Keeping the Heart Healthy - exercise and nutrition

Written by Tena Moore


Regardless of the plethora of nutritional information available today, cardiovascular diseases still top the charts when it comes to deaths in the United States. The nutritional requirements for health haven’t changed that much over the years: fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, fish and lean meats, as well as exercise, are still the way to a healthy heart. If you are striving to keep your heart healthy there are a few things to keep in mind when you sit down to nourish yourself.

1)Your body needs soluble fiber not only to help lower cholesterol, but also for proper digestion. You can find this fiber in whole grains, nuts, and some vegetables and fruit. If you’re not getting enough fiber in your diet, think about adding ground flaxseed to your diet, or adding a daily drink of psyllium husks.

2) Plant stanols are healthy for the heart because they lower bad cholesterol. You can find them in vegetables and vegetable oils, fruits, nuts, seeds, and legumes.

3)Eat your Omega-3’s and eat them in abundance. They lower blood pressure, prevent clogged arteries, and lower your cholesterol. They are found in fatty fish, omega-3 enriched eggs, soy and flax.

Eating for a healthy heart is not about calories, it’s about nutrients. Vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, legumes and fish are packed with heart healthy vitamins and minerals that will keep you healthy for years to come.




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Lowering Cholesterol With Food and Statins

A new 1.9 year study involving 18,000 healthy subjects found that Crestor, a statin produced by Astra-Zeneca, may be able to help prevent strokes, heart attack and cardiovascular deaths in those with normal cholesterol, but high levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) – a heart risk marker.

A handful of other unrelated studies took a look at alternative choices to help reduce cardiovascular events, and found that Omega-3s and rest yeast rice were of use as well. One study was conducted in Malaysia, involving 2,000 people over a two-year span, another was conducted in Japan and involved over 18,000 people.

The following article outlines the details of these studies and looks at the fact that nearly half of those who experience stroke and heart attack are at the normal cholesterol level, but tend to have high levels of hsCRP. Read this enlightening article to find out the newest research on cardiovascular health.

Statins lower cholesterol, so do omega-3 and red yeast rice

Researches are Convinced that Juice Prevents Blockages in the Arteries

Recently, researchers conducted an experiment that involved hamsters that were given water and hamsters who received juice in an amount that was comparable to four glasses daily for an individual who weighed approximately one hundred and fifty pounds. While other hamsters were apples or grapes with human equivalents of three apples a day or three bunches of grapes per day. Researchers studied how the fruits affected the risk of atherosclerosis in hamsters. Atherosclerosis has become a major health concern for humans in recent years due to unhealthy diet and lifestyle changes. Consequently, the results grapes and apples may beneficial in preventing atherosclerosis among humans as well.

Hamsters who received either fruit or juice had lower cholesterol, less aortic fat build-up, and less oxidative stress. The results of this study seem to suggest that there is a direct correlation between the amount of phenol contained in fruit and its antioxidant benefits.

The study revealed that apples and grapes had about the same phenol content while purple grape juice had more than double the phenol content of apples or grapes.

In fact, purple grape juice had the strongest antioxidant effect, followed by purple grapes, apple juice, and apples.

Antioxidants have long been considered to good for your health, however these findings seem to indicate that phenols and other antioxidants contained in fruit such as vitamin C and carotenoids may greatly affect an individual’s risk of heart attack and stroke.