HEALTH RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH OBESITY

Obesity is currently the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States.1 Being overweight and obese can contribute to death by causing or worsening many different diseases, including but not limited to:

• High blood pressure;
• High cholesterol (overweight individuals often have higher levels of “bad” cholesterol and lower levels of “good” cholesterol);
• Obstructive sleep apnea (a condition where a person may stop breathing for a period of time while sleeping);
• Rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis;
• Certain types of cancer, including breast, esophageal, stomach, colorectal, endometrial, and kidney cancer;
• In women: menstrual disturbances, infertility problems, and an increased incidence of birth defects in children;
• Increased daytime sleepiness and heat intolerance;
• Obesity may also contribute to gallbladder disease, gout, breathing problems, increased incidence of infections, liver diseases, and increased pain, especially in the lower back and knees.
  

Two of the biggest health problems that overweight individuals face are a greatly elevated risk of heart disease and stroke. The American Heart Association (AHA) has found a direct link between these health conditions and being overweight. Heart disease is now the number-one killer of women in the United States, and the rise of overweight and obesity can be directly correlated to it.
A person’s risk of developing these health conditions increases as his or her BMI increases, so obese individuals are at higher risk than overweight individuals. Weight loss of even 10 to 15 pounds (4.5 to 6.8 kg) in adults and children can decrease the risk of developing health problems such as diabetes and hypertension. This weight loss can also help to control or lessen the severity of these conditions in patients already afflicted with these conditions. As previously noted, adults with central obesity are at higher risk of developing many of these conditions than are people with evenly distributed body fat.
Obese children also have an increased incidence of health problems.As the prevalence of obesity has increased in children, there has been a similar rise in diseases that were previously rare in children, including type II diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure). There is a high incidence of obesity among children with asthma, which may indicate a link between the two conditions. There is also an increase in bone and joint complications in obese children. During childhood, bone and cartilage is still growing and developing, and is not strong enough to bear excess weight.

Alternative Remedies For Heart Desease

Several natural therapies are promoted as treatments for heart disease. Some have been put to the test in scientific studies and look promising, but others have not held up to scientific scrutiny. Many such herbal remedies and alternative treatments—available in drugstores and on the Internet—remain unproved and therefore should be taken with caution. And because herbs and other nutritional supplements are not reviewed for purity or effectiveness by the FDA, you can’t be sure that what you’re buying is effective or even that the bottle contains the substance on the label. If you take any herbal remedies, be sure to tell your doctor. These preparations may hinder or exaggerate the effects of prescription drugs used to manage cardiovascular disease. Indeed, heart patients are more vulnerable than most others to adverse drug interactions. Here is some information about two popular alternative remedies for heart disease. Of course, there are many others out there that I just don’t have the space to cover.
Coenzyme Q10
This vitamin-like substance is found in every cell in the body but is most prevalent in tissues with high energy demands, such as the muscles of the heart. Many advocates of alternative medicine believe that it can strengthen the heartbeat by increasing the cellular fuel available to the heart muscle. And some small studies have suggested that it might help patients with angina, heart failure, or other cardiovascular problems. But a few years ago, researchers in Australia conducted a rigorous trial that evaluated coenzyme Q10 in thirty patients with heart failure. All were taking conventional medicines, but for twelve weeks each subject also took either coenzyme Q10 or a placebo. At the end of the study, there was no change in the strength of the heartbeat as evaluated by echocardiography and cardiac catheterization. And the people who took coenzyme Q10 did not feel better or report improved ability to function.
Chelation Therapy
Chelation therapy uses infusions, or slow injections, of a chemical called ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). This process is sometimes used to remove toxic levels of lead, iron, or other metals from the body. (The metals exit the body via the urine.) Some experts think that the oxidation of LDL cholesterol requires interaction with such metals. The idea behind chelation for cardiovascular disease is that removing some of these metals from the bloodstream will also reduce oxidation—and this “antioxidant” effect might improve blood vessel function.

