Nov 08 2008

Congestive Heart Disease

Posted by Dave in Congestive Heart Disease

Congestive heart disease you have heard this one before (an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure) for this type of heart disease is so very true. So many people die from congestive heart disease every year and for this type of heart disease prevention is in reach. Like most health problems be pro-active and take the steps early on to prevent the disease and do not give it a chance to ruin your life.

Visit the Doctor for Regular Checkups

Even if you live a healthy lifestyle and do all the healthy choices give the doctor the chance to rule out and possible signs of congestive heart disease and help determine your risk factors. Also remember it is never to late in taking charge and being pro-active taking care of your health.

Food That Cause Heart Disease

The unhealthy ingredients are trans-fats, cholesterol, fats, sugar and salt are the bad guys the cause congestive heart disease. Commercially prepared foods like packaged and frozen entrees plus restaurant food even contain higher levels of the bad ingredients. Of course these are the foods that most of eat all the time.

Prepare Your Own Meals

By preparing your own meals and eating nutritionally good foods at home making and taking your own lunches to take to work. This is one of the best ways to get your health back on a healthy track and a better diet. You are the only one that can really control your diet to keep from getting congestive heart disease. Eating out is not a big problem but it does take some extra effort to select foods that are healthy. The things to watch out for are rich foods high in fat, heavy sauces and desserts loaded with sugars.

Smoking and Drinking

Eating the perfect diet with all the right amounts of fruits, vegetables and fibers getting the right nutrients and you are a smoker or drinker you are not helping the cause. Any kind of smoking or drinking put you in a much higher risk category for congestive heart disease. So it is in your best interest to resolve these habits and stop smoking now rather than later. There is lots of help available to you and you can ask your doctor for help in finding some other options available to you.

No Exercise Sedentary Lifestyle

By doing everything else right healthy diet, no smoking and no drinking but you are sedentary still leads to poor health and ultimately congestive heart disease. It happens to all of us we work all day come home beat then sit in front of the TV all evening becomes the routine that gets us all in trouble. The time to change this poor health routine is right now before one of these heart problems catches up with you. A 15 to 30 minute fast paced walk just three days a week can make a huge difference. Get a partner to walk with it is really better to do it every day to begin a routine because three days in a row of every other day makes it too easy forget. After a few weeks with the improvement to your mental well-being a physical energy improve you will not want to stop.

Coronary Heart Disease

Nov 07 2008

Reversing Heart Disease

Posted by Dave in Reverse Heart Disease

People often wonder what if there is anything can they do to reverse the damage. Both those groups of people who suffer from heart disease, as well as people who are at risk of developing heart disease are concerned about this.  A lot of times, the damage is not reversible. Sometimes, but not every time the rate of heart damage can be slowed down or even halted to the point that you might say one is reversing. Your heart will never be as good as it was before all the damage, but it can be improved compared to its current state.

Diet to Reverse Heart Disease

The diet we have can be instrumental in reversing heart disease, but only if we are pro-active with what we eat. Most often, we do not pay attention to our food selections. We fill ourselves with what is available with no concern that they are loaded with fats and cholesterol that do the damage. We neglect our daily requirements for fresh fruits and fibers needed to be healthy. When you hear the word pro-active it means you must take charge of these habits that you must become aware of and take steps to change.

Quantity and Quality of Fats

Most just have no idea of quantity and qualities of fats in our diet are the major cause of the most serious of all problems. Look at the facts, one meal at a local fast food restaurant has more fats and cholesterol than the average person should have in a week. The saturated fats are ones to be avoided since they convert into LDL cholesterol, the bad type of cholesterol that is responsible for choking our arteries. You will find saturated fats in most animal products like milk, cheeses, butter, and in red meats. The percentage of saturated fats will be higher for products that use cream, butter or cheese as one or more of their ingredients.

Trans-fats are the Most Dangerous

Trans-fats are the most dangerous type of fats present in most processed and fast foods, especially in fried, certain a number of snack products are particularly dangerous. They boost the LDL cholesterol level and reduce the HDL level. HDL happens is the “good cholesterol”, the presence of in the blood ensures an unobstructed flow of blood and oxygen in the arteries.

Not All Fats are Bad for You

Some fats are necessary for the body to function properly. Fats that are good are the monounsaturated fats found in natural vegetable oils like olive and canola, and in some nuts. These good fats can slow down or reverse heart disease by reducing LDL levels in the bloodstream it allows the good HDL to come up to healthier levels and helps in reversing heart disease. Polyunsaturated fats, found in soybean oil or corn oil help reduce LDL, but the big disadvantage is that these fats still have too much cholesterol. More so than monounsaturated fats do and as do not give you as much benefit in reversing heart disease.

The Best Fats

Omega-3 cold water Fish oils, certain fatty fish like salmon, and flaxseed supplements contain the good fatty acids. They are considered indispensible in reversing heart diseases. Omega-3 fatty acids reduce cholesterol and have the most therapeutic effects on the heart.

Heart Disease Treatment