Heart A Fact
Links
Alcohol
Belly
Fat
Cholesterol
Coffee
Diet
Exercise
Flax
Fats
Fiber
Fish Oil
Heart
Disease Defined
Olive
Oil
Omega
3 Fatty Acids
Oranges
Red
Wine
Saturated
Fat
Smoking
Tea
Trans
Fat
Vitamin
C
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HEART
A FACTS
I
have compiled excerpts from articles on causes, prevention and reversal
of heart disease from reputable sources. However, because
there are so many conflicting theories and studies, I included the link
to the original article so you can draw your own conclusions.
--Adj
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Eat More
Fiber
Harvard
School of Public Health
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intake of dietary fiber has been linked to a lower risk of heart
disease in a number of large studies that followed people for many
years.(2,
3) In a Harvard study of over 40,000 male health professionals,
researchers found that a high total dietary fiber intake was linked to
a 40 percent lower risk of coronary heart disease, compared to a low
fiber intake.(4)
Cereal fiber, the fiber found in grains, seemed particularly
beneficial. A related Harvard study of female nurses produced quite
similar findings.(5) |
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Sources of Fiber
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Soluble Fiber
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Insoluble Fiber
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oatmeal
oatbran
nuts and seeds
legumes
apples
pears
strawberries
blueberries
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whole grains
(for more information on whole grains, click
here)
- whole wheat breads
- barley
- couscous
- brown rice
- bulgur
whole-grain breakfast cereals
wheat bran
seeds
carrots
cucumbers
zucchini
celery
tomatoes
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Current
recommendations suggest that adults consume 20-35 grams of dietary
fiber per day. Children over age 2 should consume an amount equal to or
greater than their age plus 5 grams per day. Yet the average American
eats only 14-15 grams of dietary fiber a day. |
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Drink
Tea
Drinking
lots of tea may reduce a person's risk of dying after a heart attack,
according to a report in the Journal of the American Heart
Association. |
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A Few Quotes From the Article:
Moderate
tea use was associated with a 28
percent lower death rate compared to
the death rate of non-drinkers. People who reported heavy tea
consumption had a 44 percent lower
death rate during the follow-up
period.
"We found that tea drinkers generally had
lower death rates
regardless of age, gender, smoking status, obesity, hypertension,
diabetes or previous heart attack," Mukamal says.
"The
effects of tea on health have been widely studied, in part because tea
contains flavonoids and other
antioxidant components...The
findings support those from previous studies that linked flavonoid
consumption to a lower risk of coronary heart disease and a lower risk
of death in people who have heart or blood vessel disease, says
Mukamal, who is also an associate in medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess
Medical Center.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Tea is a rich source of dietary
flavonoids, which have been shown to
have a protective effect against ischemic heart disease through their
antioxidant properties. In an article in the American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition, Geleijnse et al. examined the long-term impact of
regular tea consumption on the incidence of fatal and nonfatal
myocardial infarctions (MIs) in a group of older Dutch men and women.
Even after adjustment for other lifestyle factors such as smoking, tea
drinkers had a substantially lower risk of myocardial infarction than
nondrinkers, and the association was particularly strong for fatal
events.
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Healthy
food habits can help you reduce three risk factors for heart attack and
stroke — high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure and excess
body
weight. The American Heart Association Eating Plan for Healthy
Americans is based on these dietary guidelines, released in October
2000:
- Eat a
variety of fruits and vegetables. Choose 5 or more servings per day.
- Eat a
variety of grain products, including whole grains. Choose 6 or more
servings per day.
- Eat fish
at least twice a week, particularly fatty fish.
- Include
fat-free and low-fat milk products, legumes (beans), skinless poultry
and lean meats.
- Choose
fats and oils with 2 grams or less saturated fat per tablespoon, such
as liquid and tub margarines, and canola, olive, corn, safflower and
soy bean oils.
- Limit
your intake of foods high in calories or low in nutrition. This
includes foods with a lot of added sugar like soft drinks and candy.
- Limit
foods high in saturated fat, trans fat and/or cholesterol, such as
full-fat milk products, fatty meats, tropical oils, partially
hydrogenated vegetable oils and egg yolks. Instead, choose foods low in
saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol from the first four points
above. (Trans fat comes from adding hydrogen to vegetable oil, which
partially hydrogenates it. It's also found naturally in meat and dairy
products. Trans fat tends to increase blood cholesterol levels.)