What a Heart Attack Feels Like

I hope you’ll get diagnosed and treated long before heart disease leads to a heart attack, but you should know the warning signs just in case. Unlike in the movies, where a person having a heart attack gropes his chest (and in the movies, unlike reality, it’s almost always a man) and falls to the floor, the symptoms of a reallife heart attack are often more subtle. They differ between men and women and from person to person. Generally, men will report the following:
• Pain or discomfort in the chest that radiates to the shoulder or arms, to the upper back near the shoulder blades, or to the neck or jaw
• Uncomfortable pressure, tightness, fullness, or ache at the center of the chest
• Shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, or dizziness

Women, on the other hand, usually report the following:
• Pain in both arms or shoulders
• Chest cramping or dull pain between the breasts
• Shortness of breath
• Feeling of indigestion
• Lower abdominal pain
• Severe fatigue (the least specific symptom, usually not caused by a heart attack.

Reductase Inhibitors (Statins)

Statins are the most widely used class of cholesterol-lowering drugs. Large, randomized clinical trials have shown—and continue to show—that people who use statins have a 20 percent to 40 percent reduction in death from incidents of major cardiac events in studies lasting two to six years.
The study that really brought statins into the limelight was called the Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study, or the 4S trial. It involved 4,444 men and women, ages thirty-five to seventy, who had preexisting heart disease and high total cholesterol levels. Half took the cholesterol-lowering drug simvastatin for five years, and half took placebo tablets containing no medication. By the end of the trial, LDL levels in the treatment group had fallen by 35 percent and total cholesterol dropped by 25 percent, while no change took place in the placebo group. The treatment group also had a 30 percent lower chance of dying during the trial and a 34 percent lower chance of having a major coronary event (a nonfatal heart attack or death from coronary heart disease).
Other studies that proved statins’ effectiveness in other populations followed in relatively short order. While the 4S participants all had preexisting heart disease, the 6,595 men who volunteered for the West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study did not, though they did have high cholesterol. Those who took a statin (this time one called pravastatin) lowered their LDL and total cholesterol levels by 26 percent and 20 percent, respectively, and their risk of having a major coronary event by 31 percent, compared with those who took placebo tablets.
Then came the Cholesterol and Recurrent Events (CARE) trial. This study of pravastatin therapy involved 4,159 people who had recently had heart attacks but whose LDL cholesterol levels were only modestly elevated (the average was 140–150 mg/dL). Compared to subjects in the control group, those taking pravastatin for five years were less likely to have a stroke or a second heart attack or need a procedure to open a clogged artery In the space of just four years, these large studies marshaled powerful evidence of the value of statin drugs in lowering cholesterol.
And more studies continue to confirm this. The Heart Protection Study published in 2002, for example, studied the effect of simvastatin versus placebo in more than twenty thousand people in Great Britain with heart disease or diabetes, but with low enough LDL levels that statins would not necessarily be prescribed. Half were randomly chosen to receive simvastatin, the other half placebo. The ten thousand people receiving simvastatin had 18 percent fewer deaths from cardiovascular events and a 25 percent reduction in first heart attacks and stroke over the five years of the study. Even more recently, other studies have shown the benefit of lowering cholesterol levels lower than was previously recommended.
These and other studies demonstrated that statins reduce the risk of having a heart attack or other major coronary event for almost everyone—people with and without preexisting heart disease and those with high cholesterol, borderline-high cholesterol, and even normal cholesterol. This has prompted some to suggest that almost everyone should be taking a statin, and the United Kingdom has recently approved the sale of a statin as an over-the counter drug. Should everyone be on a statin? The answer is no. First, statins are not approved for use in women who are pregnant because they may cause fetal damage. Second, statins have side effects that, while rare, are serious. Third, statins are expensive, and many people can achieve acceptable levels of coronary disease risk without using medications at all. So, I think the message physicians should be bringing to their patients is not that everyone should be on a statin but rather that everyone should know their heart disease risks and be treated if those risks warrant it. A lot more people should probably be on statins than are currently taking them, but these drugs are definitely not for everyone.

Unavoidable Risk Factors For Heart Desease : Age and Family History

Age

Heart disease becomes more prevalent with age. Simply put, older people have more heart attacks than younger people do. About 80 percent of people who die from heart attacks are over age sixty- five. In America, the risk for heart attack begins to accelerate in men after they reach the age of forty-five and in women after age fifty-five.

