Heart disease in the leading cause of death in the western world. It affects both men and women and has no distinction between races. The various health conditions that can lead to cardiovascular disease include high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease and congestive heart failure. All of these conditions can be reversed by dietary and lifestyle changes, with no medication at all. Whether you are turning to healthy eating for weight loss or for reversing heart disease, you can benefit probably beyond your wildest dreams.
There is a permanent and never ending stream of new diets that may have catchy names and strange dietary plans, that come and go. But few stand up to the test of time of not just helping people lose weight, but by increasing their health. Many can even be dangerous. And that includes those most respected.
For example, the typical heart associations and foundations you find in most countries, usually supported by dietitians and doctors have been useless in preventing heart disease. The typical advice you get from them is to eat less red meat and less fat. To replace this with chicken and fish instead. Yet, there is no change in the cardiac cases, and in some cases it is worsening. So this advice is clearly worthless.
Yet heart disease is easy to prevent. Those who have healthy lifestyles, including diet and exercise and not smoking or drinking excessively and maintaining an optimum weight have significantly lower risk of heart disease.
In fact, a Canadian global study involving 30,000 participants, discovered that 80% of heart attacks can be predicted. It cited several factors, that can be easily changed, that significantly contribute to heart attacks. In order of importance they include:
- cigarette smoking
- abnormal blood cholesterol ratios (note it is the ratios that are significant, not the HDL or LDL readings as cholesterol is a healthy and natural substance required by the body)
- high blood pressure
- diabetes
- abdominal obesity
- stress
- a nutrient deficient diet
- a lack of daily exercise
When people are overweight, the next common health issue they face is diabetes, escalating them towards the likelihood of heart disease. So start at the bottom. Start with a healthy diet, whether this is for health reasons or for weight loss or both. And make sure you get daily exercise. Even a 15 minute walk is better than nothing.
A healthy diet for weight loss and for reversing heart disease must be rich in nutrients. To discover the best sources of nutrient rich foods, click here.
