Originally published January 2 2013
How to prevent heart disease with everyday foods
by Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
(NaturalNews) It is the leading cause of death in America today, and the costs associated with treating it are expected to nearly triple by the year 2030. But heart disease does not have to be the inevitable death sentence that many people assume it to be -- in fact, you can effectively avoid developing heart disease altogether by steering clear of certain foods and eating plenty of certain other ones. Here are some helpful tips for ringing in a heart-healthy new year through proper diet and supplementation:
1) Cut out processed, GMO-laden foods. The vast majority of what can be found in the "middle" aisles at the grocery store -- that is, the aisles filled with chips, cookies, and other packaged and canned food items -- is loaded with ingredients that, over time, will destroy your cardiovascular system. Excess refined salt, refined sugars, genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), hydrogenated oils, preservatives, pesticide and herbicide residues, food colorings, and other chemical additives all wreak havoc on the heart, and they are plentiful in most packaged, processed foods.
The best way to protect your heart on a daily basis is to skip these easy, yet deadly, foods and stick with whole, organically-grown fruits and vegetables, unprocessed sea and earth salts, healthy oils like olive and coconut, nuts, grass-fed meats and animal products, and non-GMO products. Here is a helpful guide for avoiding GMOs while shopping:
http://www.naturalnews.com/035472_GMOs_avoiding_soy.html
2) Eat a high-fat, low-grain diet. This tip defies conventional wisdom, which says a low-fat diet equals a healthy heart. But as it turns out, fat is a necessary component for proper nutrient metabolism, and a lack of it in the right forms can actually lead to the chronic inflammation responsible for causing high cholesterol and heart disease. On the contrary, fats, including healthy saturated fats, are vitally important for regulating cholesterol and protecting against heart disease (http://www.naturalnews.com/035674_health_myths_saturated_fat.html).
The modern Western diet is also overloaded with refined mono- and polyunsaturated fats like canola and soybean oil, which the mainstream medical system claims are healthy, but that actually damage arteries and lead to heart disease. Without a healthy intake of saturated fat to offset these other deadly fats, in other words, you are leaving your body prone to disease, and particularly heart disease. It is best to simply avoid canola, soybean, and even sunflower and safflowers oils as much as possible to avoid consuming too many heart-damaging omega-6 fatty acids.
"During the 1970s, researchers from Canada found that animals fed rapeseed oil and canola oil developed heart lesions," explains Dr. Mary G. Enig, Ph.D., in a 2004 paper published in the quarterly Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts. "This problem was corrected when they added saturated fat to the animals' diets."
"On the basis of this and other research, they ultimately determined that the diet should contain at least 25 percent of fat as saturated fat. Among the food fats that they tested, the one found to have the best proportion of saturated fat was lard, the very fat we are told to avoid under all circumstances" (http://www.westonaprice.org).
3) Juice beets, carrots, and celery for heart health. Living foods, or foods that have not been cooked and had their enzymatic structures demolished, are important for heart health as well, as they nourish cells and relax the circulatory system. And fresh juices are a great way to intake these important nutrients, as they are not only dense in bioavailable vitamins and minerals, but are also full of living enzymes that help ensure optimum nutrient assimilation and absorption.
One of the best juice combinations you can take for heart health, according to wellness expert Dr. Dennis Paul Knicely, is a blend of beets, carrots, and celery. Beets contain nutrients that help naturally reduce blood pressure, while carrots help rebuild skin and body tissue. Celery not only helps lower blood pressure, but it also relaxes arterial muscles and promotes vascular dilation, which minimizes the risk of arterial blockages and subsequent strokes or heart attacks.
4) Adopt a 'nutritarian' lifestyle. Family physician Dr. Joel Fuhrman, M.D., is of the persuasion that a high-protein, vegetarian-based diet is optimal for people trying to avoid heart disease. In a 2010 article on avoiding heart disease, he recommends what he calls a "nutritarian" diet, which is a nutrient-dense, vegetarian-based diet that contains minimal or no grains, and high amounts of nuts, seeds, beans, and of course fruits and vegetables. Because such a diet is rich in micronutrients and low in simple carbohydrates, the body is able to better lower triglyceride and blood glucose levels, as well as speed up fat loss.
There is also considerable evidence showing that organic, grass-fed meats and animals products can also be consumed safely as part of a heart-healthy diet because they are high in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, as well as beneficial saturated fats and other nutrients. This includes pastured eggs, raw dairy products, cultured yogurts, and grass-fed meat and butter (http://www.eatwild.com/healthbenefits.htm).
Sources for this article include:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com
http://www.healingnews.com/Healing_heart_disease_article101.html
http://www.bhg.com
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