Family History

Coronary artery disease runs in families. While families share genes, they also share lifestyles such as smoking, diet, inactivity, or stress. Which is to blame, genetics or lifestyle? Both.

About a dozen genetic abnormalities have been identified that seem to increase the risk for different kinds of heart problems. For instance, defects in nine different genes can cause cardiomyopathy, a form of heart failure in which the heart is unable to pump blood efficiently. In 2002, researchers reported in the journal Circulation that a variant of a gene called the peroxisome proliferator alpha may predispose people to develop a dangerously enlarged heart after intensive exercise or as a side effect of high blood pressure. Genetic research is in its infancy, but the hope is that genetic testing will enable doctors to identify people at high risk for heart problems and perhaps help them avoid heart disease with preventive treatment.
But, in any case, genes are not the final word in determining who will develop heart disease. Researchers for the Framingham Heart Study, a long-term observational study that has tracked the health of more than five thousand people in a Massachusetts town since the late 1940s, estimate that having a family history of heart disease increases an individual’s risk by about 25 percent. To put this in perspective, smoking increases your risk ten times this rate. Moreover, not every family history is equally worrisome; it takes a strong history (for example, a father or brother afflicted before age fifty-five or a mother or sister stricken before age sixty-five) to increase your risk.
Many people with a family history of coronary artery disease have early signs of the disease. The American Heart Association now recommends that everyone undergo cholesterol profile screenings for heart disease at age twenty. If you have a family history, it’s vital for you to address risk factors like high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol, and to adopt a heart-healthy lifestyle in your youth.

Unavoidable Risk Factors For Heart Desease : Gender

In younger people, gender is a major predictor of risk. Before age sixty, one in five American men—but only one in seventeen women—will have had a coronary event. The naturally produced female hormone, estrogen, may be one of the reasons for this gender difference. But after a woman goes through menopause, this advantage is lost. Beyond age sixty, equality is the rule, and coronary artery disease kills 25 percent of women and men alike. In the United States, heart disease is the leading killer of both women and men.

However, there are a few concerns that pertain only to women. First, although the death rate from heart disease has declined for both genders, it is declining in women less rapidly than in men. Currently, 38 percent of women who’ve had heart attacks die within a year, compared with 25 percent of men.
Second, most women who die suddenly from coronary artery disease don’t have typical warning symptoms. Some may have had symptoms that they didn’t recognize as signs of heart attack because women’s symptoms often differ from men’s . Sometimes doctors pay less attention to women’s symptoms than they do to men’s because they know that younger women are less likely to develop heart disease. Academic medical centers like the one where I practice are spending more time educating young doctors to pay attention to women’s heart symptoms so that those symptoms are not dismissed as a less serious complaint, such as heartburn.

Given these issues, what should women do? Perhaps most important, they need to focus on prevention. For many years, doctors recommended hormone replacement therapy to women who were entering menopause because of evidence that it reduced the risk for heart disease as well as osteoporosis. But the heartprotective benefits of HRT have come under fire. Clinical trials have found that women with heart disease who take HRT do not actually slightly raises the risk of heart disease in both healthy women and women who have had previous episodes of atherosclerotic heart trouble.

It’s a different story for men and heart disease. While female hormones appear to provide some heart-protective benefits—at least for younger women—male hormones may contribute to heart disease in five ways:
• Boosting LDL and lowering HDL
• Promoting the accumulation of abdominal fat, which can lead to high triglyceride levels and diabetes
• Increasing the number of red blood cells and activating the clotting system
• Triggering spasms that narrow arteries
• Enlarging and possibly damaging heart muscle cells.

Scientists have discovered some of these effects after giving testosterone to laboratory animals. It will take time for researchers to determine whether a normal amount of testosterone increases a man’s risk for heart disease. Testosterone isn’t all bad for the heart—it appears to reduce the level of one newly identified cardiac risk factor, lipoprotein.

Tobacco Exposure : The Risk Factors For Coronary Artery Disease

Everyone knows that smoking is a major health hazard: it’s the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. But some people may be surprised to learn that smoking is also the most potent cardiac risk factor, increasing risk by 250 percent. Another surprise: exposure to secondhand smoke is also a major cardiac risk factor, which is why passive smoking is the nation’s thirdleading preventable cause of death. (Alcohol is the second.)
In all, smoking accounts for 20 percent of all deaths from coronary artery disease. But within a year of quitting, smokers can cut this risk in half. Within two years, the cardiovascular risk for a former smoker is very close to that of a person who never smoked. Because smoking probably contributes to blood vessel inflammation, removing that irritant should slow the inflammatory process, resulting in a quick drop in heart disease risk.

