:( In my diet that I have been on I have been obsessed with keeping bad fat content/cholesterol down but in doing so I have ignored sugar content. I eat a lot of oatmeal but the oatmeal I eat is the boxes with the different flavored oatmeal...should I get regular oatmeal and use some splenda instead of these packages. I have a real full bowl of this stuff so it ends up being a lot of sugar. Same with the fruit juices I drink like grape juice and apple juice. Should I get the unsweetened kind and use splenda with it? Also does anyone sell fat free sugar free icecreams/frozen yogurt/puddings? After reading just before about triglyceride fats getting stuck in your arteries I am now concerned that I have ignored that aspect in my diet. This stinks , I already have been told that I have 30 percent narrowing in some arteries and its getting hard for me to find good foods to eat to help stop this process. I am on the ornish heart disease diet , a lot of beans and fish and fruits and veggies and whole grains but this other stuff I eat is probably the wrong stuff to add to my diet.

Also do statins help with lowering triglycerides just like they do cholesterol? What other supplements are good at helping to lower triglycerides?

Niacin lowers TG's.

Fribates like Lopid, also low TG's... but I believe you can not take statins and fibrates together.

Lutheran, :)

A healthier alternative:

Why not stop drinking the juices, which have a high concentration of fruit sugars, and eat the real thing instead? (Apples, Oranges, Grapes). You'll get all the benefits without the high sugar content. (Unless you consume the fruits by the kilogram..:D )
To answer your question, there's a fat-free & sugar-free icecream. I buy it sometimes and it tastes OK. As for artificial sweeteners, I'd cut down on their use if I were you. They were very controversial for a time and their safety was being questioned. These theories of artificial sweeteners causing harm over a period of time have since been disspelled, though there is some lingering doubt.

flowergirl

...By reducing the amount of white starches and corn syrup sweetners, I lowered my tris from 350 to 97. I follow a diet based on the glycemic idex which is a rating of carbohydrates based on how fast they metabolize. I still eat the high glycemic foods (rice, potatoes, white breads) but in reduced quantities and mixed with low to medium glycemic foods.
...This didn't help with my HDL or LDL, but it did make a big impact on my Tri's. Also remember when reducing or changing foods, to make sure your still getting important nutriants. For example, potatoes is a big source of potassium so it's important to plan dietary changes very carefully.
Rick

Sugar is easy....any food with double digit suger content is a no no. so when it says "Sugars....15grms per serving" move on to something else.

It says in the ornish diet to have fruit juice...these sugars in grape juice and orange juice and apple juice bottles I have are not added sugars...there is no added sugar in any of these bottles just the natural sugar.

Lutheran,

I did not realize you were on this diet already. You must have just received your book! :) I guess you'd better follow what it says. How are you managing so far?
It's always a better idea to eat the actual fruits instead of just drinking the juice, because it makes sense nutritionally. This way people get not only the nutrients from the fruit,(as they would from the juice) but also the fiber. Too many people do not have enough fiber in their diets, which leads to problems.

Flowergirl

I am eating a lot of fruit...bananas , red grapes , plums , peaches...and plenty of veggies...spinach , corn , broccoli etc...the diet is impossible for me to be honest...i am going to be stuck eating a lot of the same foods as he gives a 2 week diet or something like that and I am just eating the stuff from the different days that I can actually make or buy..i don't cook well so some of this stuff is way beyond me. I am also taking my lipitor , omega 3 pills , lecethin , magnesium , a garlic pill , grape seed extract , a one a day vitamin , a B complex pill and 1 baby aspirin. Will start taking Niacin soon too :) I feel pretty bad right now to be honest , I guess after 42 years of abusing my heart and body it will probably take me longer then 12 days of doing the right thing to feel better eh?

...Be careful of the word "sugar". Old school says that simple carbs (sugars) metabolize fast and that Complex carbs metabolize slower. Through testing it was found that potatoes and rice metabolize faster that table sugar. The glycemic index rates the different carbs based on how fast they are metabolized.
...There are also differetn sugars. Corn syrup is the sugar Glucose and has the highest number on the index of 100. Glucose is the sugar that our metabolism changes all carbs into. Table or Cane sugar is a medium carb on the index and metabolizes slower than white starches. Fructose is the sugar in fruits and is low on the index. Which is why fruits are good for us.
...I didn't eliminate potatoes and rice from my diet, I just reduced the amounts that I ate and made sure that I also ate lower GI foods along with them.
Rick