Heart Disease

Heart Disease is the number one cause of death in the United States. Doctors have been trained to detect the onset of cardiac disease as early as possible but unfortunately by the time it's detected it's too late.

Heart Disease Stats

  • Over 400,000 people die every year from Cardiac Disease.

  • Over a million heart attacks plague the U.S. every year.

  • Thirty Percent of the time the first sign of Coronary Artery Disease is Cardiac Arrest. (Think about that)

    Why are doctors missing the mark Thirty Percent of the time? Because doctors detect Coronary Artery Disease by monitoring their patients cholesterol, but over half of heart attack patients in the U.S. have normal cholesterol levels! (New England Journal of Medicine)

    Scientific Research

    American Heart Association Nutrition Committee)- states, "Improving diet and lifestyle is a critical component of the American Heart Association’s strategy for cardiovascular disease risk reduction in the general population."

    National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute In regard to lowering blood pressure, "High blood pressure can be prevented and lowered by following the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.(DASH diet) References

    Causes Of Coronary Heart Disease

    The causes of coronary heart disease is not an issue of Cholesterol. It's actually caused by the inflammation of coronary arteries.(Dr. Strand) By following basic principles of nutrition, you can prevent and even reverse this process according to many experts. "Bad Cholesterol" or LDL (low-density lipoproteins) plays a part but it is not the culprit. LDL is produced by the body and plays an important role in building good cell membranes and many different hormones that are essential to our body.

    The problem arises when free radicals oxidize the LDL causing it to be damaged. The damaged LDL irritates the subendothelial space attracting white blood cells or Monocytes. Without proper antioxidants in the blood stream the damaged LDL become foam cells (globs of fat). Foam cells build up on the inner wall of the artery causing the infamous fatty streak. The fatty streak attracts more monocytes and the cycle continues to grow causing hardening of the blood vessels and the lethal process called atherosclerotic Heart Disease.

    Plaque attaches itself to the hardened, narrowing arteries and eventually breaks off causing sudden death in Thirty Percent of the time before it's diagnosed.

    Chronic Inflammation is the underlying cause of cardiovascular disease which includes heart attacks, strokes, and aneurysms. And it can be prevented with diet and vitamin supplementation.

    Ways To Prevent Heart Disease

    A healthy lifestyle is the best way to avoid cardiac related diseases, but what does that mean? What should you do?

    First, to make sure you are not deficient in any key nutrients you should take a daily vitamin supplement. You can rest easy knowing you have met your daily requirement for vitamins, minerals and especially antioxidants. Even the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) recommends a daily multi-vitamin as a healthy insurance policy. And they are historically conservative in recommending supplements.

    Eat a heart healthy diet. The American Heart Association has adopted the (DASH) diet to promote heart health. I mentioned it above, and I will explain it in more depth below.

    Heart Healthy Vitamins

  • Multi-Vitamins- Researchers agree that a high quality Multi-Vitamin is a great way to promote cellular health, and Harvard University states that a daily vitamin supplement is like an insurance policy on your health. See the Best Multi-Vitamin on the market by Douglas Labs. Visit my Douglas Labs page to learn more about the industry leader in nutritional supplements.

  • Ultra Cardio Support Pack- Douglas Laboratories also makes a pack of cardiac specific vitamin supplements that are extremely effective in lowering blood pressure, cholesterol, and reversing the coronary artery disease. Visit my Cardiac Vitamins page to see the Ultra Cardio Support Pack and see the facts.

    Heart Healthy Foods

    Taking quality vitamins are important, but without a proper cardiac diet, you will be fighting an uphill battle against heart disease. Heart healthy foods are whole grain breads and cereals, nuts, fruits and vegetables, and of course a low sodium diet.

    The following information is supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (NHLBI) References

    Daily Nutrient Goals used in the DASH Studies (for a 2100 Calorie Eating Plan)

    Total fat: 27% of calorie
    Saturated fat: 6% of calories
    Protein: 18% of calories
    Carbohydrate: 55% of calories
    Cholesterol: 150 mg
    Sodium: 2,300 mg*
    Potassium: 4,700 mg
    Calcium: 1,250 mg
    Magnesium: 500 mg
    Fiber: 30 g

    This eating plan limits saturated fat and cholesterol and focuses on foods rich in nutrients that lower blood pressure like potassium, calcium and magnesium.

    Foods To Eat

  • Oily Fish and Lean Protein- Mackerel, tuna and salmon contain omega-3 fatty acids. This has been proven to improve vessel elasticity and also thins the blood like an aspirin a day. Chicken and Turkey breast are great sources of lean protein. For more info check out my Good Sources Of Protein page.