I see a lot of patients who know they should quit smoking, but they’re not sure how. The best approach is two-pronged: use medicine, and get counseling and support.
Easing the craving for nicotine is a key part of stopping smoking. Nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, nasal spray, and cigarette-shaped inhalers deliver enough nicotine to satisfy the body without the tar, carbon monoxide, and other harmful chemicals found in cigarette smoke. An antidepressant known as bupropion (Zyban, Wellbutrin) also alleviates the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal, even in people who aren’t depressed. Combining bupropion and nicotine replacement may work the best of all.
Nicotine replacement is safe, even after a heart attack, and it’s much safer than continued smoking. These products don’t increase the clotting potential of blood or damage the fragile but important lining of blood vessels, as smoking does.
Nicotine replacement often isn’t enough on its own. Counseling and social support can help you break your “smoking cues,” the things you link to lighting up, like drinking coffee or finishing a big meal. You can get counseling one-on-one at a support group run by a hospital or local department of health, via the phone, or online. (Some options are listed in the Resources section.)
Remember that quitting smoking is a huge change, so it might take you a few tries to get off cigarettes for good. If you slip by having a cigarette or two after your quit date, try to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it the next time. Don’t convince yourself that as long as you had one, you may as well have another, and another. . . . The same holds true if you return to your old smoking habit. You may have to quit a few times. Not succeeding may just mean you need more help.

If Fish Is Good for Me, Should I Take a Fish Oil Supplement?

Interest in the heart-healthy benefits of fish oil dates back about two decades, beginning with a 1980 study showing that Eskimos in Greenland—who eat nearly a pound of fish a day—have low rates of mortality from heart disease. In subsequent years, there has been substantial research on the effects of fish oil on the heart and arteries. Laboratory studies have shown that fish oil, which contains what are known as n-3 or omega-3 fatty acids, makes blood platelets less sticky, helps protect the linings of arteries, and may also lower blood pressure.

Population studies from several countries have shown lower rates of heart disease in people who eat fish regularly. In 1998, data from the Physicians’ Health Study showed that eating fish once a week versus less than once monthly halved the likelihood of dying suddenly from a heart attack. Total heart attack rates (including heart attacks that led to nonsudden death) and total cardiovascular deaths were not affected by fish consumption or the amount of omega-3 fatty acids ingested. One year later, a report in the Lancet described a randomized trial in which men who’d had a heart attack received either a fish oil supplement, 300 mg of vitamin E, both, or neither. The group who received the fish oil supplement had significantly lower rates of heart attack, stroke, or death during the next three and a half years. Sudden-death rates dropped by 45 percent.
Additional support for fish oils comes from a report on nearly eighty thousand women in the Nurses’ Health Study. Published in 2001 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, this fourteen-year study found that eating fish at least twice a week versus less than once a month cut in half the risk of strokes caused by clots blocking an artery to the brain. The Nurses’ Health Study also found that eating one to three servings of fish per month cut the risk of heart disease by 20 percent, while eating at least five servings a week lowered risk by 40 percent.
Anyone hoping to benefit from fish oil would probably be better off sticking with dietary sources, primarily from cold-water fish such as salmon, trout, mackerel, sardines, and herring. Forgoing meat for cold-water fish—or any fish for that matter—may lower cholesterol and heart disease risk simply by reducing the amount of saturated fats in your diet.
Three groups of people may benefit from fish oil supplements. One group includes people with arrhythmias, or disordered heart rhythms. The omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil can stabilize wayward electrical activity in the heart and calm arrhythmias. The second group includes people with high levels of triglycerides, especially those who can’t control the problem through diet and exercise, because fish oil supplements have been shown to help lower triglycerides. The third group includes people with coronary heart disease. The American Heart Association recommends that these people eat one serving of fatty fish a day; recognizing that this may be more fish than most people will eat, the association notes that a supplement can be substituted.

