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Heart Health Solutions
By Jayna Locke

Heart health is a critical topic because heart disease can develop quietly, over many years, without symptoms. And it can affect anyone and everyone. It affects men and women alike, and people of all races.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in this country, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Every year, more than 1 million people have heart attacks, states the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. About 13 million Americans have coronary heart disease, and about half a million people die from it each year.

Those are some pretty staggering statistics. And yet most of us don't tend to think we are personally at risk. The FDA reports that most people don't take their risk factors seriously until they have an actual heart related event.

The choices we make every single day contribute immensely to our heart health. So, it is important to be knowledgable about how heart disease develops, and what you can do daily for a healthy heart.

How Heart Disease Develops

Your heart muscle, about the size of a fist, relies on oxygen and nutrients to continually pump blood through the circulatory system.

In coronary artery disease, the most common type of heart disease, plaque builds up in the coronary arteries, the vessels that bring oxygen and nutrients to the heart muscle. As the walls of the arteries get clogged, the space through which blood flows narrows. This decreases or cuts off the supply of oxygen and nutrients, which can result in chest pain or a heart attack.

Damage can result when the supply is cut off for more than a few minutes. It's called a heart attack when prolonged chest pain or symptoms (20 minutes or more) cause damage to the heart muscle.

Risk Factors

There are a variety of risk factors that can increase an individual's likelihood of developing heart disease.

Most of the risk factors for heart disease are well known. For example:

Excess weight

Being 30 pounds overweight roughly doubles your risk of heart disease, among a host of other diseases, including arthritis and cancer. Being 30 pounds overweight actually quadruples your risk of diabetes. So maintaining a healthy weight is important.

Cigarette smoking

This is a major cause of both heart disease and stroke in the U.S., and the risk for these diseases increases with the number of cigarettes smoked each day.

Hypertension

High blood pressure, as we know, is a very strong risk factor associated with heart disease. More than 43 million Americans have high blood pressure, which can lead to heart attack and stroke.

The heart is a pump designed to force blood through our body. Blood is pumped from the heart through the arteries out to our muscles and organs.

Pumps work by generating pressure. Put simply, too much pressure puts a strain on the arteries and on the heart itself. This can cause an artery to rupture or the heart to fail under the strain, in the worst case stopping altogether.

Blood pressure depends on a combination of two factors: how forcefully the heart pumps blood around the body, and how narrowed or relaxed your arteries are. Hypertension occurs when blood is forced through the arteries at an increased pressure.

Factors contributing to blood pressure levels include genetics, stress, weight, and fat and sodium in the diet.

Lack of exercise

A sedentary lifestyle is disastrous to heart health in that it decreases the body's ability to pump oxygen and nutrients to the heart muscle and causes the build up of plaque in the coronary arteries.

Bad fats

Eating too much saturated fat, over time, causes the build up of plaque in our coronary arteries. Even worse, though, is eating trans fats. We now know that trans fat in your diet is much more compromising to heart health even than eating saturated fats.

Trans fats are the hydrogenated oils, such as margarine and shortening, used in fried foods and in many baked goods, crackers, and cereals. They are particularly insidious, since they deliver a double whammy, both raising levels of bad LDL cholesterol in the blood and lowering good HDL cholesterol.

The good news is that as of January 1st 2006, labeling laws require food manufacturers to state whether a packaged food contains trans fats, which is encouraging more food manufacturers to turn to healthier oils. Unfortunately, they are allowed to say that their product has "0 grams trans fat" if the food has a half a gram of trans fat or less per serving. And of course these mini servings do add up.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest has stated that there is no safe dietary level of trans fats, and is after the FDA to ban them completely. Meanwhile, you just need to read labels and avoid anything that contains partially hydrogenated oil. It's also wise to ask at restaurants if they are using margarine, shortening, or trans fats of any kind in their cooking, since dining out is an enormous source of trans fat in our diet.

And Finally: Stress

Okay, so we've gone over some of the most talked about risk factors for heart disease. Obviously, eating a good diet, not smoking, reducing the risk of hypertension with exercise and reduced use of sodium, and maintaining a healthy weight are all critical to a healthy heart.

But how many of us take a stress break every day in order to take good care of our hearts? Just like with exercise, reducing stress, or letting it out in a healthy way on a regular basis, is important in improving the overall function of your cardiovascular system.

Studies show that people who carry their stress, for example people who are quick to anger or who display frequent hostility have an increased risk of heart disease. Not only that, but people who live in a chronically stressed-out condition are more likely to take up smoking and overeating, and are far less likely to exercise. Some of these lifestyle issues are correlations, not necessarily causes. But these correlations do suggest that stress and heart disease risk factors go hand in hand.

