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Brisk walking can lower the incidence of heart disease by 18 percent,
as effectively as any of those more vigorous exercises...
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Medical pearls
LOSING weight on a diet that is high in fat is dangerous for over all
health. The risk of coronary heart disease has been found to be
significantly increased among those individuals who stayed on a high
protein red meat diet to lose weight. While these subjects became
slimmer, their cholesterol levels were high, leading to a higher rate of
heart attacks. The object of dieting is not only to maintain a normal
weight but to be healthier all around.
Nothing beats abstinence
from red meat and eggs (eating only fish, vegetables, fruits,
high-fiber), combined with daily exercise and abstinence from tobacco as
the best formula for maintaining good health.
***
Persons getting a flu shot to prevent influenza may even experience an
added benefit. Studies have shown that flu vaccination appears to be
associated with a reduced risk of stroke, especially among those who are
60 to 75 years old. Flu vaccine is recommended even for the younger
population. Check with your physician to find out if this preventive
strategy would be beneficial for you.
***
Forget all old
worries and past problems, if you want your blood pressure not to shoot
up. It is a medical fact that recalling previous sad or morbid events,
or emotional trauma, raises the blood pressure during the moment of
recollection. If these spikes in blood pressure happen often, they could
adversely affect the heart. All of us should let go of these painful
experiences of the past and not dwell on them. Life ahead of us is so
precious we ought to leave our miserable baggage behind and have a more
positive outlook, at the same time protect our heart.
***
If you love tuna, which is a good fish, it is better to eat
canned tuna because its mercury content is much lower than fresh or
frozen tuna. Short-lived and younger tuna is used for canning.
***
You do not really have to run or jog for health. Brisk
walking can lower the incidence of heart disease by 18 percent, as
effectively as any of those more vigorous exercises, minus the injuries
attendant to them.
***
Oil of oregano an "antibiotic"?
It seems so, to a certain extent, anyway. It has been found that oil of
oregano, which is used in salad dressing and for cooking, reduces
harmful food pathogens. This oil has been found to inhibit E.Coli and
Listeria monocytogenes.
***
Mustard is a popular
condiment, used in a variety ways, especially with hotdogs. The compound
that imparts yellow color in mustard is curcumin, component of tumeric
spice, and curcumin has been found to slow down the progression of
cancer.
***
Also a cancer inhibitor is raspberry
because of its content, ellagic acid, a cancer-inhibitor. There are
actually a lot of antioxidants in majority of fruits and vegetables.
Once again, our mother was right!
***
Which cooking oil
is the best for us? Here is a list of the most commonly found ones on
the grocery shelves, including the calories (Cal), fat contents in grams
(F), saturated fat in grams (SF), cholesterol (Ch), per tablespoonful:
Canola Cal-121, F-13.6, SF-1; Coconut Cal-118, F-13.6, SF-11.8; Corn
Cal-121, F-13.6, SF-1.7; Olive Cal-119, F-13.5, SF-1.8; Peanut
Cal-119, F- 13.5, SF- 2.3; Soybean 121, F- 13.6, SF-2.0; Palm Cal-121,
F-13.6, SF-6.7. All of these have zero cholesterol and sodium. Canola
has the lowest saturated fat content and coconut, the highest. One
coconut has about 1349 calories and 127.7 grams of fat, 113 saturated
fats and 76 mg of sodium. Eating a lot of coconut oil or food items made
of, or with, coconut, is not really healthy. Our choice for cooking oil
is, of course, Canola Oil.
One can of beer, one 4-ounce glass of
wine or one shot of whiskey reduces the incidence of heart attack,
according to the American Cancer Society. The same benefit was found
with ingesting 2, 3, or 6 drinks. But at one drink the cancer rate and
over-all death rate was lower. At two drinks, the prevalence of cancer
and death rate are the same as among non-drinkers, and both total death
and heart death are lower. At 3 drinks, the cancer death rate is higher.
At four drinks, total death and cancer death are both higher.
***
Homocysteine is a substance within our body that is
implicated in the development of arteriosclerosis (hardening of the
artery), leading to blockages in the carotid (causing stroke) and
coronary arteries (causing heart attack), including the aorta in the
chest and abdomen (causing aneurysm/ rupture and bleeding), and arteries
in the legs (causing gangrene). The Framingham studies showed that the
more elevated the level of homocysteine in the patient, the higher the
finding of blockages in carotid and coronary arteries. Those with low
folate (folic acid) to metabolize the harmful homocysteine have 3 times
higher risk of developing heart attack. Folic acid in B complex vitamin
is prescribed to these patients. This substance is found in green leafy
vegetables, like spinach, lettuce, chard, whole grains, yeast, peanuts,
wheat germ and dry beans.
***
Is genetics a more
important factor than diet in the development of coronary heart
disease/heart attack? Familial hyperlipidemia (super high serum
cholesterol due to a genetic defect) is seen only in one out of 500
persons. Except for this type of individuals, and all "unhealthy habits"
(smoking, inadequate or lack of daily exercise) remaining equal, diet
is a very significant factor in the causation of coronary heart disease.
It has been shown that even if the parents had coronary heart disease,
the children did not necessarily develop the disease, if these
offsprings lived a healthier lifestyle than their elders. Keeping the
cholesterol level low by not eating red meat and eggs, and concentrating
on fish, vegetables, fruits, hi-fiber diet, coupled with abstinence from
cigarettes, doing daily exercises, properly treating high blood pressure
and or diabetes, if present, is the best strategy to ward off coronary
heart disease/heart attack and stroke. The caveat: simply because we
cannot choose our parents, does not mean we are trapped in a genetic
dilemma, and, therefore, are hopeless. Far from it. If we are
disciplined enough to live a healthier lifestyle than our parents did,
we can outsmart those particular defective genes they gave us.
Email address: heart@chua.net
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