An LDL Controversy

Although LDL is thought to be the major cholesterol-carrying culprit causing heart disease, there is still scientific controversy over the form LDL must take to cause atherosclerosis. For nearly twenty years, atherosclerosis researchers have hypothesized that LDL must change once it’s in the artery wall in order to cause artery blockages. The dominant view has been that LDL must first be oxidized to a more inflammatory form in order to cause serious artery wall damage. Oxidation is the chemical reaction that causes metals to rust by changing the structure of the metals’ molecules. Similarly, oxidation may change the chemical structure of LDL molecules by breaking down large fat-containing molecular chains.
Although there are literally thousands of studies that have suggested a role for oxidized LDL in causing heart disease, the use of antioxidants, such as vitamin E, has not resulted in any convincing decline in atherosclerosis in humans. This isn’t proof that oxidation is unimportant, it’s just that we don’t know yet. The precise form LDL must take to set off atherosclerotic plaque formation remains a bit of a mystery, but the link between high LDL levels and coronary disease is firmly established.

How Is Cardiac Arrest Different from a Heart Attack?

Most people think of a heart attack as something that happens quickly and causes someone to grab his or her chest and fall to the ground. That’s actually a picture of cardiac arrest. A heart attack, as
the term is commonly used today, generally means the blockage of an artery in the heart that kills some heart muscle. (Medically speaking, this is a myocardial infarction.) A heart attack usually gives some warning. Chest pain or other symptoms can prompt someone to get help before the blockage totally disrupts the heart’s rhythm.
Cardiac arrest, though, strikes suddenly and out of the blue. Most cardiac arrests occur when the heart’s powerful lower chambers, the ventricles, start beating very fast (ventricular tachycardia [ta-kih-CAR-dee-uh]) or fast and chaotically (ventricular fibrillation). Either one of these makes it impossible for the heart to pump blood to the body.
After just five seconds without blood circulation, a person passes out. In another few seconds, the lack of oxygen in the brain causes nerves to start firing, making the muscles twitch and the eyes roll back. Even that activity stops in less than a minute. The chances of surviving a cardiac arrest fall about 10 percent for each minute the heart stays in ventricular fibrillation. Shock the heart back into a normal rhythm within two minutes, and the victim has an 80 percent chance of surviving. Deliver that shock after seven minutes—the average time it takes an emergency medical team to arrive in many cities—and the odds are less than 30 percent.
If someone near you goes into cardiac arrest, calling 911 is a must. CPR is also important because it keeps blood flowing to the brain and other vital organs. If there’s an automated external defibrillator nearby, use it following the instructions on the device.

Enjoy Lighter, Smaller Vegetarian Dinners

It seems to be an American custom for people to eat their biggest meal in the evening. From a standpoint of heart attacks, this is the worst time to eat a big meal . . . especially a meal with a preponderance of fat. It has been definitively established by researchers that the blood is more likely to clot 2 to 8 hours following a meal with a high fat intake. It would therefore seem logical to avoid heavy meals – particularly in the evening – to minimize the chances of intravascular clotting. The occurrence of a heart attack after eating a heavy meal has been recognized by doctors for years. Just think of how often you read or hear about a man in his prime dying of a heart attack while in bed at night.
Retired people, of course, can regulate their mealtimes easily. Business people can dine at an earlier hour in the evening and can certainly regulate their diet to promote their health and prolong their lives.
It can begin with a raw combination salad with lemon and olive oil dressing. Follow it with 2 lightly cooked vegetables such as stringbeans, zucchini, peas, corn on the cob, kale, okra, vegetable chop suey, etc. Several nights a week add a baked potato – but do not drench this potato in fat! Season it with a spray of Bragg Aminos, sea kelp and Bragg Organic Olive Oil instead of butter.
Now we are not telling you that the price you must pay to avoid a heart attack and live a longer life is to give up good flavor. Not at all! As mentioned previously, French dishes, soups, salads, potatoes, veggies, etc. are world famous and among the best heart-healthy recipes. A good French chef rarely uses salt and cooks with very little fat. The secrets of French flavor lie in the use of herbs, garlic, olive oil, onions, green peppers and mushrooms.

