DID YOU KNOW…
• Heart disease is the #1 killer of Americans since 1900?
• 1 in 3 Americans now have some form of cardiovascular disease?
• Heat Disease is the #2 cause of death for children under 15 years?
Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease
There are 4 well-established factors known to reduce the risk of heart disease. And one surprising new-comer.
- not smoking
- regular exercise
- a healthy diet
- moderate alcohol consumption.
- And one surprising new one: sleep.
“Not smoking” and “moderate alcohol” are pretty self-explanatory but let’s look at some of the surprising facts about exercise, diet and sleep.
Diet Myths
You probably know by now that many of the diet recommendations of the last 50 years turned out to be myths.
- Eating 4-7 whole eggs per week is now viewed by everyone from Harvard to the Mayo Clinic as part of a healthy diet
- Vegetables oils (like safflower, sunflower and canola) are highly processed and heated causing them to be oxidized. Oxidation increased the risk of heart disease.
- Margarine is full of trans fats and should be avoided. Butter is better.
So what are the REAL dietary factors that matter? Although there are multiple causes of heart disease, nutrient deficiencies can cause or worsen this condition.
Several mineral deficiencies such as zinc, copper, calcium and magnesium have been linked to high blood pressure. Vitamin D deficiency is linked to hypertension because without it the blood vessels cannot relax properly and they produce a chemical that promotes inflammation of the vessel lining. Antioxidant vitamins C and E and coenzyme Q10 help blood vessels maintain their flexibility, allowing them to easily dilate and contract.
Diet Super-Heros: Antioxidants
Oxidation, while necessary to produce energy, causes damage to cells and has been blamed as the most important cause of aging.
Anti-oxidants protect your cells from this damage. Good food sources of antioxidants are those with deep or bright color like dark, leafy greens and berries. To increase your antioxidant consumption, a good rule of thumb is to eat the rainbow. Choose a variety of colors of fruits and vegetables such as red tomatoes, orange peppers, yellow squash, green kale, blueberries and purple eggplant. Grass fed meats, eggs, and dairy can also be good sources.
Glutathione is the most potent intracellular antioxidant and actually helps to regenerate other antioxidants in the body. Riboflavin, selenium, Vitamin E and Vitamin C work together to reduce oxidative stress throughout the entire cardiovascular system. Coenzyme Q10 is also required by cardiac tissue in large amounts to properly function. Statin drugs deplete the body of CoQ10, so deficiencies of CoQ10 in statin-users are particularly common. It is important to understand that balance in the antioxidant system is critical.
Oxidation is not all bad – each one of your cells produce energy by using oxidation, so taking an OVER abundance of anti-oxidants, especially an isolated nutrient like ascorbic acid, may be detrimental.
In my practice I recommend a test that looks at the intra-cellular levels of 35 different vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants to make sure levels are in the optimal range.
EXERCISE – less is more
Recent Swedish study shows that the amount of “non-exercise” activity we get each day may have a greater impact on our heart health than actual exercise! Intense workouts followed by 8 hours of sitting increase the risk for both sports injuries AND diseases of sedentary life.
It is important to sit less and stand and walk more. Take the stairs, park you car a block away from where you are going find a way to stand during meetings or at your computer. A benefit to this type of activity is lower risk of injury than Boot Camp or Spinning classes.
SLEEP
According to a new large study from the Netherlands published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology poor sleep can increase the risk for obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure.
Chronic sleep deprivation is one of the most common—yet under-recognized—contributors to the modern disease epidemic. Troubling sleeping has been associated with weight gain, insulin resistance, increased appetite, overconsumption of highly palatable and high-calorie food, decreased energy expenditure and a reduced likelihood of sticking with healthy lifestyle behaviors.
To learn the important reasons why Ambien (and other sleep medication) is NOT the best way to get some shut eye click here.
Heart Disease is an Inflammatory Process
Scientists now emphasize that heart disease is actually an inflammatory condition within the blood vessels. Inflammation and oxidative stress work together damaging arteries and impairing cardiac function.
Oxidation is a normal process of energy production in the body. However, it produces free radicals which “attack” other molecules. This damages cells and DNA, creating more free radicals in the process and a chain reaction of oxidative damage.
Normally oxidation is kept in check by the anti-oxidants from your diet. But when your body’s level of antioxidants is low, damage occurs. To learn more about anti-oxidants and heart health click here.
Oxidative damage is strongly correlated to inflammation and heart disease. But that doesn’t mean that just taking an anti-inflammatory (like aspirin) every day is the best protection.
One of the best ways to understand the underlying nutritional cause of your symptoms is to know which foods and nutrients you have trouble digesting and those you are deficient in.
Click the button below to take Dr. Rose’s Nutritional Profile Quiz and get an overview of what your nutritional imbalances could be. You’ll get your results immediately.
Image provided by freedigitalphotos.net.