This video emphasizes that heart disease is mostly preventable and reversible, not just genetic. It explains that chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, and oxidative stress are the main causes, rather than just high cholesterol. The speaker shares lifestyle changes like eating whole foods, exercising, managing stress, prioritizing sleep, avoiding toxins, and nurturing a positive mindset to prevent and reverse heart disease and other chronic conditions.
Key Takeaways
1
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide but is largely preventable and reversible.
2
Heart disease develops silently over decades, fueled by daily choices, long before a heart attack occurs.
3
Over 90% of cardiovascular diseases can be prevented through lifestyle changes.
4
The root causes of heart disease are chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, and oxidative stress, not just high cholesterol.
5
Chronic inflammation, often triggered by processed foods, sugar, and rancid seed oils, damages artery walls and leads to plaque buildup.
6
Insulin resistance, caused by too much sugar and refined carbs, leads to high blood pressure, weight gain, and plaque buildup, also blocking nitric oxide essential for blood vessel relaxation.
7
Oxidative stress, like rusting inside your arteries, is caused by poor diet, toxins, pollution, and stress, and can be combatted with antioxidant-rich foods and exercise.
8
Eating a diet rich in whole foods, healthy fats like olive oil, lean proteins, and 5-13 servings of colorful vegetables and fruits supports heart health.
9
Regular physical activity, even just 30 minutes of walking a day, and strength training twice a week, significantly reduces cardiovascular risk.
10
Prioritizing stress management through breath work, meditation, and social connection, along with 7-9 hours of quality sleep, are crucial for heart health.
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0:01
good morning and welcome to another
0:03
edition of today's nutrition where we
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look at what is new in research what's
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hot in the news or any topic that can
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help us lose weight feel great or live
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longer better almost always it's all
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three so this month is heart health
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month and cardiovascular disease is the
0:23
leading cause of death worldwide we need
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to know as much about it as we can so we
0:30
can avoid it cardiovascular disease can
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be caused by many
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factors all of those factors I talk
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about every week inflammation oxidative
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stress insulin resistance and more even
0:45
hormones like estrogen testosterone and
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cortisol play a really critical part in
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cardiovascular health imagine this a man
0:57
in his early 50s let's call him Mark
0:59
he's a great die he spent his life
1:02
working hard providing for his family
1:05
and putting everybody else first he's
1:09
not really overweight he doesn't exactly
1:12
prioritize his health either he eats
1:15
what's convenient he sits most of the
1:17
day and figures I feel fine so I must be
1:22
okay you know guys don't normally get to
1:25
the doctor as often as we women
1:27
do then one day while playing with his
1:30
grandkids in the backyard he suddenly
1:32
feels a little dizzy his chest tightens
1:36
his breath shortens something is not
1:39
right within minutes he's in the
1:41
emergency room the doctor walks in with
1:44
the results Mark you have just had a
1:47
heart attack he's in shock a heart
1:50
attack I don't even have high
1:52
cholesterol in fact most people with
1:55
heart attacks have normal cholesterol
1:58
but he said I don't smoke I thought
2:00
thought I was healthy and the truth is
2:03
that Mark and so many others don't
2:06
realize it until it's almost too late
2:08
heart disease does not start the day you
2:12
have a heart attack it starts decades
2:15
before silent hidden and fueled by the
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daily choices we make but here's the
2:23
good news heart disease is not a
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sentence it's a wakeup call it's one of
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the things you don't have have to wait
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to get so here I'm telling you you've
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got the power to prevent and even
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reverse heart disease starting now and
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you don't have to go to you know Dean
2:42
ornish's places where he reverses heart
2:45
disease you can do these things now the
2:48
same habits that protect your heart will
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also help you avoid a lot of other
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things like diabetes Alzheimer's and
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other dementias obesity autoimmunity and
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countless other chronic diseases so
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let's not wait for a health scare like
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Mark had to make a change Let's Take
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Action today this month this year taking
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charge of our health and making heart
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disease a thing that's not going to be
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part of your future since you know
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February is heart health month it's a
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perfect time to focus on the most
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important muscle in your body your heart
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it is the leading cause of death
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worldwide and preventable so today I'm
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going to show you how you can take
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charge of your health Maya and not just
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prevent heart disease but also reverse
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chronic conditions with these simple
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powerful lifestyle changes you know of
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course we got to cover the big risk
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factors high blood pressure high
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cholesterol and smoking but also
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diabetes overweight of course obesity
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unhealthy diet physical inactivity and
