Flax Seed Why Eskimos Has Lower Heart Diseases

Why Eskimos Has Lower Heart Diseases?
Researchers started to focus on omega 3 fatty acids in early 80s when studies found that Eskimos had a lower rate of heart diseases despite consuming a higher-fat diet rich in fish. Fish oil contains Omega-3 which reduces heart diseases. However, in today’s polluted world, it is recommended that we take flax seed oil instead for a proper balanced ratio of Omega-3 and Omega-6.

What Is Omega-3?
What are omega 3’s and what are the best omega 3 sources? The omega 3 essesential fatty acids (EFA’s) are polyunsaturated fats or the so-called “good fats”. These desirable fats cannot be made by the human body, so they must be obtained from foods or supplemental sources. These fats are required for normal development of the brain, eyes and nerve tissue in humans. Clinical studies show that omega 3 benefits come primarily from DHA.

Sources of Omega-3
The best omega 3 sources are animal foods, not plant sources. For example, flaxseed is a source, but the body must convert the flax oil omega 3 into DHA and EPA. This can be difficult for unhealthy or elderly persons. Three of the top omega 3 sources are cold-water fish oil, Flax Seeds and natural eggs.

Omega-3 Reduces Cardiovascular Diseases
The omega-3 fatty acids that are of particular interest for cardiovascular care include EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), which are found predominantly in fish and fish oils.1,2,3 The basis of this heightened interest in dietary intakes of EPA and DHA comes partly from epidemiological and population studies4 indicating that increased consumption of fish as a source of omega-3 fatty acids is often associated with decreased mortality from cardiovascular disease.

Flax Seed and Omega-3
We also recommend eating flax seeds and other forms of soybeans, canola, walnut and flaxseed, and their oils. These contain alpha-linolenic acid (LNA), which can become omega-3 fatty acid in the body. The extent of this modification is modest and controversial, however. More studies are needed to show a cause-and-effect relationship between alpha-linolenic acid and heart disease. That is why, many doctors recommend that their patients take their daily dose of flax seed oil.

Benefits of Flax Seed oil
The ways that omega-3 fatty acids reduce CVD risk are still being studied. However, research has shown that they

1. Decrease risk of arrhythmias, which can lead to sudden cardiac death
2. Decrease triglyceride levels
3. Decrease growth rate of atherosclerotic plaque
4. Lower blood pressure (slightly)

The scientific evidence about whether omega-3 fatty acids may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) is suggestive, but not conclusive. Studies in the general population have looked at diets containing fish and it is not known whether diets or omega-3 fatty acids in fish may have a possible effect on a reduced risk of CHD. Flaxseed Lowers Cholesterol too!

Omega-3 Improves Respiratory In Children
An analysis of 10 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and nine other studies addressed the effects of omega-3 fatty acids on respiratory outcomes. The AHRQ could not conclude whether omega-3 fatty acids are an efficacious adjuvant or monotherapy in improving respiratory outcomes in adults or children.

With so much health benefits associated with Flax Seed, we do urge you to find out more about flax seeds. Do visit our site at http://www.flaxseedfitness.com for more flax seed benefits.

Heart Disease Cardiovascular Disease And Heart Health Month

Heart Disease Cardiovascular Disease , February is Heart Health Month! What do I Need to Know?

We love to celebrate our loved ones on Valentines Day. Its an affair of the heart. But, have you thought about your own heart lately? We used to believe that heart disease was an issue of old age but autopsies during the Vietnam war revealed that arterial disease was already present in many 18-year-old soldiers!

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) statistics suggest that once you survive your first year, heart disease rates remain low until the age of 24. During the following decade (ages 25 to 34) heart disease rates soar by 400 percent, and the curve gets steeper with each additional decade.

What is Heart Disease? The primary reported cause of heart failure is coronary artery disease. Thats what they found in those Vietnam soldiers. A more accurate term for the cause is cardiovascular disease, because its not just a disease of the heart, its disease of the whole circulatory system.

It starts when fats in the blood are oxidized and then deposited on the interior walls of the blood vessels as plaque. Arterial plaque reduces the interior diameter (lumen) of the arteries which feed the heart. This condition is called Atherosclerosis. The heart muscle becomes starved for oxygen, forcing the heart rate to increase, and often raising blood pressure. This is the reason why heart disease and stroke are such close relatives. They have the same root cause – vascular disease.

