This video emphasizes that heart disease is largely preventable through lifestyle changes. It highlights that heart disease is the number one cause of death in the US, with women often having different symptoms than men and underestimating their risk. The video discusses various risk factors like high blood pressure, unhealthy diet, stress, and toxins, and then offers solutions including a Mediterranean-style diet, specific supplements like omega-3s and CoQ10, and Dr. Dean Ornish's program which focuses on a plant-based diet, exercise, stress management, and social connections.
Key Takeaways
1
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, claiming more lives than all forms of cancer combined.
2
Symptoms of heart disease can differ in women, often being more subtle like breathing difficulties, heavy perspiration, interrupted sleep, or stomach cramps, rather than the classic 'elephant on the chest' feeling.
3
Atherosclerosis, the thickening of arteries due to plaque buildup, is the main cause of heart attacks and strokes, but it is preventable through a healthy lifestyle, especially when started young.
4
Key risk factors for heart disease include high blood pressure, excess alcohol, unhealthy body weight, high cholesterol and triglycerides, exposure to environmental toxins, diabetes, stress, depression, and a poor diet.
5
The Mediterranean diet, rich in vegetables, fruits, berries, seeds, nuts, olive oil, and some meat/fish, but low in sugar, is highly recommended for heart health.
6
Supplements like omega-3s (fish and flax oil), CoQ10, magnesium, vitamin K2, Hawthorne, Nattokinase, and Curcumin can support heart health and reduce inflammation.
7
Dr. Dean Ornish's program has been scientifically proven to reverse heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure, emphasizing a plant-based diet, regular exercise, stress management through meditation, and strong social connections.
8
Maintaining strong social connections and practicing compassion through volunteering can significantly improve overall health and longevity, as seen in 'Blue Zones' around the world.
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0:01
good morning and welcome to another
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edition of today's nutrition where we
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explore the insights of the latest
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research what's hot in the news or any
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actionable information that can help us
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live longer better February oh it's love
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it's Valentine's it's chocolates you
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know but it's also heart health month
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you know if you've lost somebody to
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heart disease you tend to look at it a
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little differently like most of us I
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never thought much about it like most of
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us I've taken the CPR course but never
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really thought I was going to need it
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like most of us until things hit close
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we tend to look and go the other way but
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I don't want you to wait until problems
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are knocking because it may be too late
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so today we're going to talk prevention
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the lifestyle to tools but please you
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know monitor your health blood pressure
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cholesterol all those things we know
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because you know you don't want to
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ignore signs
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covid has brought a whole new
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inflammatory situation that we may be
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finding impacts for heart health for a
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long time to come and it's kind of a
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wake-up call for all ages men and women
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alike but today I'm going to share more
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about women's statistics because we
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don't hear as much about that but
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overall heart disease is the number one
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cause of death in the United States
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claims more lives than all forms of
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cancer
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combined
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females while one in 31 American women
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die from breast cancer one in three die
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from heart disease but less than 20% of
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women think it's even a threat it
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happens later in life so I'll worry
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about it then you know go about my day
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and meanwhile all those things are
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contributing 90% of women have one or
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more risk factors for heart disease what
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you need to know that that the symptoms
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of heart disease are much different in
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women we commonly think of it you know
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like an elephant sitting on the chest
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but women don't get that they may have
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more subtle Clues like breathing
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difficulties maybe heavy perspiration
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maybe interrupted sleep and you can't
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get back to sleep because you have
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shortness of breath maybe
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exhaustion maybe stomach cramps
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weird upper body pain there may be like
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just a sharp pain in the lung that you
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might think is puracy something like
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that or it could just be a rapid heart
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rate could be chest pains you know not
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just on the left but the whole chest and
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women often take a lot longer to admit
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they're not feeling well so what what
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orchestrates this condition okay
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atherosclerosis is the principal
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conductor it is that thickening within
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the arteries due to the buildup of
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plaque hardening stuff that when it
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breaks loose that can be either a heart
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attack or a
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stroke but it is preventable and that's
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not just me saying it it's the American
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Medical Association and the American
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Heart Association they say it is not
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inevitable a healthy lifestyle
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especially when you start young totally
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can prevent cardiovascular disease do
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you know the first time we really
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started noticing a lot of plaque was in
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autopsies of the Vietnam
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soldiers coincided coincidentally with
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all the junk food the fast food the pop
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the french fries bad fats combined with
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sugar so what can you do
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to limit your
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atherosclerosis well high blood pressure
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needs to be treated because High blood
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pressure causes more inflammation in the
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inner lining of the blood vessels
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reducing sodium intake too much sodium I
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know a lot of people are really
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increasing the sodium these days but you
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know it it may not be the smartest thing
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you know a little bit good but too much
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can cause problems limit excess alcohol
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maintain a healthy body weight
