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Adobe Walls Wellness |
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Doctor Recommended Supplements for Heart Health *Scroll down below the TABLE for information and related Categories.
Take This To Heart! The results of a 2003 study reported in Journal of the American Medical Association underscore ‘the importance of considering all major risk factors for coronary heart disease, CHD, in attempting to prevent clinical coronary heart disease.’ The results ‘suggest that preventing the development of unfavorable levels of blood cholesterol and blood pressure, cigarette smoking, diabetes, and unfavorable body weight (as a precursor of unfavorable blood lipid and blood pressure levels and diabetes) should be given even greater priority than is presently the case. Extensive epidemiological research has established cigarette smoking, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension as independent risk factors for CHD. In addition, treatment of these risk factors has been convincingly shown to reduce the risk of future cardiac events…90% of patients with CHD have conventional risk factors.” JAMA. 2003. Vol. 290. No.7. pgs 891-897; 898-904. Contributing Factors and Prevention Start at the beginning. Any discussion of the prevention of heart disease must point to behavior and eating modification starting at birth. “Cardiovascular health needs to start in childhood,” so reports Family Practice News. August 15, 2002, which emphasizes the need to help children lose weight and promote lifetime physical activity. “The AHA (American Heart Association) suggests management and treatment of problems such as obesity, insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia. It recommends total cholesterol screening for children aged 2 years and older if a parent’s cholesterol is 240mg/dL or greater, as well as fasting lipids screening if there’s a family history of early heart disease.” Circulation 106[1]:143-60, 2002. A study of 169 families showed that children who ate more meals while watching TV, watched more TV. At age 12 children who watched less than 2 hours of TV per day had significantly lower body mass scores (obesity index) than those who watched more than 2 hours of TV per day. J. Dev. Behav. Pedatr. 23[3]:127-32, 2002. “Prime time programming has steadily increased so that today at least 16 minutes of an hour-long show are devoted to the advertisements. The average US child now sees more than 40,000 television commercials per year. During Saturday morning cartoons, children view an average of 1 food commercial every 5 minutes. More than 90% of these advertisements are for high-sugar cereals and candy bars, salty canned foods, fast food, or other junk food. Children and teenagers are exposed to 1000 to 2000 alcohol advertisements on television each year.” JAMA. 2006:Vol. 295, No. 4:1698-9. Besides being intoxicating, alcohol adds to total calorie intake. Children eat what they see advertised on TV. Children eat a larger quantity of food while watching TV or eating at restaurants than when they are not (as in regular sit down meals) and more of the foods they eat are unhealthy foods. Children change eating preferences to conform to those of other children who are eating food advertised on TV. TV has introduced a FAD food culture. The increased consumption of nutrient deficient foods leads to obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure all of which are risk factors for heart disease. Why do we as a society facilitate this disease fostering behavior, when it is in our control to stop it? Essential Nutrients. Certain foods are known to be essential for health (our bodies can not produce them) so they must be gotten from whole foods we eat and supplements. Whole foods include pomegranates and cranberries (which are proving to be strong antioxidants that may help reduce arterial plaque formation), red grapes, green tea, whole grains such as oats, tomatoes with lycopene, flaxseed, garlic with strong antibiotic properties and nuts, broccoli, salmon, and olive oil. A daily multiple vitamin/mineral is essential for heart health (B vitamins B6, Niacin and Folic acid, along minerals selenium, magnesium, calcium…). Other supplements that are important include the nutrients alpha lipoic acid, coenzyme Q10, omega fatty acids (flax seed oil), L-arginine, L-carnitine and lecithin.
A study reported at an AMA meeting suggests that a traditional Chinese diet helps ward off heart disease. Kam Woo, MD, University of Hong Kong, points to the people of Pan Yu, Guangdong Province in southern China who consumed a diet of vegetables, rice and green tea. They have one of lowest rates of heart disease in the world. Kam Woo, M.D. reported that westernized Chinese peoples in four other locations in the world had thicker inner walls of the carotid arteries (arteries in the neck that feed blood to the brain and indicate heart disease) than those of Pan Yu region. MD Net Guide. January 2000. Vol. 2, No.1. Research shows that diets that consist of or promote heavy meat consumption pose serious risks long-term. In modern societies the type of fat eaten is of extreme importance. Saturated or hydrogenated oils cooked at high temperatures affect heart health and may be a precipitating factor in certain cancers. “Domestic beef contains primarily saturated fats and virtually undetectable amounts of essential omega-3 fatty acids. In contrast, the fat of wild animals contains over five times more polyunsaturated fat per gram, and approximately four percent of the fat is beneficial omega-3 fatty acids. While a diet high in saturated fat is associated with an increase in blood cholesterol levels and the risk of heart disease, a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids exerts a protective effect against both. It is now the recommendation of many health and medical organizations that the human diet should focus primarily on plant-based foods, such as vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. Such a diet is thought to offer significant protection against the development of chronic degenerative disease. One of the key aspects of a predominately plant-based diet is its high content of dietary fiber. Beneficial effects of dietary fiber” include reduced high blood sugar levels after meals, decreased levels of serum lipids and increased effectiveness of the pancreas and bile.” Pizzarno, Joseph and Murray, Michael T. Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine. New York, New York:Three Rivers Press, 1988. Other functional foods have been proven to promote cardiovascular health. Weight Management Weight management is an indication of how well the body is balancing the energy in/energy out equation. If the equation is lopsided, the risk of disease increases. Managing healthy weight can be a way to fine tune disease management. A commitment to attain personal fitness requires purposeful balancing of the input of essential nutrients and the output of movement and physical work. Balance is a good indicator of wellness. Optimal health is a product of good eating and lifestyle choices made day to day. Much can be said about a person’s health and risk of cardiovascular disease from studying their weight, mood, addictions, habits, thinking, physical activity and the food choices. “Physically active women have lower rates of coronary heart disease than inactive women. Physical activity, even light to moderate activity, was inversely associated with risk of coronary heart disease, including women who were overweight, had increased cholesterol levels, or were smokers.” JAMA. March 21, 2001. Most Harmful Scientists have confirmed that there are many harmful foods that increase the risk of heart disease. Nicotine is probably at the top. Cigarette smoking is a known cause of cardiovascular disease. Smoking is a complex problem in which addictive chemicals and social behavior leads to a compulsive need to inhale the mind-altering nicotine found in cigarette smoke. Pfizer (U.S. Pharmaceuticals) reported in 2006 that a specific mediator thought to be responsible for the addictive properties of nicotine had been identified. That is a “significant advancement in the understanding of the nature of nicotine addiction. Most experts agree at this point that smoking is a chronic, relapsing condition-an addiction similar in nature to that seen in cocaine and heroin users.” JAMA. April 12, 2006. Vol. 295, No.14. Pfizer advertisement. In one study, teenagers and young adults who died of causes unrelated to cardiovascular disease between 15 and 34 years old and who also showed normal cholesterol readings were compared to those in the same group who had smoked. “Those who smoked had already developed 3X as much plaque in the main artery leading from the heart as those who did not light up.” Family Circle. November 20, 2001. Cholesterol-The Good and the Bad Frank Sacks, M.D and Patrick Skerrett from Harvard Medical School discussed the role of high HDL and cardiovascular risk in special issue of Newsweek. “Lifestyle changes are the place to start. Studies show that exercise, weight control, moderate drinking and a Mediterranean diet can all help raise HDL... the B-vitamin niacin can help, too…Everyone should strive for an HDL count of at least 40, and wish for one at least 50.” Cholesterol Lowering Foods According to a recent study by Dr. David Jenkins of St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Canada, consumption of certain foods each day had a cholesterol-lowering effect as effective as the prescribed medication statin used in the study. The functional foods included viscous fiber, soy protein, plant sterols and almonds. The subjects of a year long study were to eat seven servings of fiber; seven soy protein foods, 5 teaspoons of margarine with plant sterols, and 1 ½ oz of almonds. Some participants showed a cut in the harmful LDL cholesterol more than 30 % below their baseline (at least 158 mg/dL) for a year, which was similar to use of first generation prescription Lovastatin 20mg/daily. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. March 2006. C-Reactive Protein=Indicator of Inflammation and Cardiac Disease C-Reactive Protein is an indicator of heart disease specifically the inflammation that leads to formation of clots and strokes. “Looking for a readily available, safe and inexpensive way to reduce C-reactive protein in patients at increased risk for cardiovascular disease? Consider multivitamins. C-reactive protein (CRP) became front-page news in spring 2005 when two studies in the New England Journal of Medicine showed statin-induced reductions in CRP could reduce risk of cardiovascular events… But absent from almost all major news coverage was a study published in 2003 showing that a multivitamin could reduce CRP by over 30% in patients at increased risk for heart disease. Add that to other studies showing that smoking cessation, low-fat plant-based diets and exercise are linked to lower CRP levels, and it seems that an effective holistic strategy to attenuate this risk factor is much closer at hand than most physicians realize… ‘Vitamin B6 and vitamin C were the big players,’ Timothy S. Church, M.D., PhD, Cooper Institute, Dallas, told Holistic Primary Care. ‘The whole idea of a multiple vitamin is it provides nutrients in combinations and proportions that are closer to normal physiology and the nutrition we get from whole foods. You don’t go a vitamin C tree and pick a vitamin C fruit. You eat an orange and you get vitamin C with lots of other nutrients.” C-reactive protein levels were shown to have dropped after a diet which included fiber, soy protein, plant sterols and almonds in the same way as treatment with the prescribed stain, Lovastatin." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. March 2006. Gender Difference Heart disease is the number one killer of women in the U.S. The symptoms are often silent and attacks occur without sufficient warning. Beneficial Low dose aspirin. For men over 40, postmenopausal women, and those at risk for heart disease, “aspirin (75 mg/day) has been officially declared a key factor in preventing first-time myocardial infarctions and other coronary events.” Family Practice News. February 1, 2002. Vol. 32, No.3. Talk with your doctor if you are at risk of heart disease, have ulcers or take blood thinners such as warfarin before taking daily low dose aspirin (81 mg). Inform your doctor of medication you currently take. Blood Pressure Soy protein lowered blood pressure in a Chinese trial funded by Tulane, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and China’s Ministry of Science. “Increased intake of soybean protein may provide an important means of preventing and treating hypertension,’ Jiang He, M.D. declared at a meeting sponsored by the International Academy of Cardiology. Martha L. Daviflus, M.D., reported that the International Study on Macronutrients and Blood Pressure found an association between greater consumption of vegetable protein (but not animal protein) and lower blood pressure. Family Practice News. October 2005. GET TO THE HEART OF WHAT MATTERS~WHAT MATTERS IS YOU So Supplement Often! SOUTHWEST BEATS and ADOBE WALL VITALITY! | ||||||||||||
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