To Enjoy Your Daily Walk Is Important

Your walking should never be done self-consciously, no heel and toe routine and no time limiting. Let it be the most functional and enjoyable of exercises. Walk naturally – with head high, spine stretched up, chest out and tummy in. Swing your hips, arms and body into action. Walk as though your legs began at the middle of your torso. Breathe deeply! You will feel physical elation and will carry yourself proudly with body erect and arms swinging easily from your shoulders.

Move at your own pace, with a free spirit and a light heart. If you want, listen to motivational tapes or music. As you walk, your body ceases to matter, you become as near a poet and nature philosopher as you will ever be.

Walk your worries away! As blood courses through your arteries, cleansing and nourishing your body, you are filled with a sense of well-being that clears your mind of troubles and nourishes it with positive thoughts. As we stride along on our hike, we say to ourselves and sometimes aloud with each step – Health! Strength! Youth! Vitality! Love! for Eternity!

It’s beneficial to also take a hiking tour once a year. Select interesting areas which you, your family and friends would like to see, and hike about 15 miles daily. You will broaden your knowledge of our beautiful planet and of Mother Nature, as well as help to build a more powerful, healthier and long-lasting heart. The websites listed below will help you in your selection.

Develop Strength from the Inside Out, Not from the Outside In

Remember that from the day you were born into this world, to the day you die, your 640 muscles play an important role in everything you do. Think of it – more than half your body is sheer muscle!
It isn’t the muscles that you see that count as much as those you don’t see! Along the 30-foot gastrointestinal tract there are muscles to force food along this tube. The work of bringing adequate amounts of air into your powerful lungs also requires other strong muscles.
And above all, the greatest muscle in your body is your heart, your number one pump. It is the heart that pumps the blood supply into the body’s 640 muscles. And the more we bring these 640 muscles into play, the better our heart, circulation, physical condition and our entire state of health will be! You have four more extra pumps that can also help this whole process – they are your two arms and your two legs – use and exercise them!

The “Big Three” of Health and Longevity

The “Big Three” of Health and Longevity Suppose you were told that you had to lug an unwieldy load of 20 to 50 pounds around with you wherever you went – walking, sitting, eating, sleeping – all day and all night. How would you feel about it? You would protest indignantly, wouldn’t you? Yet that is exactly what you are doing when you are overweight! You are carrying around a load of unhealthy, flabby blubber. You are overtaxing all the functions of your body – especially your heart and circulatory system. Excess fat is dangerous! It exhausts the heart. Insurance statistics show that fat people are the shortest lived. Every pound of excess fat on your body shortens your life.
❤Rule #1: Achieving and maintaining Normal Weight for a Healthy Heart. Normal weight must be attained and maintained by a healthy diet, exercise and fasting. Forget drugs, they are dangerous!
❤Rule #2: Daily Exercise for a Healthy Heart. Vigorous daily exercise helps you to keep your weight normal, it will also stimulate a healthier flowing blood circulation throughout your body. It helps tone your muscles and vital organs, and aids all body functions, giving you the glow of Super Health!
❤ Rule #3: The most important is Proper Diet. A healthy heart and body depends upon a clean, healthy bloodstream, and this depends upon the food you eat! We will discuss all of these points in detail later. When listing Proper Diet as point #3, we are saving the best for last. Your diet is the most important factor in controlling your ideal weight, nourishing your blood and protecting your heart from deadly-clogging cholesterol. Proper diet will strengthen you and make your heart a powerful fountain of life and a fountain of eternal youth.

It’s Harmful to Your Health to Overeat!

