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Archive for the ‘Nutrition’ Category

Once upon a time, scientists invented synthetic vitamins in a noble attempt to rescue humanity from an endless avalanche of devastating health consequences resulting from the consumption of highly-processed foodless foods. Eden had been restored, it seemed, because vitamins made in laboratories were now much cheaper to produce. Optimists were hopeful that the nutritional benefits of man-made vitamins would equal the nutritional benefits provided by the all-natural competition.

Boy, were they wrong!

We now know that synthetic vitamins are nowhere near as good as all-natural vitamins. We also know that the highest-quality of all-natural vitamins are those that use a blend of Whole-Food sources that come directly from fruits and vegetables.

But not only are synthetic vitamins inferior, they are DANGEROUS! Yet for some mysterious reason, most consumers are oblivious to this well-documented fact. Meanwhile, synthetic vitamins continue to flood our marketplace. Most vitamins sold today are synthetic.

WHY SYNTHETIC VITAMINS ARE DANGEROUS
In case you’re not convinced that synthetic vitamins really are dangerous, allow me to give you two examples. Many more could be given, but these two will suffice.

1. THE DANGERS OF SYNTHETIC VITAMIN C
The synthetic form of Vitamin C is Ascorbic Acid. Ascorbic Acid can harm your body by thickening the arterial walls of your heart! Ascorbic Acid has invaded the marketplace. Beware!

2. THE DANGERS OF SYNTHETIC VITAMIN E
Another example is synthetic Vitamin E. Synthetic Vitamin E actually sucks vitamins and minerals right out of your bones. Synthetic Vitamin E has invaded the marketplace. Beware!
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I have many friends in the past few years that have decided to become vegetarians. I saw friend after friend jump onto the bandwagon that being a vegetarian had become, and I’ll admit that I almost jumped on the wagon myself without giving the choice much thought.

After nearly two months of research and some pretty serious self-evaluation, I decided to become a vegetarian. There is no part of me that is against people deciding that being a vegetarian is right for them. My only frustration is that too often people make that choice without taking even a moment to think about the reasons why or the consequences that being a vegetarian will have on their lives.

So, my advice to you is simple and probably obvious. You only have one life to live, one body to live in, and a few short years in which to experience all of life that you can. So do not make the decision to become a vegetarian lightly or without thought. I would hate to see anyone commit to such a decision out of ignorance and then deal with the consequences long afterward.

One of the best ways to make a good decision about becoming a vegetarian is to inform yourself. Talk to objective people who have decided both for and against choosing a vegetarian lifestyle for themselves. Go to your local library or to a health food store and find literature on the ins and outs of actual vegetarian living. Learn the reasons why people choose to become vegetarians and see if your reasons measure up. The internet is another amazing resource that can help you make a wise and informed decision for you, your health needs, and your lifestyle.
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Imagine hundreds of cars zooming down an eight-lane highway. One lane disappears, and then another, until the same cars crawl bumper-to-bumper along a one-lane country road. That’s sort of what happens when you have atherosclerosis. Your arteries, the highways for your blood, harden and narrow, and the same amount of blood has to make its way through a much tighter space. This traffic jam in your arteries leads to all sorts of trouble, including heart attack and stroke.

Atherosclerosis occurs when cholesterol, fat, and other substances in your blood build up in the walls of your arteries. The process can begin when you’re a child, but it may not become a problem until you’re in your 50s or 60s. As this muck gathers in your arteries, it forms plaque. Plaque can clog or completely block arteries, cutting off blood flow to your heart or brain. That’s when you have a heart attack or stroke.

Too much cholesterol and triglycerides – types of fat – in the blood, high blood pressure, and smoking cause the most damage to your arteries. Other risk factors for atherosclerosis include diabetes, a family history of the condition, stress, obesity, and an inactive lifestyle. Men, in general, are at greater risk, as are people who have an “apple” body shape – with the fat gathering at the belly rather than the hips and thighs.

You can fight atherosclerosis by making good food choices. Cut back on saturated fat and cholesterol from meat and whole-milk dairy products, and look for the following foods that lower cholesterol, bring down blood pressure, and keep your blood flowing smoothly.