A trendy medical treatment for arterial plaque is angioplasty. They insert a balloon inside the restricted blood vessel and push those fats out of the way. Unfortunately recurrence within six months (or less) is very common.

Chemistry 101. Arterial plaque is made up of oxidized cholesterol. This fact led to the cholesterol paranoia of the 1980s. But, cholesterol is not the culprit. The problem comes from the oxidizing of dietary fats.

Our cells process billions of chemical reactions every day. One of the side effects of those chemical reactions is the creation of free radicals. Oxygen is found free in nature as a stable molecule (O2). The oxygen molecule is made up of two oxygen atoms, held together, by a shared electron. The molecule looks like this O – O

During cellular metabolism, its often necessary to cleave the bond holding the two oxygen atoms together, to create a substance that requires added oxygen. Often, one of the free atoms of oxygen gets loose, and thats what we call a free radical. The damage they can inflict on cellular structures or circulating fats is called oxidation. Free radical damage is associated with many disease processes.

Another cause of vascular disease is high levels of blood homocysteine. This by-product of protein assimilation activates enzymes that attack the elastic parts of our blood vessels, causing hardening of the arteries Recent research has found that treatment with folic acid lowers homocycteine levels, thus protecting us from heart disease and stroke.
Prevention is Key. Natures solution for free radicals are the anti-oxidants. The primary antioxidants are Vitamins A,C, and E, Coenzyme Q-10, and a spectrum of the carotenoids and bioflavonoids. This is why Shaklees Vitalizer is such a breakthrough product. It contains 26 separate antioxidants to protect us from oxidative damage which causes vascular disease, certain cancers and premature aging. Vitalizer delivers the right nutrients to the right place at the right time. Its 12 patented, 2 patents pending delivery system means you cant find it anywhere else. Check out our blog on the tremendous research and results using Shaklee nutrition contained in the Landmark Study.

What Steps Can You Take? What really distinguishes the holistic nutritional approach from the medical model is prevention. Take an action step with a healthy heart supplement plan this year, so you can celebrate many more Valentines days with your loved ones.

See where to find out more info and watch some great videos about this topic BELOW the article.

Curcumin Prevents Cancer, Heart Disease, Alzheimers Disease And Obesity

Curcumin is one of a small number of super nutrients which has the demonstrated ability to dramatically lower the risk from cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease while influencing the storage of body fat by altering lipid metabolism. Curcumin is a natural polyphenol which is extracted from curry powder and has powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. You can experience a multitude of health benefits by eating the spice in its natural form or by supplementing with a concentrated extract of active curcuminoids.

Curcumin in the Fight against Cancer

Curcumin has been shown to be a powerful tool in the fight against cancer as it helps to restore immune system function which begins to weaken in many people as a result of decades of poor diet and environmental factors. Curcumin works to bolster immune function by restoring the function of key immune cells known as CD4 and CD8 T cells. According to a study published in The Journal of Biological Chemistry, curcumin increases the production of proteins which are needed for immune cell proliferation while reducing the development of proteins which destroy immune cells.

Curcumin Prevents Clogged Arteries While Lowering Heart Attack Risk

Curcumin influences the formation of dangerous coronary artery plaque by lowering levels of systemic inflammation which are known to cause the foamy substance to become unstable and rupture leading to a heart attack. This super nutrient regulates the action of our genes to inhibit the release of chemical messengers through the body in response to stress, poor diet and our environment. The result of a study released in The Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine indicates that curcumin prevents platelet coagulation which can result in a life threatening blood clot.

Curcumin Shown to Prevent Alzheimers Disease

Researchers have noted that the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease among the elderly Indian population where curry is regularly eaten with most meals is significantly lower than their western counterparts. Curcumin exhibits strong antioxidant properties and is known to cross the crucial blood-brain barrier where it acts to limit the accumulation of damaging plaque and also reduces the neuronal response to existing plaque tangles. By inhibiting amyloid plaque formation at the synapse where electrical impulses connect different parts of the brain, memory is preserved and symptoms of this devastating disease are minimized or eliminated.