Second after second, minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day our faithful, loyal heart is working to keep us alive. In both our waking hours and during our sleep, our heart takes only a sixth of a second to rest between beats. The hardest work the heart has to do is right after an individual has eaten. The bigger the meal, the more work it has to do in pumping vast quantities of blood into the digestive tract.
New studies done by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, found that one out of five Americans are obese and the rate is climbing yearly – it’s an epidemic! Obesity is defined as anyone over 30% of their ideal body weight. This leads to high triglyceride levels which can cause diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Remember, exercise is a major key factor in lowering weight and helping keep the heart healthy and fit. Fact: only 20% of Americans exercise one hour weekly, yet they spend over 15 hours with TV and the web weekly.
Current obesity studies show increases in all age groups. The biggest gain is in the 18 to 29 years old group at 12.1%, up from 7.1% back in 1991. American children (1 in 3) are more overweight than ever! The number of overweight children ages 6 to 17, has zoomed up since the 1960’s. Overweight children are at high risks for adult on-set heart disease and diabetes. Teach your children healthy eating habits by being a healthy, trim, fit example for them.
Overeating puts more strain on the heart than any other one thing! Many people load up on a ten-course dinner and soon afterward suffer a heart attack! Overeating is a dangerous, deadly habit that can lead to serious consequences. You should make it a habit to always get up from the table feeling that you could eat a little more.

Salt Affects Your Blood Pressure

What causes high blood pressure? Medical Science recognizes many causes: tension, strains, stress, toxic substances such as cigarettes and gasoline, food additives, insecticide sprays, etc. and the side effects of drugs and industrial toxins are all suspect. What can you do to protect yourself from these injurious agents? You would do well to exclude as many of these harmful factors from your environment and life as soon as possible!
However, there is one cause of high blood pressure which can be easily avoided. Sodium chloride (common table salt) is the major cause of high blood pressure! Up to now, we have been talking about causing high blood pressure in the normal person. But how about the effects of salt on those millions suffering from our country’s most prevalent and preventable ailment – excess weight? This is a prime area for research because obesity is known to be frequently accompanied by high blood pressure. Medical researchers proclaim a link between high blood pressure and salt intake in obesity.

Hypertension Can Be Prevented

According to scientists, they have found that we all carry a salt gene, called angiotensinogen, that can affect our blood pressure. Those with mutated forms of this gene are more likely to develop high blood pressure, say researchers in the Hypertension Journal. Blood pressure declines in people with this altered gene when they use less salt. The Am. Heart Assoc. recommends no more than 2,400 mgs of sodium daily. Bragg Liquid Aminos, a delicious all-purpose seasoning, contains less than 110 mg organic sodium per 2 tsp – a safe salt substitute.
Read food labels! Cured meats (salami, hot dogs, etc.), frozen dinners, canned soups, stews, chilis, pretzels, chips, and snack foods contain lots of salt. Sweets such as cookies, cakes and soft drinks are loaded with sodium, best to avoid them. Instead, consume lots of calcium and potassium rich foods; both of these minerals have healthy beneficial effects on blood pressure. For further hypertension info, check out these websites: www.hsph.harvard.edu/press/releases/ press05262000.html,
www.nhlbi.nih.gov/hbp/index.html, www.bloodpressure.com

Teenagers Now Susceptible to Heart Disease

Nutritional biochemist, famous Dr. T. Colin Campbell of Cornell University has found that one out of two children born today will develop heart disease, and a new study from the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions (http://www.americanheart.org/), shows that heart disease actually begins developing early in childhood. Fatty deposits in the coronary arteries begin appearing by the age of 3, in children who partake in a typical American diet -processed foods laden with fats. By the age of 12, nearly 70% of our children have advanced fatty deposits, and by the age of 21, early stages of heart disease is evident in virtually all young adults! Dr. John Knowles, of the Rockefeller Foundation, has cited that 99% of all children are born healthy, yet are made sick as a result of their eating habits. The tender years of childhood should be the healthiest of all, bones are strong, hair is thick, liver and endocrine glands are functioning to full capacity, and they should have inexhaustible energy; yet, their bodies are being fed hamburgers full of steroids, antibiotics, hormones and chemicals; milk that is often indigestible which can cause ear aches, colds, allergies, asthma and lots of health problems.
The latest studies find “adult” diseases are related to what we eat throughout our early years in life. In fact, 95% of coronary disease can be prevented by implementing healthier eating habits earlier in life - reducing dietary fat and consuming more fresh vegetables, fruits and natural complex carbohydrates such as whole grains is very important.
Prevention is important - reward your child for good behavior with fresh fruits, instead of sugary processed candies; establish healthy eating habits before any damage to their health occurs.