- Eat
less than 6 grams of salt (sodium chloride) per day. That’s equal to
about 1 teaspoon of salt, or a daily sodium intake of less than 2,400
mg.
- If
you drink alcohol, have no more than one drink per day if you're a
woman or two per day if you're a man. “One drink” has no more than 1/2
ounce of pure alcohol. Examples of one drink are 12 oz. of beer, 4 oz.
of wine, 1-1/2 oz. of 80-proof spirits or 1 oz. of 100-proof spirits.
- To
maintain your weight, balance the number of calories you eat with the
number you use each day. To get a rough guide to how many calories you
need, multiply your body weight in pounds by 15 (if you're active) or
12 (if you're not). If you're overweight or obese, multiply you ideal
body weight by 15 (active) or 13 (non active) to find the number of
calories you should eat to gradually achieve your ideal body weight.
- Get
enough physical activity to keep fit, and balance the calories you burn
with the calories you eat. Walk or do other activities for at least 30
minutes every day.
Following
these guidelines will help you achieve and maintain a healthy eating
pattern. The benefits of that include a healthy body weight, a
desirable blood cholesterol level and a normal blood pressure. Every
meal doesn't have to meet all the guidelines. It's important to apply
the guidelines to your overall eating pattern over a period of several
days. However, be aware that dietary excesses
that raise blood
cholesterol drive cholesterol to fatty buildups in arteries. It's much
harder for the cholesterol to come out of the artery, so you don't
quite "make up" for the excess by an equivalent period of healthy
eating.
<>These
guidelines may do more than improve your heart health. They may reduce
your risk for other chronic health problems, including type 2 diabetes,
osteoporosis (bone loss) and some forms of cancer.
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What
are recommended amounts of saturated fat and dietary cholesterol?
For
people without coronary heart disease, diabetes or high LDL
cholesterol, our eating plan recommends that...
- Saturated
fat and trans fat should be less than 10 percent of total calories.
- Cholesterol
should be less than 300 mg per day.
What
are recommended amounts of saturated fat in grams?
|
| Calorie
Level |
Saturated Fat
less than 10%
(grams) |
| 1200 |
less
than 13 |
| 1500 |
less
than 17 |
| 1800 |
less
than 20 |
| 2000 |
less
than 22 |
| 2200 |
less
than 24 |
| 2500 |
less
than 28 |
| 3000 |
less
than 33 |
|
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Omega
3 fatty acids and cardiovascular disease—fishing for a natural treatment
British Medical Journal
Omega 3
fatty acids
from fish and fish oils can protect against coronary heart
disease. This article reviews the evidence regarding fish
oils and coronary disease and outlines the mechanisms through which
fish oils might confer cardiac benefits
Fish and Omega-3 Fatty Acids
AHA
Recommendation
Omega-3 fatty acids benefit the heart of
healthy people, and those at high risk of — or who
have — cardiovascular disease.
We recommend eating fish
(particularly fatty fish) at least two times a week.
Fish is a good source of protein and doesn’t have the high saturated
fat that fatty meat products do. Fatty fish like mackerel, lake
trout,
herring, sardines, albacore tuna and salmon are high in two kinds of
omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic
acid (DHA).
The ways that omega-3 fatty acids reduce CVD
risk are still being studied. However, research has shown that
they
- decrease risk of arrhythmias, which can
lead to sudden cardiac death
- decrease triglyceride levels
- decrease growth rate of atherosclerotic
plaque
- lower blood pressure (slightly)
Summary
of Recommendations for Omega-3 Fatty Acid Intake
| Population |
Recommendation |
| Patients without documented coronary heart disease (CHD) |
Eat a variety of
(preferably fatty) fish at least twice a week. Include oils and foods
rich in alpha-linolenic acid (flaxseed, canola and soybean oils;
flaxseed and walnuts). |
| Patients with documented CHD |
Consume
about 1 g of EPA+DHA per day, preferably from fatty fish. EPA+DHA
supplements could be considered in consultation with the
physician. |
| Patients who need to lower triglycerides |
2 to 4 grams of EPA+DHA per day provided as capsules
under a physician’s care. |
Patients taking more than 3 grams of
omega-3 fatty acids from
supplements should do so only under a physician’s care. High
intakes
could cause excessive bleeding in some people.
