Posted on 01/06/2003 4:12:50 PM PST by blam
Eating fish 'reduces artery damage in smokers'
Eating fish can help reverse the artery damage caused by smoking which leads to heart attacks and strokes.
Scientists have found that one serving of fish may be enough to stop arteries hardening in smokers while vitamin C is also beneficial, as is a drug used to treat gout.
Researchers gave 15 smokers supplements of taurine, an amino acid which exists naturally in all kinds of fish - not just the "oily" varieties thought to be the most healthy.
Taurine lessened a harmful effect caused by smoking which causes blood vessels to lose their flexibility.
The condition, known as endothelial dysfunction, means that arteries are not able to dilate as they should. It is one of the earliest signs of atherosclerosis, the narrowing of arteries which is a major cause of heart attacks and strokes.
A team of Irish scientists measured endothelial function by applying tourniquets to the forearms of smokers and non-smokers but only in the latter group did the tourniquet stimulate blood vessels in the arm to dilate.
However, there was no difference between the two groups when smokers were given a supplement of 1.5 grammes of taurine per day, the amount found in one serving of fish.
The scientists, who have published their findings in the American Heart Association journal Circulation, are cautious not to recommend eating fish as an antidote to smoking.
Professor David Bouchier-Hayes, from Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, said: "We're not trying to find a therapeutic treatment for smoking, because we believe that the best therapy for smokers is to stop smoking. Nonetheless, smokers provide a good clinical model for treatment of endothelial dysfunction."
The researchers found that vitamin C had a similar, though less pronounced, effect on the blood vessels of smokers while an American study reported in Circulation shows the drug allopurinol - used to treat gout - improves smokers' endothelial function.
Story filed: 21:02 Monday 6th January 2003
Scientists have found that one serving of fish may be enough to stop arteries hardening in smokers
You had your serving. What's the problem?
I believe the rule of thumb is "white wine with whitefish, red wine with redfish". I'm not sure what to drink with blue fish.
As one who's recently wrapped up some 25 years in the fish biz, I can attest that you have found the link!
How about smoked trout? We caught our limits at Montauk last spring and smoked a dozen over a fire at a vouz we went to... Tasted great and were a great conversation starter while smoking... We could always tell who liked fish!! Swarmed like flies!
Or how about this. Let's have a California jury award a year's supply of cod to a smoking plaintiff instead of three hundred million dollars! Duh?
No weak-willed individuals unable to think for themselves who took up smoking because it was "so-cool!" and are no addicted to $35 cartons need reply. I already know your arguments: it's my right!, it doesn't cause cancer, and it's "so-cool!"
Hey, no problemo! It's your life. Enjoy!
Journal Of American Medical Association, October 23,2002.
The rest of us don't, more for us.
But have you ever heard of smoked fish? Well, people should stick to tobacco, the fish are hard to light.
Psst! A little secret here. You can eat at any major Veterans Hospital very inexpensively. And the meals are great. No sales tax. And you don't have to be a patient or on the hospital staff to eat there. The Vets Hospital in W. Palm Beach on Military Trail & Blue Heron is probably the BEST in the country as far as cafeteria decor with its great design and skylight above.
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