Essential Fatty Acids Decrease Health Risks

Two kinds of unsaturated fats are necessary for your very survival. These are the essential fatty acids omega-6 (linoleic acid) and omega-3 (linolenic acid). Since your body cannot manufacture these fatty acids, they must be obtained from the foods you eat. Omega-6 is fairly common and is found in most of the vegetable oils sold in the grocery store. I suggest, however, that you try to buy your vegetable oils in health foods stores, if possible. Most typical grocery store oils, which are processed for mass distribution, are often filled with free radicals and bad fats called trans-fatty acids. Omega-3 is found in soy oil, walnut oil, flax oil, and canola oils and in dark green, leafy vegetables. I suggest that you purchase all oils in dark-colored green or amber bottles, since clear bottles tend to make the oils go rancid after a time due to chemical changes caused by exposure to sunlight.
It is especially important to make sure that you supplement your food plan with enough omega-3 fats, since the American diet is usually deficient in this nutrient. While the ideal ratio of omega-6 oil to omega-3 should be between 3:1 and 4:1, a recent study showed that for most people their level of omega-6 is 20 times their level of omega-3.
The benefits of ingesting the proper amount of unsaturated fats and essential fatty acids include:

• Lowering cholesterol levels
• Lowering high blood pressure
• Decreasing symptoms of heart palpitations and angina
• Preventing significantly the risk of heart attacks and strokes
• Decreasing the symptoms of multiple sclerosis
• Decreasing the pain and swelling of rheumatoid arthritis
• Correcting or markedly improving skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema
• Lowering the risk of cancer

There are several other ways to increase the amount of essential fatty acids in your diet. For example, cold-water fish such as salmon, mackerel, and trout are rich sources of the essential fatty acid metabolites DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid). These have been shown to help lower blood pressure, improve cholesterol levels, and lower one’s risk for cardiovascular disease. Aside from simply eating fish a minimum of twice per week, you can supplement your diet with omega-3 by taking fish oil capsules (taken with a meal), available at most pharmacies or health food stores.
Flax oil is another rich source of omega-3 and all essential fatty acids, which is why body builders mix it into their protein drinks so often. It is best taken not in capsules but in liquid form to make sure that it is fresh and of high quality. The next time you are fixing a green salad, try using a tablespoon of flax oil as a dressing, or half a tablespoon mixed with sunflower oil or a little vinegar. You may also lightly brush it over meat after it has been cooked.
Other acceptable oils or products containing oils include corn oil, Hellmann’s Light Mayonnaise, Kraft Light Mayonnaise, Smart Balance Soft Spread (no trans-fatty acids), and unsaturated corn oil. Products such as Promise, Take Control, Fleischmann’s Margarine, and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! (spray, not solid) are excellent butter alternatives. If real butter is your only alternative when dining out, use it in moderation.
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Exercise for Heart Health

Be aware that doing the right kind of exercise is one of the best prescriptions for gaining and maintaining a healthy heart and cardiovascular system. According to an excellent ten-year study done at the Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute:

• Regular exercise is associated with marked reductions in the long-term risks for major cardiac events such as heart attack or stroke, and death from heart disease.
• People who exercise regularly, at least three times per week, reduced their chance of a cardiac event from 30 to 50 percent.
• A study from the Cooper Clinic shows that physical fitness is directly correlated with increased life span and fewer deaths from cardiovascular causes and cancer.
• Even for obese individuals or for people with several coronary heart disease risk factors, physical fitness strongly decreases the chance of developing symptoms of heart disease.

The Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute has found that the following types of exercise are most effective in treating people with cardiovascular disease, or for people wishing to avoid developing cardiovascular disease:

• Dynamic or aerobic exercises, which include walking, running, cycling, swimming, aerobic dancing, cross-country skiing, and using elliptical machines.
• Light isotonic exercises such as using handgrips or weight lifting (frequent repetitions with low amounts of weight).

The Pro Circuit Exercise Program,fills this prescription perfectly in that it alternates periods of aerobic exercise with periods of isotonic (weight training) exercise.
But before beginning any exercise program, if you are a healthy but sedentary woman over the age of fifty or a man over the age of forty, remember that the American College of Sports Medicine recommends that you should always consult with your physician and have a preexercise medical examination. This is even more important if you have high blood pressure, chest pains, high cholesterol, or any serious risk factors for heart disease, or if you are a smoker.