Nutritional blockbusters that fight atherosclerosis

Fish. Reel in a big, fat fish and wriggle off the hook of atherosclerosis. Omega-3 fatty acids, the polyunsaturated kinds found in fatty fish like tuna, mackerel, and salmon, protect your arteries from damage.

First, omega-3 takes out triglycerides, the fats that build up on your artery walls. It also stops your blood’s platelets from clumping together. That way, your blood remains smooth instead of sticky. Sticky blood can clot and block blood flow. Lastly, omega-3 might lower blood pressure.

No wonder so many studies show that eating fish can reduce your risk of heart disease. The American Heart Association recommends eating at least two fish meals a week.

You can find a form of omega-3 called alpha-linolenic acid in walnuts, which lower cholesterol. Other sources of omega-3 include flaxseed, wheat germ, and some green, leafy vegetables, like kale, spinach, and arugula.

Garlic. Anything fish can do garlic does, too. The sulfur compounds in this amazing herb not only lower cholesterol and triglycerides, but they also go after only the LDL or “bad” cholesterol and leave the HDL or “good” cholesterol alone.

Garlic can also lower blood pressure so your arteries don’t take as much of a pounding. Thanks to a substance called ajoene, garlic keeps your blood from clumping and clotting. One study even showed garlic helps your aorta, the body’s main artery, remain elastic as you age.

Experts recommend getting 4 grams of garlic – about one clove – into your diet each day.

Fiber. During the course of a day, you should eat about 25 to 35 grams of fiber. If you do, you’ll boost your general health and give atherosclerosis quite a battle.

Certain types of soluble fiber, such as the kind in oats, barley, apples, and other fruits, shrink your cholesterol levels. It works by slowing down your food as it passes through your stomach and small intestine so your “good” cholesterol has more time to take cholesterol to your liver and out of your body. Eating more than 25 grams of fiber every day might also cut your risk of developing high blood pressure by 25 percent.

Fiber comes with an added bonus – it fills you up. After a fiber-rich meal, you feel full, so you’re less likely to overeat and put on unwanted pounds. Because being overweight increases your risk of atherosclerosis and other heart problems, eating fiber could be part of an effective strategy to guard your arteries.

You’ll find fiber in fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain breads and cereals.

Antioxidants. An unarmed intruder poses less of a threat than one with a weapon. By stopping free radicals from oxidizing LDL cholesterol, antioxidants remove much of the danger. Once oxidized, LDL cholesterol makes a beeline for your artery walls much faster. In fact, some scientists believe LDL cholesterol only harms you once it has been oxidized.
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Cholesterol is a blood fat needed by the body in moderate amounts. However, high cholesterol(http://www.vasacor.com/) levels can lead to atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease (CAD). Angina is chest pain caused by the restriction of blood flow to the heart (cardiac ischemia). Nitrates may be used to relieve angina.

Most people will have cholesterol blood tests regularly, including triglycerides, HDL (http://www.cholesterol-reduction.org/treatment/increasing-good-cholesterol.html), LDL and total cholesterol. Methods for increasing good cholesterol or lowering cholesterol levels (http://www.cholesterol-reduction.org/cholesterol/cholesterol-levels.html) may include cholesterol reducing drugs, such as statins, fibrates, niacin (nicotinic acid) and bile acid resins. However, these drugs do not reverse calcification. A heart attack occurs when the coronary arteries become blocked. Cholesterol has many types. The two big components are called LDL (low-density lipoprotein) and HDL (high-density lipoprotein). And simplistically, we talk about the LDL being the bad cholesterol and the HDL being the good cholesterol.

That means that the bad cholesterol tends to accumulate in the arteries, tends to form plaques, tends to be the precursor to what eventually might end up being a heart attack.

The good cholesterol actually acts in part in reversing the cholesterol transport, takes cholesterol out of the plaque in the artery and may return it to the circulation, to the liver, to be excreted. So these are the two major categories, but within each one there are different particles, different cholesterols, different lipoproteins that carry the cholesterol, and they are differentially difficult players.

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