Curcumin Assists Weight Management Goals

Curcumin helps to prevent obesity and assists natural weight loss due to its ability to inhibit the formation of new blood vessels which are required to form new baby fat cells. This polyphenol also influences how the body regulates triglycerides (blood fats) which are then stored as body fat or burned as a source of energy. A study published in The Journal of Nutrition details how curcumin prevents excessive accumulation of triglycerides in the blood and shifts our metabolism away from fat storage. The study authors conclude that curcumin may have a potential benefit in preventing obesity.

Very few natural nutrients exhibit such a wide array of health benefits as curcumin. Extensive research confirms the powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects which provide protection against many of today’s most devastating illnesses. Whether you choose to add curry to your diet or supplement with a concentrated form of this amazing spice, you can be assured of lowered disease risk and improved quality of life.

Americans Fear Alzheimer’s More Than Heart Disease, Diabetes Or Stroke, But Few Prepare

Americans fear Alzheimer’s disease more than any illness other than cancer-and for older people, concerns about Alzheimer’s outrank even cancer. More than a third of all Americans know a family member or friend who has Alzheimer’s, and nearly two-thirds of Americans believe they will have to provide care someday for someone with Alzheimer’s.

These are just some of the results from a January 2006 MetLife Foundation/Harris Interactive poll of American adults. The survey, found in “MetLife Foundation Alzheimer’s Survey: What America Thinks,” included questions about how people view Alzheimer’s disease, what they know about it and what they are doing to plan for a future that may include the deadly illness.

A progressive brain disorder that science has yet to defeat, Alzheimer’s gradually destroys a person’s memory and ability to reason, communicate and function. Currently, 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, and the Alzheimer’s Association estimates that these numbers will grow to as many as 16 million Americans by 2050. Increasing age is the greatest risk factor for Alzheimer’s. One in 10 individuals over 65 and nearly half of those over 85 are affected. The Alzheimer’s Association and the National Institute on Aging estimate that direct and indirect costs of current care are at least $100 billion annually.

The survey results underscore not only the fears that people have about this illness, but also the disturbing fact that few are prepared to face a future that may include Alzheimer’s.

Key findings from the poll, which was commissioned by MetLife Foundation, are summarized in a report available at www.metlife.org. They include:

Americans fear Alzheimer’s disease. When people are asked to name the disease they are most afraid of getting from a list of illnesses, one out of five picks Alzheimer’s, while only 14 percent worry about heart disease and 13 percent are concerned about stroke. Only cancer tops Alzheimer’s. In fact, adults aged 55 and older fear getting Alzheimer’s even more than cancer.

Americans know little or nothing about Alzheimer’s. While virtually all of those surveyed are aware of the disease (93 percent), almost three-quarters (74 percent) say they know only a little or nothing at all about Alzheimer’s.

One-third of Americans say they have direct experience with Alzheimer’s disease. One in three Americans (35 percent) has a family member and/or friend with Alzheimer’s.

Most Americans are concerned that they will be responsible at some point for caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease. More than three out of five people worry that they will have to eventually provide or care for someone with the disease.

Most Americans recognize the need to create a plan to address the possibility of Alzheimer’s disease, but very few have taken steps to do so. More than eight out of 10 Americans think it is important to plan ahead for the possibility of getting Alzheimer’s disease. However, despite the overwhelming agreement that planning is important, almost no one has taken action. Nearly nine out of 10 Americans say they have made no comprehensive plans. The survey shows that Americans know enough about Alzheimer’s disease to fear its onset, but have not taken any steps to provide for the possibility of developing the disease.

Americans’ fears of Alzheimer’s are justified, given its increasing presence among a population that will live longer. As the population ages, it is essential to learn as much as possible about the disease and plan for the future.

Hidden Data on Heart Disease

The World Of Flat Worms!

Picture a world of only two dimensions. This is a flat world where only flat worms live.

There is no “up” and no “down,” but only forward, backward and sideways!

On this flat world, flat worms slither this way and that, in the way of flat worms.

Frank is our friendly flat worm — he slithers this way and that. He is, however, just a bit more adventuresome than the other flat worms and goes out into some flat areas where no one has ever slithered before.

One day, Frank bumps into a pole!

Now, a “pole” cannot exist on a flat world. It is a contradiction in terms. A flat world cannot have poles! What does this flat worm do when he hits the pole?

There are many different reactions to data which is unbelievable. One reaction is to decide, or pretend, that it didnt happen. To forget the whole event.

Frank decides to pretend he never bumped into a “pole!”