  • Good Oils- Olive Oil and Canola oil also contain Omega-3's without the saturated fat. Corn and Safflower oil contains omega-6 fatty acids which help lower cholesterol.

  • Fruits and Vegetables- Antioxidants in fruits and vegetables offer protection against heart disease. They also contain folate, which has been proven to lower blood levels of amino acid and homocysteine which are both linked to cardiac disease. For more information on antioxidants, see my Definition Of An Antioxidant page.

  • Fiber- Fiber from whole grains are more heart healthy than any other form of fiber. Look for breads and cereals with 100% whole grains. Learn more about High Fiber Foods from the Superfood-Guru.

  • Unrefined Carbohydrates- Again, whole grain breads, pastas, and cereals are much better for you than traditional carbs. Most importantly, they are Low Glycemic. For more see my Glycemic Index page.

  • Nuts and Seeds- Nuts and seeds are rich in the good fats (unsaturated) and are rich in vitamin E which protects against "bad" cholesterol. Walnuts and almonds are popular choices.

  • Tea- Especially green tea and white tea contain powerful antioxidants that guard against free radical damage to the heart vessels. See my whole page on Organic Herbal Teas .

  • Alcohol- 1-2 drinks of alcohol has been shown to be heart healthy. Especially red wine which carries a lot of antioxidants that protect the heart and vessels from free radical damage.

  • Vitamin E- Vitamin E has been shown to lower "bad" cholesterol. It's better to get it from food as supplements don't have the same benefits. Vitamin E is in avocados, dark green vegetables, vegetable oils, and whole grains.

    Foods To Avoid

  • Fried Foods- Need I say more? Fried foods are high in saturated fat. Cutting out fried food from our diet would make dramatic changes alone

  • Red Meat- Especially the fatty or marbled cuts. Try to stick to the sirloin and strip steaks if you're like me and you just have to BBQ steaks in the summer. Trim the fat and avoid over salting it.

  • Salt- Avoid adding salt to your food, but also beware sodium (salt) in processed and packaged food.

    Homocysteine Levels

    Early detection is key to preventing long term damage. But if half of all heart attack patients have normal LDL levels, then how do we test for who's really at risk for Cardiac Disease?

    Monitoring homocysteine levels is on of the best ways to prevent heart disease. What is Homocysteine? It has been proven to be directly linked to Heart Disease. The higher your levels of Homocysteine, the greater your risk for atherosclerosis. It is a by-product that our body produces when it metabolizes an essential amino acid called methionine. Methionine is in milk, cheese, eggs, white flour, canned foods, and processed foods. When Homocysteine builds up, our body neutralizes it with basic nutrients like folic acid, vitamin B12, and B6. But if you are deficient in any of those nutrients, the Homocysteine levels continue to rise. Supplementing your diet with optimum amounts of quality vitamins, minerals and antioxidants can decrease homocysteine levels and help prevent heart disease. This is why diet plays such an important role in our heart health.

    Hundreds of thousands of people are in severe danger of Heart attack or stroke simply because they are deficient in simple B vitamins, Folic Acid, and other common nutrients which cost pennies a day to supplement.

    Why don't doctors check for homocystine levels and recommend these vitamins?

    Economics Of Medicine

    Because there is no money to be made. Preventing rising Homocysteine levels involves natural substances. The pharmaceutical companies are not interested in a natural cure for heart disease. They can't patent these key nutrients and charge hundreds of dollars for a bottle of B vitamins.

    Doctors are educated in how to treat end-stage diseases with copious amounts of synthetic medications. They are not formally educated in preventative medicine and especially nutritional medicine.

    In fact: Prescription Drugs have been the fastest growing portion of health care cost in the past decade. And less than Six Percent of graduating physicians are formally trained in nutrition.

    Pharmacology on the other hand is a major part of the curriculum.

    Nation wide our health care system is in a steep decline. in 1950 the U.S. ranked seventh among the top twenty-one industrialized nations in the world concerning life expectancy. In 1990 we ranked Eighteenth among the same countries.

  • We are Over-medicated and under-educated as a country when it comes to heart health.

    Additional Resources

    Preventing A Heart Attack - This website provides lots of information in an attempt to help you prevent becoming a victim yourself. It encourages the public to act now rather that waiting until it is too late.

    Health Stories/Heart-Attack-Signs - Read this story of Heart Attack Signs, Knowing the common heart attack signs in women may just save the love of your life.

    Normal Blood Pressure Diet - Find loads of information on how to lower blood pressure naturally through diet, exercise, and other means.



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