Heart Disease Facts You Need to Be Aware Of

Heart Disease – Why You Need to Protect Your Heart and What Are The Symptoms Associated With It?

Lifestyle choices can have a dramatic effect on overall heart health and as simple as it sound to you. too many people ignore what should be common sense. What about you???

Look at some of the examples and see if you might be at higher risk of heart disease:

• Do you use tobacco products?
• Do you weight 20 or more pounds over your ideal weight?
• Do you lead an inactive lifestyle…or do not exercise reguraly?
• Do you consume a diet high in total and saturated fats?
• Do you have poor LDL to HDL cholesterol ratios?
• Do you have high blood pressure?
• Do You have high homocysteine levels?
• Do you live stress-filled life with no time to recover?

Have You answered YES to at least one of the questions? Then I urge you to continue reading more.

Heart Disease Facts: Why Is This Health Condition So Serious?

Fact: Heart disease has been the number one killer in the U.S. since 1990

Fact: Heart disease and stroke together account for one our of every two deaths!

Fact: Heart disease kills more people then the next seven highest causes of death combined

Fact: Heart disease does not discriminate:

• It affects both men and women of ALL ages and ALL races.
• Young adults even exhibit the signs of early heart disease.

Cardiovascular disease is the most feared condition in the western society that is truly caused by bad lifestyle choices. With heart disease and stroke accounting for more than one out of every two deaths. Do not tell me that these aren’t some scary statistics for you?

Well, especially when you consider how little effort we put into maintaining our heart health.

Most of us tend to spend all the energy on our homes, cars and wardrobes. Sometimes I am chuckling when I see how some women spend hours trying to figure out which pants they should have with this purple shirt.

Or, on the other hand I see men polishing their Harley-Davidson bike, listening that strong, amazing roar of the engine. But what we are doing about maintaining our most important asset – the heart health?

Heart Condition Fact – A poor lifestyle can have a negative effect on your life and heart health.

Heart disease (or CVD – cardiovascular disease), is used to describe a number of conditions such as:

• coronary heart disease
• coronary artery disease
• atherosclerosis
• angina
• hypertension
• congestive heart failure

These are all familiar terms that we associate with heart problems and they are all linked to similar risk factors. Usually, when you approach your late 30’s and early 40’s you begin to feel your age is catching with you, right?

Maybe you are noticing that your metabolism slows down and therefore you are afraid to go on the scale. Your energy levels are dropping and you feel like your clothes are “shrinking.”

It’s very interesting that many people recognize these potential challenges and begin to address them. But many people do nothing until they start having health problems. That usually it’s too late!

The irony I see here is that the same group of people living potentially harmful lifestyles are in many cases the same people who spend big part of their lives properly maintaining their homes, cars, relationships, jobs and such.

Unfortunately, they just don’t spend that much time on maintenance one of the most critical aspect of all until some health challenges begin to develop.

What Does Your Heart Do For You?

Your cardiovascular system affects every single cell in your body by pumping blood to distribute:

• oxygen
• vital nutrients
• hormones
• antibodies

and molecules from other organs.

When this very powerful system is not properly cared for, it affects your whole body and can cause major problems.

Our bodies were made for motion and activity. A healthy, conditioned heart and vascular system is prepared to withstand the demands we place on ourselves and our bodies.

Poor lifestyle choices, unhealthy diet, sedentary lifestyle and excess body weight, coupled with high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels can alter the basic structure of the heart.

And when the cardiovascular system does not function properly – very dangerous complication can arise.

Atherosclerosis, Coronary artery disease, Hardening of the arteries…

Are all common names describing a progressive condition caused by the build up of fatty deposits –plaque inside the arteries that supply blood to the heart.

As these arteries narrow…the heart suffers because it is “starved” of oxygenated blood.

The result: the heart muscle weakens but the body still needs its continual flow of blood to function properly. But now it need to do this by pumping the blood much harder.

As atherosclerosis worsens, there is an increased risk for:

• blood clots
• angina (chest pain or discomfort)
• hypertension (high blood pressure)

and ultimately…a heart attack or stroke.

Heart attack: is also known as a myocardial infarction, which results when a blood clot causes a major artery to become blocked, restricting the flow of oxygenated blood to the heart, thus disabling it and shutting it down.

Stroke: is one type of cerebral vascular accident that can occur as a result of blood clot in an artery that supplies oxygenated blood to the brain, this is the leading to cause of brain damage.

Now, when you understand the BAD sides of cardiovascular disease we can move up to the GOOD sides of heart health.

Perfect Heart Health Could Be Achieved With a Small Changes to Your Daily Lifestyle

Just as a poor lifestyle can help contribute to poor heart health, there are simple, everyday things you can do to help your heart to be healthy:

• Do not smoke cigarettes or any tobacco products
• Maintain a healthy height-to-weight ratio
• Eat more fruits, vegetables and whole grains
• Limit the consumption of total and saturated fat
• Exercise regularly 3-5 days per week and at least 30 minutes a day.
• Work closely with your physician to monitor cholesterol, blood pressure, homocysteine and C-reactive protein levels

• Start a complete natural nutritional supplementation program designed to help you to maintain proper heart health.