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throughout the lifetime excess body
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weight is inflammatory in every way way
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possible uh reducing cholesterol and
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triglycerides triglycerides are really
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sticky and can be even more problematic
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than high
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cholesterol toxins are a huge thing that
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I write about in my book get out of
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hormone hell but toxins not just smoking
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but carbon monoxide you've got
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outgassing from Plastics which is a huge
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thing so you're talking your carpet and
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your all these things that out gas cause
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inflammation those toxins
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are harming your blood vessels diabetes
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that is also increasing the sugar is
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sticky and it is inflammatory to the
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blood vessels and things that you don't
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think about can increase your risk for
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heart disease and stroke stress
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depression negative
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emotions they're like intangent
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but they are directly linked to an
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increase in heart disease you might want
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to go back and listen to my show last
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week on heart rate
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variability so important to learn the
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tools to decrease stress and of course
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poor diet all right the sad diet which
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now it's not just the standard American
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diet it's kind of like all Western
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Society has it and and it's the perfect
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recipe for heart disease fast food low
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fiber high sugar low nutrient content no
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vegetables bad fats lack of exercise
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exposure to toxins Plastics pesticides
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all that stuff you get the idea all
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these cause
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inflammation with no nutrients to fight
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the inflammation so there's always that
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underlying theme of Silent
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inflammation so what can we do and you
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know it's really the fabric of Our Lives
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it's it's woven with threads of
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decisions little ones small but
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significant they build up and that's
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going to either build up or degrade your
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heart health over time prevention is
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also like the tapestry of decisions in
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our daily life not the single thread
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like a new health kick but pattern PS of
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lifestyle that protect us or endanger us
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so what can we do a lot lifestyle has a
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lot of good healthy things
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continuously often but what's important
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too you don't have to be 100% perfect
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you know that in itself when you strive
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for Perfection that can even cause more
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stress so it's not about striving for
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perfection
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but just embracing a lot of good
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continuous healthy habits number one you
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know I got to say it it's
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diet and I know there's this whole kick
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on butter is back and I like to look at
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cultures who have had health vitality
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and Longevity for a long time I'm
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conservative and of course we know
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plastic marger and is horrible you know
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but saturated fat also when combined
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with sugar not good you know it appears
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to increase the risk of heart disease
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it's it's kind of like that saturated
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fat when you add sugar to it it is like
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a nuclear bomb in the blood vessels so
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we need some saturated fat the butter
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the ghee the coconut oil it it's
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important to give our cell membrane
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structure but too much can make them
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really stiff and inflexible now I know
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Gram on gram mine too they had eggs
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fried in bacon grease and they lived to
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be
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9995 but they also ate a tremendous
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amount of vegetables from the garden you
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know research shows that too many
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saturated fats is going to increase
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coronary artery disease by
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19% but replacing just 1% of those fats
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with omega-3
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like flax and fish and a wholesome diet
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decrease your risk by 6 to 8% so instead
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of an 18% increase you've got an 8%
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decrease so that's a 26% Improvement all
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right so increase the healthy fats and
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Foods just increase them so the best and
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and favorite among researchers that diet
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is the Mediterranean diet rich in
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vegetables colorful fruit fruits berries
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seeds nuts lots of olive oil some meat
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some fish some eggs but low and sugar
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the most inflammatory food you know I
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say it's the devil with horns but a good
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anti-inflammatory diet is super super
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good for us okay so then some
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supplements you know I got to got to go
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in with those supplements because they
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really can supplement a good healthy
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diet omega-3 I love my fish oil I love
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my flax oil so
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anti-inflammatory you know when um I had
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my daughter 30 some years ago I got so
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inflamed afterwards I'd probably been
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following a low-fat diet and then when I
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was nursing I really got low in fats and
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I had my blood work done and I sent it
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to a brilliant Dr Harry Ider shout out
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to Dr Harry he put me on 2 tablespoons
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of flax oil
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within just a few days all that
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inflammation was gone so omega-3
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personally I'm the biggest fan
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CoQ10 it Powers every action your body