He continues to slither around, somewhat apprehensive now, always worried that he might again run into that “something” which he doesnt understand. One day he does! Depending on the worm, he might again try to erase the event from his memory, but he might choose another alternative — he might try climbing the pole!

Frank decides to climb the pole. He looks down on the formerly flat world and has two sudden realizations: First, his world is NOT flat! Next, there are thousands of other flat worms down there who dont know that the pole exists, that the world is NOT flat.

He may or may not immediately appreciate some problems he will encounter when he starts telling the other flat worms about the pole.

In any event, down the pole he comes — off to the adventure of telling (or shall he decide to NOT tell?) other flat worms about his new discovery.

If he is going to tell them, he has all sorts of strategies to work out — as to how to tell other worms without their getting angry, or ignoring him, or whatever other reaction they might have.

He tries his friends:

“Look,” he says, “I just bumped into a pole, climbed it and I could see the entire flat world from up high!”

This may be a sure route to the insane asylum, or he may just lose all his friends. He might get shot! In any event, he will run into a wide variety of reactions, not unlike what might be occurring within a group of different persons reading this Book on Heart Disease and Water.

You Have Been Living In A Flat World

Your flat world is made up of doctors and drug companies who tell you that you need this surgery or that drug to cure your ailments. You are bombarded with ads and non-commercial messages about the care of your body and the foods you should eat.

We are, maybe, not yet aware that our world is flat, but we sure know the health world we live in is going to pot. Its time to start looking for the pole!

This Section is a Map To Find A Pole!

Natural Heart Disease Risk Reduction, Weight Loss

You can group cardiovascular disease into diverse groups.Some of these elements are not variant, like the inherited factors, as well as the factors connected to age and gender. There are other elements which are just as noteworthy, and perhaps more self-destructive, and these factors can interpose in the process of ameliorating your health.I am here accosting lifestyle factors, smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, a lack of exercise and obesity, as well as others..

Prior to starting up any diet or exercise syllabus, and I demand to be clear here, everyone needs to consult a physician, in order to ensure their capacities for physical exertion, and set up demarcations thereto.In addition, in order to find a fitting diet for your body type, I must accent the importance of the advice of a nutritionist. So, the message is established, think of your wellness now, do not forget to see your doctor. We are approaching obesity as a disease, as played off to a aesthetic circumstance, it is a global problem with people today. The presence of obesity leads in a more size able chance of heart disease or stroke, even given the absence of other risk elements. Obesity pressures the heart to run harder, as well as being identified in affiliation to coronary disease, high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure.

What can a person do, to counterbalance the position, when obesity is existing situation?As previously mentioned we should cover obesity as a disease and as one of the components that step-up the number of deaths from cardiovascular diseases. The same as any other disease, the original step towards remedy is the admittance of illness, look for medical care. After this gear up your life for a heartily diet, in conjunction with a daily routine of physical exercises that will render physical well being and augmented emotional balance on a daily basis.

And what is the solution? The first course of action is to combat risk factors with all plausible exertion.

I recommend following these 4 tips put forward by Isabel De Los Rios.

1. Quit Smoking. The practice of tobacco for smoking has been celebrated as a fundamental factor in heart disease, to a large extent due to chemical additives (not that I am suggesting the use of tobacco).The peril of a heart attack in a smoker is two times steeper than in a non-smoker. The presence of passive inhalation of tobacco also exposes individuals to a higher relative incidence of cardiovascular disease.There is evidence that smoking increases the levels of LDL (bad cholesterol) and depresses HDL (good cholesterol), accelerating the onset of atherosclerosis. That is, smoking is also directly contributing for the accumulation of fat in the walls of coronary arteries, bearing on the heart and blood vessels. The evidence has demonstrated that a person who is already inclined to high rates of cholesterol is increasing his/her risk of heart disease by smoking.

2. Walk, walk, walk. If getting time for a integrated exercise curriculum is just too much of a challenge right now, just start by walking. I have known many people who Have strengthened and reversed their severe heart conditions by getting outside and walking. If you can, find a scenic route there’s nothing more quieting than the outdoors. (I highly advocate whistling and singing while you walk. It creates for happy thoughts).

3. Calm down. By this I mean, do not stress about matters you do not Have to, or have command over.The most affirmative thing I did, other than eat healthy food, was to relax, and increase the playfulness.