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excessive alcohol use American Heart
4:08
Association get this they estimate over
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90% of cardiovascular diseases can be
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prevented so let's look number one the
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root cause of heart disease you know
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many people think that cholesterol is a
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problem but if we just lower cholesterol
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we're going to you know maybe reduce
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heart attacks and stroke but the truth
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is much deeper heart disease is not just
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about high
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cholesterol most
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importantly it's about chronic
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inflammation insulin resistance and
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oxidative stress these are the three
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factors that silently damage your
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arteries and fuel nearly every
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chronic disease so let's break them down
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you've heard me talk about chronic
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inflammation and you know you can kind
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of think about it as rusting inside your
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arteries acute inflammation is good it's
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your body's natural defense mechanism
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you know you cut your finger or you're
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spraying your ankle inflammation helps
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it heal but when inflammation becomes
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chronic it turns on you and you may be
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totally Una aware of it it's usually
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silent it's usually inside the cells
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it's not necessarily the inflamed joints
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it can be silent inside the heart inside
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the blood vessels but also inside the
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kidneys inside the pancreas inside the
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gallbladder inside the bladder it can be
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anywhere so you know we've got to get
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rid of some of the common things that
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causes inflammation diets of Biggie the
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processed food the sugar the rancid seed
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oils will trigger inflammation inside
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your body the immune system has to
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respond to this inflammation and that
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causes damage to the artery walls over
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time that inflammation and damage in the
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artery walls you know you've got that
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plaque build up kind of like a bandage
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that kind of then leads to high blood
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pressure heart attack and
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stroke when we've got all that
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inflammation in there it's kind of like
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pouring gasoline on the fire every day
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eventually it's going to burn out of
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control so what's the solution of course
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with diet removing those processed foods
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and removing the sugar the inflammatory
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oils like soybean corn safflower canola
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and replacing them with whole nutrient
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dense foods lots of vegetables healthy
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fats clean proteins I'll talk about that
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in a little bit more in depth but also
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another thing that causes the problems
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those three things insulin resistance
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it's one of those things that was at the
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core of my health problems when I was
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young you know so high blood sugar isn't
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just a problem for diabetics it is a
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silent killer for your heart when you
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eat too much sugar and refined carbs
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your body releases insulin to control it
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over time the cells just stop listening
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and responding to the insulin so you get
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high levels of insulin and therefore
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insulin
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resistance that also blocks the
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formation of nitric oxide and nitric
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oxide is what your body makes to help
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the blood vessels
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relax just another way insulin
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resistance is a killer so roundabout
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insulin resistance causes high blood
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pressure weight gain fatty liver and
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plaque buildup in the arteries I hate
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insulin resistance and matter of fact
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most people have insulin resistance in
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this day and age because of our high
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sugar diet you know we just keep eating
