Heart to Heart

American Fitness, Jan, 2000

A solid diet and exercise program can significantly lower the risk of high cholesterol and heart disease, according to a study done at the Nathan Pritikin Research Foundation. This is good news for women entering menopause. Menopause is a time when the body produces less estrogen, a natural combatant of heart disease. Therefore, women who don't want to rely on hormone replacement therapy--which is known to contribute to breast cancer--should be ecstatic.

In the study conducted by James Barnard, Ph.D., professor of physiological science and medicine at UCLA, and Stephen Inkeles, M.D., assistant clinical professor of medicine at UCLA, 92 women between ages 56 and 81 (20 of whom were on hormone replacement therapy) registered in the Pritikin Center's three-week residential program in Santa Monica, California. They engaged in medically supervised daily aerobic exercise and ate a low-fat, low-cholesterol, low-salt, high-unrefined carbohydrate, high-fiber diet. Blood samples were taken prior to and during the program to monitor changes in total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, as well as other standard laboratory criteria.

"The results showed that both pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women had significant reductions (20%) in the various blood fats that contribute to heart disease," says Dr. Inkeles. "This was true for women on hormone replacement therapy and those who were not."