholesterol?" on Amazon.com. The whole idea that your total cholesterol number is all that matters is already considered a stone age way of looking at heart health. Additionally, when you are on the low-carb lifestyle, your cholesterol numbers are looked at differently than when you are on a high-carb, low-fat diet. Dr. Agatston discusses this more in his engaging essay.



There's a pretty neat little deal going on right now at Amazon.com when you buy this book. Place an order for The South Beach Heart Program and you will receive a FREE immediate one-month trial membership to The South Beach Diet online as well as The South Beach Diet Fitness Club online (both are a $32.00 value). Cool!

Slowly we are moving the mainstream towards the low-carb solution to the ever-growing obesity, diabetes, and heart disease epidemics that plague the health of literally tens of millions of people in the United States each year. While I wish the learning curve was quicker, I am encouraged to at least see it moving in the right direction with this book from Dr. Agatston. Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think.