4. Don’t start, again, don’t start a low fat diet.You can exacerbate a bad condition with misguided effort.Get rid of the saturated fats (hydrogenated oil and the like problematic oil in French fries and donuts) and eat heart-healthy fat, like coconut oil, olive oil, walnuts and whole eggs. And at the risk of sounding redundant, before you begin any program, consult your dietitian, and your MD. Good health! For further information on our programs, please Visit Us @ EliKen Health,.

Lower the Heart Disease

Shortness of animation and lightheadedness.Fruits and vegetables abide of bulb actinic and they are capital for animal beings to breach healthy.Artherosclerosis is a decline or abrasion of the walls of claret argosy and precedes what eventually becomes Arteriosclerosis.The demography of a circadian supplement is recommended by affection foundations and the government alike, and helps to save bags of lives anniversary year, abnormally as 90% of the citizenry is amiss in them due to the crumbling burning of angle because of the contaminants present today.

Both can be deadly, so it’s account alive foods that lower cholesterol, to abate or annihilate the sometimes life-threatening ancillary furnishings from statin drugs!It is recommended that you charge to chase assertive diets which are nutritionally counterbalanced and additionally provides you the appropriate antithesis of macronutrients (carbs, fats and proteins) as able-bodied as micronutrients (minerals and vitamins) and additionally acceptable bulk of acrid as able-bodied as baffling fibers.Atrherosclerosis usually has affection of asleep in the afflicted breadth (the feet, for example), cramps, affliction and animosity of algid in the afflicted breadth as well.

The archetypal signs of a affection advance usually arise in men; these signs include: Crushing affliction in the chest.What are the signs of blocked arteries, which can generally advance to a affection attack, achievement or agency failure?And I allege from acquaintance in this respect; I’ve apparent what the ancillary furnishings of statin drugs can do to people, and it isn’t pretty.Sticks to “bad” cholesterol and carries it out of the blood.Blocked arteries action back the applique that has congenital up on walls of your arteries activate to either accomplish the arterial walls thicker (thus acceptance beneath claret to canyon through) or activate to breach off the walls as claret clots and starts to biking to added genitalia of the arterial arrangement (and can get ashore and aftereffect in stroke.While a aerial cholesterol akin ability account affection disease, the decree drugs account their own problems.Nausea.

Hence you can absorb fruits and vegetables at approved intervals.Grains, such as accomplished atom breads Oatmeal Fruits, such as oranges and apples Flax berry (which additionally happens to be aerial in Omega-3) If you appetite to abate your cholesterol level, again it is not abundant by aloof arresting beneath fat.The ambush actuality is not to get it abashed with “insoluble” cilia which won’t do annihilation to lower your cholesterol Adding acrid cilia to your diet can be as accessible as alteration your aliment and can additionally be begin in abounding every day foods.Pain that radiates to to the neck, shoulders, and jaw.Yes, you do charge to apperceive how to lower cholesterol naturally.

A advanced ambit of nutrients are all-important to advance a advantageous body.One affair that is actual alarming is that if the claret argosy advance to the brain, a barge can access and advance to a academician bleed.So, in adjustment to get best cholesterol results, try to absorb advantageous diets.Something that can end very, actual abominably for a patient.

Herbal Treatment For Heart Disease

Herbal treatment for heart disease is not a new concept. People have been using herbs for hundreds of years to treat many chronic diseases, including the cardiovascular ones. Herbs were used to prevent and treat almost every disease long before the advent of modern medicine. Because of the rapidly growing popularity of allopathic medicine, many people today don”t even know if herbs can be very effective in treating even the otherwise incurable diseases. The best thing about herbal medicines is that they have very little or no side effects. But, it is still wise to know the right way to use herbs so that all the possibility (if any) of side effects could be ruled out.

Herbs That Are Rich In Anti-Oxidants
When it comes to herbal treatment for heart disease, herbs and other substances that are rich in anti-oxidants can be very helpful. Both contemporary western medicine as well as alternative medicine approves the tremendous health benefits of such herbs. However, there can also be several other sources for anti-oxidants, such as tea.

Pomegranate Juice
According to the latest research and studies done by People’s Pharmacy, modern science now recommends pomegranate juice as a wonderful remedy for cardiovascular treatment. Therefore, make sure that you drink 2-3 glasses of pomegranate juices everyday.