Simple Things You Can Do Every Day

There are some very easy things you can you do on a regular basis to improve your heart health and ward off heart disease. These include:

Flossing your teeth

Flossing your teeth every day is important for heart health. This is because flossing is one of the best ways to ward off gum disease. We now know that bacteria and gum infections can spread into the bloodstream and to the heart, damaging heart valves and creating additional complications in other tissues, including the arteries. This, in turn, greatly increases the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Taking Vitamin C and Other Antioxidants

Linus Pauling claimed in 1992 that he had found the cure for heart disease, which is a therapeutic dose of vitamin C. There is an enormous amount of evidence supporting this now, and studies show that huge health benefits exist at greater than 700 mg a day, which is higher than a normal dietary intake.

My favorite vitamin C supplement is Isotonix® Vitamin C, which provides a superior delivery of nutrients — including beta carotene (vitamin A) and potassium — that the body needs for a variety of metabolic functions. And as an isotonic nutrient, it is highly bioavailable.

Good quality antioxidants are essential for heart health. A great source is Pycnogenol, the key ingredient in Isotonix® OPC-3. Pycnogenol has been the subject of hundreds of clinical studies, and has been shown to have enormous benefits for cardiovascular function, hypertension, cholesterol, and platelet function. You can review a partial list of studies on the Science tab for Isotonix® OPC-3.

Eating a Low Glycemic Index Diet

The glycemic index is a measure of how carbohydrate foods affect blood sugar. A diet of low glycemic foods helps to manage the body's blood sugar levels at a more healthy and steady pace, as opposed to high glycemic foods (such as simple carbs and sugary snacks) which spike blood sugar levels and increase the risk of metabolic syndrome, the precursor to diabetes.

There is plenty of information out now on how to eat low glycemic. An excellent resource is the Transitions™ Journal and educational DVDs, available from www.newvitalitywellness.com. (Click the "Health and Nutrition" link on the left panel, then scroll to "Weight Management".)

The Transitions™ product line includes supplements that help to improve metabolism and control the aborbtion of fat, plus snacks and entrees based on the low glycemic index.

Eating Fruits and Vegetables

Including plenty of low glycemic fruits and vegetables in your diet can halt "yo-yo" dieting and help you to maintain a healthy weight. Yo-yo dieting occurs when people follow a calorie restriction diet, which typically causes weight loss from muscle and water, followed by weight gain as fat.

Eating Good Fats

Replace the butter and margarine in your diet as much as possible with the good fats, especially olive oil and nut oils like peanut and walnut oils. The good fats can help lower cholesterol levels and improve heart health.

Supplementing with Omega-III Oils

A high quality fish oil is excellent. It is important to get this oil from a quality source which has been tested for the presence of heavy metals such as mercury. Note: Market America's Omega-3 Fish Oil is tested for purity and ensured to have no measurable mercury content. For more information, go to www.newvitalitywellness.com, click the Health & Nutrition menu item on the left panel, then scroll to the Heart Health section.

Reducing Stress

Take a stress break daily and pay attention to your heart rate and your breathing. Just being mindful of your breathing and focusing on breathing deeply can lower your heart rate and your stress level. Exercise and good sleep are also an important part of reducing stress.

Personal Health Assessment

If you have known risk factors, or want to learn more about your heart health and risks, there are a number of strategies.

Online Nutri-Physical

You can perform an online Nutri-Physical, which will help you assess your risk in terms of your lifestyle. The Nutri-Physical questionnaire was designed by physicians to address your diet, sleep patterns, and habits. The result is a recommendation for supplements that address your specific lifestyle and health. To take the test:
1. Go to www.newvitalitywellness.com.
2. Scroll down the page and click the Nutri-Physical link and follow the online instructions.

Medical Testing

Medical tests available from your doctor include:

- Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Evaluates the structure and function of the heart using magnet and radio waves.

- Echocardiogram: Sound imaging of the heart. Echocardiograms show what is happening, right now, in your heart using the same technology used to view a fetus in utero.

- Echocardiography: Ultrasound of the heart. This test is very similar to the echocardiogram, using high frequency sound waves.

- Electrocardiogram: EKG or ECG. This is a test that measures the electrical activity of the heartbeat. With each beat, an electrical impulse (or "wave") travels through the heart. This wave causes the muscle to squeeze and pump blood from the heart. This test yields two kinds of information. First, by measuring time intervals on the ECG, a doctor can determine how long the electrical wave takes to pass through the heart. Finding out how long a wave takes to travel from one part of the heart to the next shows if the electrical activity is normal or slow, fast or irregular. Second, by measuring the amount of electrical activity passing through the heart muscle, a pediatric cardiologist may be able to find out if parts of the heart are too large or are overworked.

- Stress tests. Stress tests or exercise tests are done by walking or running on a treadmill. An exercise test tells a cardiologist how well the heart works and how well it adjusts to different levels of activity.

Changes a doctor may want to evaluate include heart rate, heart rhythm, blood pressure, symptoms and heart function.

In Summary

By designing a lifestyle for yourself that focuses on a healthy diet, supplementation with heart healthy nutrients, and regular physical activity, you can reduce your risk of heart disease significantly, and live a longer, healthier life.
 
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