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more and more carbs and sugar that makes
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the pancreas put out more and more
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insulin to bring down the blood sugar
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it's just the sugars in the starches we
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don't know about we were told to eat
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lots of grains we were told to do all
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that in fact it's
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it may not be just heart disease but
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diabetes obesity even Alzheimer's a lot
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of
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doctors almost all nutritionists for
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decades have been calling it type 3
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diabetes so the solution here again
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balance your blood sugar by eating Whole
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Foods lots of vegetables healthy fats
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lots of olive oil and clean protein at
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every meal walking after meals you know
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even if you're just going to do a little
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walk around the building that's going to
9:02
help lower blood sugar naturally you
9:05
know something else you can do and this
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is phenomenal do 10 slow squats just
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right after you eat 10 super slow squats
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that's going to get the muscles in your
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legs and hips the big muscles that just
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act like sponges to Sugar so you know
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you might look a little funny in a
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restaurant doing it but you know it does
9:28
work you might even want to consider my
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one of my favorite tools the continuous
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glucose monitor to track your responses
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to the food to stress to not sleeping I
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love a CGM and if you want access to it
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let me know and I'll help you get one
9:46
the third contributor to heart disease
9:49
is that oxidative stress it's the actual
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rusting inside your arteries imagine if
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you left metal outside in the rain it
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rusts that's what oxidative stress does
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you cut an apple it turns brown that's
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oxidative stress caused by poor diet
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toxins pollution stress all of these
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produce free radicals that damage the
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cells weaken the blood vessels making
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them more vulnerable to the plaque and
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clots but guess what you stop this
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process by flooding your body with
10:26
antioxidants not just in pills but the
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best Sol solution is to supplement a
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great diet that's already rich in
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colorful antioxidant rich foods like
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berries and leafy greens even dark
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chocolate okay another thing you can do
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to reduce oxidative stress in the blood
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vessels is to exercise so prioritizing
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just moving a little bit is going to
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boost circulation detoxification and
10:55
everything so finally to reduce
10:58
oxidative stress
11:00
prioritize sleep and Stress
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Management okay this's see it all goes
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together and why does this matter
11:09
because people may think heart disease
11:12
is
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genetic but less than
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90% I mean over 90% of the cases are
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caused by lifestyle and environment less
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than 10% is going to be genetic so the
11:27
good news is you've got power to prevent
11:30
and reverse it Dean ornish proved you
11:35
can reverse it Medicare will even
11:38
reimburse it for people to go to his
11:40
clinic and now I think he even does it
11:42
with zoom but you know you've got to
11:45
realize that heart diseasing doesn't
11:47
just happen it builds up silently over
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years Brick by Brick by Brick but you
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can change the course of your health by
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making simply simple daily choices and
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and that's what mha is out all about
12:03
making you healthy again addressing the
12:05
root cause of the disease not just the
12:08
symptoms so oxidative stress insulin
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resistance and chronic
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inflammation
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getting around that the foundation is
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Diet power of diet using food as
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medicine you know you got to ditch the
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standard American diet say add Ultra
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processed food matter of fact for every
12:34
percent of ultr processed food it
12:37
increases your risk of all cause
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mortality so that processed food the
12:42
refined sugars the inflammatory seed
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oils they fueling heart disease and
12:48
metabolic
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disaster whole real foods nourish your
12:54
cells and balance blood sugar so those
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good healthy fats olive oil is my
12:59
favorite but avocados nuts all the