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has from a heartbeat to a muscle
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contraction to insulin secretion even
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your eyelid blinking CoQ10 if you're on
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statins make sure you're taking that and
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then magnesium you know Americans are
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notoriously deficient in this like 75%
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of us so it's really useful in
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regulating blood pressure because it
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helps dilate blood vessels also improves
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sleep and reduces stress who doesn't
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need that vitamin K K2 K2 totally
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different than
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K1 it contributes to the elimination of
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calcium in the arteries so it is really
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important if you're taking vitamin D
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make sure you've got K2
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your gut makes some but most of us our
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gut is not in good enough shape so it
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actually puts calcium into the bones
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where it belongs and not in the blood
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vessels Hawthorne oh cragus Dr Osborne
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loved this one it is a great herb for
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strengthening the beating action of the
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heart love it then we've got the new kid
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on the Block
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nyise that is a fermented product
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that is a food but it also has been
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found to prevent clot formation and
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reduce blood pressure a lot of doctors
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that are working with L haul covid or
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even covid in general are implementing
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ninas to prevent clots long term there
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are so many you know I love kuraman you
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know that's my my favorite spice
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Turmeric the extract is curcumin and I
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love the Beast C m95 extract from Terry
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natural kuraman it the theory is that
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plaque is laid down in blood vessels due
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to inflammation so caman Extra Strength
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is on my short list of
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musthaves now I have to tell you about
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Dr Dean ornish and his research it
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underscores how stress is a huge
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contributor to inflammation like I say
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you might want to go back to my show on
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heart rate variability to get some tools
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to learn how to reframe stress but Dr
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Dean orish you know I always see him at
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the New York conferences I go to quiet
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kind man who is a Powerhouse of
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conviction and honor 30 plus years ago
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he purported his program reversed heart
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disease and that was kind of outrageous
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but now science has proven it in fact so
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proven it Medicare will reimburse for
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his program in lie of heart
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surgery but not a casual approach like
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the Mediterranean diet lifestyle and
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Dean ornish I mean he really
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emphasizes that how active you are how
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you respond to stress how much love and
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support you have in your life are really
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important the ornish lifestyle medicine
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has been scientifically proven to
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reverse the
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progression and even reverse severe
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coronary heart disease type 2 diabetes
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hyper cholesterolemia and high blood
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pressure as well as now get this slow
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stop and even reverse the progression of
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early stage prostate cancer oh boy and
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they've got a lot of randomized
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controlled trials published in leading
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peer rreview journals so you know we
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know this and we've his research has
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been
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proven and it's it's changing the
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lifestyle and it actually changes your
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gene expression turning on the good ones
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turning off the bad ones in fact over
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500 genes are impacted in a healthy way
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in only 3 months so Dr Dean ornish o r n
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i you might want to get his book to
15:04
Spectrum he has seven healthy tips for
15:07
living number one plant-based diet he is
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a big one on vegetables and of course no
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sugar is best and number two little
15:15
exercise goes a long way he doesn't have
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doing anything intense he just has 30
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minutes of walking sustainable and oh my
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it's kind of like really relaxing too
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okay and how you eat is just as
15:30
important as what you eat if you eat
15:33
with awareness you're going to get more
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pleasure with fewer
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calories then he also has people do
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meditation you know it it makes your
15:45
fuse longer just like the practice of
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focusing on your awareness can quiet
15:51
your mind it allows that inner peace you
15:55
know they call it kind of centering even
15:58
a few minutes of that meditation that
16:00
quietness can carry you through the day
16:03
and then we cannot underestimate friends
16:07
and family study after study have shown
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that people who are lonely and depressed
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are three to 10 times more likely to die
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than those people that have strong
16:18
connections blue zones around the world
16:21
where people have Health and Longevity
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all have that in common connection
16:27
socialization basically basally we need
16:30
each other this week we had National Hug
16:33
Day so you know carry that on several
16:36
hugs a day really good for you and then
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the seventh thing which is kind of
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unusual
16:43
volunteering volunteering of yourself
16:46
showing compassion for others less
16:49
fortunate is healing and that you know
16:53
it's kind of like tithing giving to
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others so many good things that I think
16:59
we intuitively know but we just need to
17:02
keep working on it takes a little effort
17:04
but worth having you know worth working
17:08
on and our health is really the only
17:11
thing you have so thanks for listening
17:14
to another edition of today's nutrition
17:17
I hope you learned something that will
17:18
help you or someone you love as always
17:21
you can listen to other shows on my
17:23
website Deb for.com now on YouTube or
17:27
any place you listen to podcast have a
17:30
great day and take really good care of
17:33
your heart
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Heart Disease, Is It Totally Preventable?
Deb Ford DCN RDN
8 views
Feb 20, 2024
17:35
Even the American Medical Association and American Heart Association, say it isn't inevitable. A healthy lifestyle, especially when started at a young age, goes a long way to totally preventing cardiovascular disease. Did you know that the first time we ever say plaque in young Americans was in the 1960’s?