Fish Oils
If you are suffering from rhythmic disturbance heart disease, you are recommended to consume fish oils. In this type of cardiovascular condition, you may experience an array of things, such as palpitation, flutter, and fibrillation. Fish oil can be very beneficial in regulating heart rhythms naturally. Therefore, by including it in your diet plan, you can substantially reduce the risk of heart failure.

Herbs With Vitamin E
Herbs with Vitamin E can also be a very effective herbal treatment for heart disease. Such herbs are particularly more beneficial in conditions where cardiac problems include inflammation of the muscles. Because of the anti-inflammatory effects of Vitamin E, such herbs can work well in this type of heart disease.

Herbs To Control Cholesterol Level
There are also numerous herbs that can contribute to controlling cholesterol level. High cholesterol level is the biggest risk factor that can lead to cardiac disease. Therefore, it is very important for you to know how to maintain cholesterol to a healthy level. Some natural ingredients that you will find very useful for this purpose include grape seed extract, substances containing vitamin B group, soy, and garlic. All these herbal substances have great cholesterol fighting properties.

However, the herbal treatment for heart disease can be helpful only if you incorporate the treatment programs with good healthy lifestyle changes. For example, if you smoke, you must quit smoking now. Besides that, you must also follow proper diet and exercise plans. Most importantly, even herbal remedies must be practiced under the guidance of an expert doctor.

Heart Health And Clean Arteries- Part 1

One of the most important health issues I stress to my patients is creating, or maintaining, heart health. The best ways to ensure heart health and its all-important job of developing nourishing blood to every part of your body is to prevent plaque buildup and reduced blood flow in arteries. Diet, exercise, lifestyle changes, and certain supplements can work together to accomplish this goal!

In this first of a two-part series, I would like to explain to you a little about what coronary artery disease and blocked arteries can mean. Then well talk about the proactive things you can do to avoid these conditions naturally without drugs or surgery.

Part II will deal with a controversial subject chelation therapy. Chelation methods of detoxing arteries with natural supplements have been an alternative medicine approach to arterial plaque for several years now.

First I would like to give you a little background on coronary artery disease and arterial blockages, how they develop and how you can prevent them with diet, exercise and supplements and cut your risk for heart attack, stroke, drugs and by passes!

Coronary Artery Disease and Blocked Arteries

Many people do not realize they have coronary artery disease, or arterial plaque build-up, until they wind up in an emergency room with an attack of angina (heart pain), or a heart attack! Both can be caused by the arteries of the heart not getting enough blood, usually from plaque buildup.

It was previously thought that a high saturated fat diet was the primary cause of arterial plaque. However, the French Paradox came along and taught us that oxidation has a lot more to do with cholesterol turning into those arterial plaques and blockages.

You see, the French people eat a pretty high saturated fat diet but they also drink a lot of red wine! This led to the discovery of a very important chemical in red wine called resveratrol. This is a powerful anti-oxidant which helps keep cholesterol lipids in blood from oxidizing into those arterial clogging plaques. Cholesterol undergoes oxidation first before it hardens into plaque. Ensuring that we get enough anti-oxidants in our diet to prevent oxidation, then, is key!

Who Is At Risk?

As I tell my patients, there is no hard and fast picture of the person who will develop coronary artery disease. It depends on a few factors such as:

1. Do you eat an unhealthy diet low in vitamins/antioxidants?
2. Do you smoke?
3. Do you exercise regularly?

Prevent Blocked Arteries and Heart Disease

As I advise my patients, keeping your arteries flowing freely with low risk of heart disease involves a three-fold approach on your part. However, that effort will reward you with enough heart health and stamina to live your life to the fullest into old age! Lets look at what this entails:

Diet Arterial disease is not all about how much saturated fat you eat. Although I do recommend limiting saturated animal fat to 25-30 grams a day, I think it more important to prevent these fats from oxidizing and turning into plaque. Diets rich in anti-oxidants and polyphenols help dissolve saturated fats and stop oxidation. These include red wine, green apples, olive oil, oolong/green/white teas, Omega-3 rich nuts, coconut oils, apple cider vinegar. Add high fiber foods like beans, peas, whole grains, to absorb saturated fats and remove them through elimination before they enter the bloodstream as lipids.