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Limit Coffee Drinking (Tea has 25-30% less caffeine than coffee-equal to
the amount in a chocolate bar or a cup of decaffeinated
coffee)
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Caffeine and
Your Heart
Although
researchers have not agreed on a final conclusion about
caffeine, there is some evidence to suggest that high amounts of
caffeine can cause heart-related problems (e.g., abnormal heart rhythms
called arrhythmias).
Until more definite research conclusions have been made, physicians may
advise heart patients to reduce or stop their use of caffeine.
Generally, people are encouraged to stop their caffeine use gradually
rather than suddenly, in order to avoid withdrawal symptoms (e.g.,
severe headache)
Caffeine boosts
predictor of heart problems - Coffee Jitters -
increased levels of homocysteine may increase risk of heart attack
Science News,
Jan
4, 2003
Past studies have shown that drinking coffee can increase blood
concentrations of the amino acid homocysteine, which has been
associated with an elevated risk of heart attacks (SN: 1/11/97, p. 22).
Meanwhile, quitting coffee can reduce blood concentrations of both
homocysteine and artery-dam aging cholesterol (SN: 9//22/01,p.
180).
Is Caffeine Bad for
Your Heart? New Research
Suggests Caffeine Elevates
Blood Pressure, Stress
WebMD
Medical News Aug. 1, 2002
Even more troubling, the researchers concluded that the
equivalent of four cups of coffee raises blood pressure for many hours.
Although the increases appear modest, they are large enough to affect
heart attack and stroke risk, says lead author James D. Lane, PhD. The
findings were reported in the July/August issue of the journal Psychosomatic
Medicine.
"The level of blood pressure
change we saw has been
associated with an increased risk of heart disease," Lane tells WebMD.
"People consuming typical amounts of coffee and caffeinated soft drinks
are probably raising their blood pressure by an amount equal to the
beneficial reduction seen with antihypertensive drugs. So if you are
taking blood pressure medication, it may not be doing you any good if
you are drinking three or four cups of coffee a day."
Coffee May
Raise Heart Disease Risk Moderate
Amounts Raise Inflammation and
May Increase Heart Disease Risk, Says Greek Study
WebMD
Medical News Oct. 20, 2004
Drinking even moderate amounts of coffee may
raise your risk of heart disease, according to a Greek study.
Past studies looking at coffee's effects on
the heart have shown
conflicting results. This study is the first to focus on coffee and
inflammation, one of the key mechanisms linked to the development of
heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.
The report, which appears in the October
issue of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, shows that
people who drink moderate to high amounts of coffee had increased
levels of markers of inflammation.
TOP
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This
is perhaps the single most effective step you can take. Anywhere from
20 to 40% (100,000 to 200,000 every year) of all CAD deaths in the U.S.
are directly attributable to smoking. It more than doubles your chance
of eventually having a heart attack and increases the chance of dying
from it by 70%; it is also the leading cause of sudden cardiac death.
The good news: Quitting smoking quickly reduces your CAD risk; within
five to ten years of quitting, your risk of heart attack declines to a
level similar to that of people who never smoked, regardless of how
long you smoked. |
TOP
Have
A
Drink A Day
UC Berkeley Wellness Letter
Consider
a drink a day. There's a growing consensus that light to moderate
alcohol consumption—that is, two drinks or less a day for a man, one
drink for a woman (a drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 4 ounces of
wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof spirits) can help prevent heart
attacks. However, drinking more than that can increase the risk of
heart attack and stroke, as well as cirrhosis, cancer, and accidents.
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Why Red
Wine May Help Your Heart
Dr. Joseph Mercola
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UK researchers have
zeroed in on compounds in red wine that battle a
protein linked to heart disease -- a finding that provides clues to why
the French have relatively low rates of heart disease despite a
national diet rich in creamy cheese and buttery desserts.
The investigators
found that polyphenols -- compounds in grape skins and present in red
wine -- decrease the production of a protein that causes blood vessels
to constrict and reduces the flow of oxygen to the heart. The protein,
endothelin-1, is believed to play a key role in the development of heart
disease.
Their findings
support the results of earlier studies showing that a moderate intake
of red wine may lower the risk of heart disease. But while these
studies focused on the antioxidant properties of polyphenols -- their
ability to quench disease-causing free radicals in the body -- the
results of the new study suggest a new mechanism by which red wine
might bring benefits.
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