In order to understand, how you can supplement your diet to maintain your heart health strong, let’s take a look at how health professionals see the heart disease.

Health Professionals use several “markers” when determining one’s risk of cardiovascular disease. When you are looking for total approach to heart health, you should be concerned about addressing several of these markers together.

So What Are The Markers Of Heart Disease:

Let’s start with them one by one…according to how health professionals use it when trying to determine your risk of cardiovascular disease:

High Cholesterol and Blood Lipid Levels

Your diet greatly affects your risk of heart disease and eating foods high in fat, including cholesterol, has a direct affect on cholesterol levels in your body

Here’s why:

Once eaten, fat and cholesterol are absorbed from food in the intestine as well as being produced by the liver.

These substances are carried in the blood by a protein called, albumin and special particles known as lipoproteins to every cell throughout the body.

During transport, they are susceptible to oxidation by free radicals. As a result, oxidized cholesterol and other fats can damage blood vessel walls by causing lesions where plaque sticks and begin to build.

The site can become mineralized and hard, eventually forming a blockage or it can remain soft and can rupture, precipitating clot formation.

This is the formation of Atherosclerosis.

Homocysteine Levels

Homocysteine is a toxic amino acid that, when found in high concentrations in the blood, is associated with a high risk of heart disease and stroke. According to some experts, homocysteine, as a marker for CVD, is as important as cholesterol or cigarette smoking.

Homocysteine levels can become elevated as a result of smoking, high alcohol consumption, low levels of selected B-vitamins in the diet, a previous heart attack or stroke and is also found to be associated with increasing age and post-menopause in women.

C-reactive Protein

It is an acute phase protein that increases during systemic inflammation, which occurs during the formation of atherosclerotic plaque. While this is a rather new method for testing heart disease risk, a growing number of studies have shown that high levels of C-reactive protein are positively associated with potential coronary events.

Look for health and nutritional products which are beneficial to your overall heart health and addresses all those “markers of heart disease”.

Omega 3 Fatty Acids Found In The Fish Oil

Fish oils have been clinically demonstrated to provide a host of benefits that successfully promote heart health

Despite clinical studies which show that at least 3 grams of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) are required to produce significant benefit. Many fish oil supplements do not supply this level of active ingredients.

Omega 3 fatty acids have been shown to maintain healthy triglyceride (TG) levels.

Clinical studies show as much as a 25-30% reduction after supplementation with fish oils. A strong correlation has also been shown between fish oil consumption and the reduction of C-reactive protein levels.

Fish oils are also important in the maintenance of normal blood flow as they help lower fibrinogen levels (coagulation or blood clotting) which helps to prevent platelets from sticking together and forming clots too easily. One of the purest omega-3 fish oil supplements that are made out of clean waters from New Zealand is the X-Tend Life Omega 3, totally recommended!

Garlic – Helps to Maintain The Optimal Arterial Function

To help maintain arterial integrity, supplement with Garlic, a well-known cardio-protective agent.

It supports heart function by maintaining healthy blood flow. One study also suggests that the active ingredient in garlic –allicin. It may also act on HMG-CoA reductase to reduce production of cholesterol.

The bioflavonoid content of Hawthorn Berry aids in the dilation of blood vessels, helps strengthen the heart muscle, and promotes the structural integrity of the arteries.

Several studies have also shown that Hawthorn Berry is beneficial in maintaining proper heart health.

Healthy Homocysteine Levels

Homocysteine is an amino acid that, when found in high concentrations in the blood, is associated with a high risk of heart disease and stroke.

Studies suggest that folic acid, vitamin B12 and vitamin B6 are critical in the process to convert homocysteine into a harmless, non-toxic amino acid.

One study showed that folic acid, B12 and B6 reduced homocysteine levels by 50% over an 8-week period.

B Vitamins have also been shown to aid in red blood cell formation, improve circulation and maintain healthy arteries.

Have You Ever Heard of Tocotrienols?

Tocotrienols, members of the vitamin E family, have been shown to degrade this enzyme and thus assist in the prevention of cholesterol production. They also reduce oxidative damage to the “bad” LDL cholesterol and inhibit blood platelet aggregation in the arteries.

A study from the journal Atherosclerosis found that 100 mg of tocotrienols taken daily decreased LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels in individuals with high cholesterol.

Compared with doses of 25, 50 and 200 mg per day, 100 mg daily proved to be the optimal dose for controlling the risk of heart disease in subjects with high cholesterol.

OPC’s – The Nature’s Super Antioxidants Help Your Heart Health to Function Properly

Opc’s are safe and natural group of flavonoids, known as oligomeric proanthocyanidins. There are numerous studies that they have a number of benefits on the cardiovascular system by preventing platelet aggregation, reducing levels of cholesterol, triglycerides and relaxes arterial tissues.

OPC’s have even more benefit on your overall health, not just to your cardiovascular health. You can find more on OPC’s benefits and discover, why this natural supplement help to maintain much more than your heart health.

Another great way to improve your chances is to do cleansing diet and some really cool way is to drink fresh juice every single day.

If you have enjoyed this article on hearth health, you will for sure love my Total Wellness Cleanse review that will show you how to eliminate toxins that have accumulated for all those years and how that alone greatly improve your health and well being…