Exercise Interval aerobic exercise, walking, running, bicycling, elliptical, stair stepper, treadmill, jumping rope, your choice. Interval exercise is warming up slowly for 10 minutes and then going at your capacity for 1-2 minutes then slowing down to a resting pace for 3 minutes and repeating for a set of 6 intervals. If you havent done aerobic exercise for a long while, do a slower warm-up, and try for half your capacity for 1 minute for 2 weeks. Slowly increase every week and build a higher capacity. This helps your heart adjust to sudden demanding loads. It also builds good HDL and lowers LDL (bad) choleserol and burns body fat. Also, 20 minutes 3 x a week of weight training. This creates muscle and burns fat even at rest.

Supplements 1,000 mg/daily Omega-3 fish and krill oils boost HDL and lower LDL cholesterol; 1-2 gm/daily of Vitamin C builds collagen which strengthens arterial walls. CoQ-10, 100 mg, is a crucial anti-oxidant that works with Vitamin E to attach to LDL cholesterol and prevent oxidation. As we age CoQ10 levels decrease so it is important to supplement them. Other powerful anti-oxidants include resveratrol (found in red wine, dark red grapes and berries), pomegranate juice, and green tea. Niacin (and other B vitamins) is also effective at reducing LDL and boosting HDL cholesterol, 1-3 gm/day. Chelation supplements which contain EDTA, and antioxidants, which well talk about in more detail in Part II.

Smoking Quit! Smokers are at much higher risk of developing arterial plaque because of the toxins in cigarette smoke which contribute to oxidation damage in your body.

There you have the basics of what I recommend to keep your arteries free from obstructing plaques and keep your heart from suffering serious, if not life-threatening, consequences.

Part II of this series on heart health deals with the pros and cons of removing existing arterial plaque from your arteries called chelation therapy which uses ingredients so safe theyre even in baby food! Meet me here next issue and learn about this drugless, surgery-free way to clean arteries and protect your heart!

Mark Rosenberg, M.D.
Institute For Healthy Aging

Carefully Selected Diets Lower Cholesterol and Reduce Heart Disease!

A search of the biomedical research papers at the U.S. National Library of Medicine reveals that there are almost 200,000 papers on the subject of cholesterol. A common conclusion in many of them is that carefully selected food choices and diets lower cholesterol levels. Conversely the wrong choice of foods can have the opposite effect of increasing cholesterol levels, and therefore increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke.

In the USA alone with 800,000 deaths each year (i.e. over 90 every hour) attributed to diseased arteries, and one-third of the population having elevated cholesterol levels it is a major problem that should be of concern to everyone. In addition to this, our country’s levels of weight problems, obesity and diabetes have never been higher than they are today. There are a few factors that all these unhealthy conditions have in common and that will fuel these conditions, as follows:

excess consumption of fats
excess consumption of salt
excess consumption of sugar
sedentary lifestyle
excess consumption of refined, and processed, and convenience foods
insufficient consumption of fruits, vegetables and fiber

So whether your particular health challenge is excess cholesterol, overweight, vascular disease, heart disease, diabetes, or stroke it is likely caused by a combination of one or more of the above factors. And what should be obvious to you is that all of these unhealthy conditions are due to lifestyle choices, and are avoidable if we make different choices.

If you don’t yet have any indications of these types of health problems, but your lifestyle typically is in keeping with the above factors, then the risk of you heading down this unhealthy path at some time in the future is very high.

This is not meant to be scare-mongering. If you were to take the time to look through the many research papers I mentioned above you would quickly come to the same conclusion. Most people do not have the time to do that investigation to come to that realization, and perhaps unfortunately for you neither does your doctor.

Society is founded on the flow of economic wealth. There are many people and organizations with vested economic interests in maintaining the status quo in order to protect their economic position. That can mean encouraging us to consume the more economically profitable foods. It can also mean for some health workers that having a healthier clientele may result in earning less money. The end result is that you may not necessarily be fed the right things. By fed I mean in both of its meanings – food and information.

There is no doubt that the right food choices and diets lower cholesterol levels. Not only that but such diets have the added advantage of minimizing all of those other unhealthy conditions I mentioned above. Knowing exactly what to include and exclude in your diet is not difficult.

It simply requires a little more knowledge which is the focus of other articles I have written on this subject. As a general principle if you take note of the guide I mentioned above you will be well on the right track.