From: sbharris@ix.netcom.com(Steven B. Harris)
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative
Subject: Re: missed beats and atrial fib
Date: 14 May 1998 01:23:18 GMT

In <dgiorgi-1305980733160001@ppp19.pfmc.net> dgiorgi@pfmc.net (Diane F.
Giorgi MD) writes:

>I am 42 years old and have had many eposides of sustained a-f in the last
>few years, all of which required anticoagulation and then cardioversion.
>I am an active, non smoker, of average weight and I exercise 3 times a
>week and otherwise in good health. Even while in sinus rhythm I notice
>(and have been documented) that I get not only PACs but PVCs as well.
>They are never in runs and are of beign nature, although uncomfortable. I
>do not consume caffeine in any form, no chocolate and no alcohol.
>Recently, I put myself on a low sugar diet and started eating 3 meals a
>day (something I never did) and after being on this diet 5 days the
>missed beats left, vanished!! For the first time in years and years!!
>Yesterday, I had a craving for cookies (Never chocolate) and indulged,
>within a short period of time, the palpitations returned. Does anyone
>know of any connection with sugar and missed beats? Were there ever any
>studies on how sugar may affect the conduction of the heart? Also, are
>there holistic cardiologist and how would i find one in the NY area?


    The heart is an irritable organ, and the more epinephrine and
norepinephrine you dump on it, the more it acts up.  A sugar load
causes these hormones to be released.

    You're doing the right things.  No isolated sugar, go easy on the
juice, protein with each meal, frequent meals, and go very heavy on
fruits and vegetables.  They contain potassium and magnesium which both
are helpful in quieting irritable hearts.  You may even want to
consider supplements of these, provided you have normal kidney function
(easy for your doctor to check).  The potassium supplements you want
are the prescription sort, as the ones in health food stores are really
too weak to accomplish much.

                                      Steve Harris, M.D.

From: sbharris@ix.netcom.com(Steven B. Harris)
Newsgroups: misc.fitness.walking,sci.med,sci.med.nutrition
Subject: Re: treadmill routine
Date: 14 Mar 1999 08:52:06 GMT

In <csndra-1303992109350001@user-33qsu4e.dialup.mindspring.com>
csndra@pipeline.com (Casieopea) writes:

>I agree...white sugar (actually brown sugar too, since it is mearly white
>sugar with molasses added to it!) really ought to be considered a drug.
>
>It is much like cocaine in that it is a white crystaline byproduct --
>created from the refination of the syrup/sap of a plant. It is , in all
>reality a drug -- it alters the mood and the chemical makeup of the
>brain. How odd that we encourage its use in everything on the grocers
>shelves....and give it to our children in mass quantities!
>
>I , personally, opt for honey -- or apple juice when sweetening things.


   Which are both just sugar-water (and, in honey, some bug-juice), and
have the same effects.  The sugar in honey and apple juice does not
stop being sugar just because it's mixed with a little bit of coloring,
any more than it does in brown sugar.  How silly to pay more for it.
FYI, since the enzymes in your gut that split sucrose are faster than
that absorb glucose and fructose (the byproducts), you get exactly the
same rise in blood sugar from honey as you do an equivalent number of
grams of table sugar.  The difference is that the honey is a little
sweeter per gram of sugar (due to the fructose) so you use a little
less sugar for the same sweetness.  But the difference is on the order
of 30% reduction in amount needed, which is insignificant.  For apple
juice you get roughly the same sweetness per gram sugar as table sugar.
 Plus some sorbitol which gives some people (and some babies) a lot of
gas.