13:02
Omega-3s whether it's fish or flax great
13:04
for the brain great for the heart heart
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and you know olive oil so much
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research on olive oil reduces the risk
13:13
for heart disease dementia Cancers and
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so much more you can't go wrong with
13:19
olive oil and then you have to have
13:21
protein for the muscle good clean
13:23
protein for your metabolic engine it's
13:26
going to keep you strong and resilient
13:29
five fiber from colorful plants
13:32
somewhere between 5 and 13 servings of
13:34
vegetables and fruits the goal it's what
13:37
your gut microbiome feels as its best
13:40
friend for lowering inflammation and
13:42
cholesterol I know it seems like a lot 5
13:45
to 13 but you know each serving is about
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a half a cup so if you have one or two
13:51
with each meal and then you have a good
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salad every day yeah know it's pretty
13:55
easy to get there but then next we need
13:58
to balance and control blood sugar
14:01
insulin resistance
14:03
drives all those things high blood
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pressure heart attack stroke so you know
14:09
you got to learn how to keep your
14:10
glucose stable you know that continuous
14:13
glucose monitor I love it but in a
14:16
nutshell I mean for decades I got mine
14:20
under control by no sugar not too much
14:23
fruit no milk very few starches because
14:27
they can all throw a monkey wrench into
14:29
balancing blood sugar and you know don't
14:32
guess test you know yearly keeping track
14:37
of your labs and blood sugar keep it
14:40
under 95 keeping your A1C under 5.5 or
14:44
less and your triglyceride to HDL level
14:48
to about one and you have just slashed
14:51
your risk of insulin
14:54
resistance okay another thing we got to
14:57
move 2% of your your day can change your
15:01
life and you don't need to go to the gym
15:04
you just need to move I don't go to the
15:06
gym it takes too much time you got to
15:08
get ready you got to travel and you know
15:10
you yeah just not I don't want to do it
15:13
but you can do it in your own home you
15:15
have got YouTube you know get some
15:17
weights got your good shoes you can walk
15:19
around the neighborhood and did you know
15:22
that walking 30 minutes a day can reduce
15:25
your cardiovascular Risk by
15:27
50% 30 minutes around the block strength
15:31
training twice a week you know lifting
15:33
some weights doing a little body weight
15:36
uh push-ups pull-ups sit-ups or yoga
15:40
improves insulin sensitivity and heart
15:43
function and just getting
15:45
outdoors in sunlight with fresh air boy
15:50
that supports not only your heart but
15:52
overall
15:53
health we can't neglect stress and sleep
15:57
chronic stress raises cortisol cortisol
16:00
and that's going to damage arteries it's
16:02
going to you know also raise your blood
16:04
sugar and that's going to fuel body
16:06
belly fat my my favorite
16:09
strategies breath work prayer
16:13
meditation gratitude going out in nature
16:18
connecting with friends and family
16:20
that's going to reduce your stress and
16:23
sleep you know non-negotiable I know we
16:26
humans have fomo fear of missing out you
16:29
know it it kind of is born into US
16:31
little kids are always trying to talk
16:33
mom and dad out of having to go to bed
16:35
you know we fight it we're the only
16:39
creature on Earth that fights sleep but
16:42
less than six hours a night increases
16:44
your risk for not only heart disease but
16:46
obesity and diabetes in fact if you
16:49
sleep less than 5 hours your risk for
16:52
heart disease goes up two and a half
16:54
times so we got to just prioritize sleep
16:57
and if you're having trial sleep think
17:00
about what it would be like in a cave
17:02
where it's dark and it's cool we need to
17:05
have a consistent routine and staying
17:08
off of electronic screens TV phones all
17:12
that unless you're wearing blue blocking
17:14
glasses at
17:15
night environmental toxins you know you
17:19
got to keep things cleared out as well
17:22
because heavy metals pesticides
17:25
Plastics cardiovascular surgeons are
17:28
finding plas plastic in our plaque in
17:32
our heart when they do surgery that
17:35
interferes with everything so we got to
17:37
get the toxins out so then mindset it is
17:42
true that your thoughts your beliefs and
17:44
your emotions impact heart health a
17:47
broken heart is a real thing so we need
17:50
faith we need Community we need laughter
17:53
we need love all very very important so
17:57
start today eating real food food moving
18:00
reducing stress sleeping better avoiding
18:02
toxins stay connected that's my six
18:05
steps to feel great lose weight and
18:08
reverse aging it all comes down to those
18:10
things I encourage you to join this myha
18:14
movement today together we can take back
18:16
your health create a future free of
18:19
chronic disease don't wait for the
18:22
government to make the changes years go
18:25
by years of feeling better years you
18:28
never get back one thing I believe is
18:31
that you cannot wait until tomorrow it
18:33
may never come you want to feel good
18:36
today so you can play with your kids and
18:38
grandkids so you can protect their
18:41
health so they won't be part of the
18:43
Health crisis we are witnessing today
18:47
20% of our kids are obese 40% of adults
18:51
obese fatty liver disease epidemic 77%
18:55
of our youth don't qualif qualify to be
18:57
in the military due to poor health and
19:01
overweight allergies autoimmune cancer
19:04
rates in kids Rising 1 to 2% every year
19:07
so it's not just about heart health it's
19:10
about taking care of our children and
19:12
giving them a world that's better than
19:14
what we were given Banning those toxic
19:16
chemicals that are destroying our
19:18
Hormone Health our fertility banishing
19:21
dyes and toxins that disrupt the nervous
19:23
system and the good thing is you take
19:26
steps to have a healthier heart and
19:28
these same steps create a healthier
19:31
world for our children thanks for
19:34
listening to another edition of today's
19:35
nutrition it's my sincere hope that it
19:38
helped you or someone you love as always
19:40
you can listen again on my website Deb
19:43
for.com on YouTube under Dr Deb Ford or
19:46
any place you listen to podcasts if you
19:49
need help making these changes contact
19:51
me together we will make it happen get
19:54
the excess weight off get your mood
19:56
stable get your gut healthy reverse
19:58
health conditions that you thought you
20:01
had to live with Mya making you healthy
20:05
again have a great day and remember
20:08
taking care of your health is easier
20:10
than you think
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Heart Disease IS Preventable
Deb Ford DCN RDN
11 views
Feb 8, 2025
20:13
This month is heart health month and is the leading cause of death, we need to know as much as about it as we can so we can avoid it. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) can be caused by multiple factors, - all those factors that I talk about every week, - inflammation, oxidative stress, insulin resistance, and more. Even Hormones like estrogen, testosterone, and cortisol play a critical role in cardiovascular health. Yes, Preventable!