FOODS AND HEALTH
Chapter 2: How to Heal Disorders of the Cardiovascular System!

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Chapter 2
~Golden Rules for Keeping Our Cardiovascular System Healthy~



Among all the health disorders, cardiovascular problems are the most closely related to what we eat and drink every day. Continuously indulging in wrong food and beverages is mostly responsible for the occurrence of many disorders like high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, obesity, high homocysteine, diabetes, stress etc.

Each of these problems has been recognised as a contributing factor to the diseases of the blood circulatory system.
Exercise and other life style factors are also important in determining the continuing healthy status of our circulatory system. At the start, we should therefore be extremely careful in correcting any abuse of the circulatory system through:

What we eat and drink
The nature and extent of physical activity
The amount of emotional stress and
By maintaining the healthy functioning of other related systems in the body.

Note: All efforts should be made to reduce the intake of foods that weaken and damage our heart and blood vessels (arteries, veins and capillaries). Abiding by the following basic rules, one should notice a significant change in one's health and lifestyle in just a couple of weeks.

An encouraging message:
These rules will not only be beneficial for us but also very simple and easy to follow.

So let's begin!

RULE 1: We should control and regulate our daily food and beverage intake. This should be directed toward eating smaller meals (not overeating), fewer fats (especially the saturated fats from the livestock sources) and avoiding the use of the same food and beverages day after day.

RULE 2: We should try to reduce the intake of those foods and beverages that may increase the amount of cholesterol in our blood. Cholesterol is a waxlike compound (sterol) existing in animal cells. It is the excess of cholesterol that we have to worry about. Completely eliminating the intake of cholesterol is also not safe in the long run, since cholesterol is an important constituent of our cell membrane and is also a building block for bile salts, sex and other hormones. Although all cells (especially in the intestines and the liver) naturally produce it, we still need to eat certain foods and beverages, which should provide our body with some good quality cholesterol every day. Our liver is naturally expected to make the right amount of cholesterol for our body's needs. An inefficient liver starts producing bad quality of cholesterol (low-density lipoproteins) in larger quantities if we completely eliminate the cholesterol intake. Contrary to the bad cholesterol (low-density lipoproteins), good cholesterol (high-density lipoproteins) plays an important role of removing the excess cholesterol from our tissues and arteries.

We have to balance the cholesterol intake from both plants and animal sources. Though the dietary cholesterol is mostly found in animal products (red meat, poultry meat, fish and egg yolk), we have to get some of our daily cholesterol requirements (750 mg/day) also from other sources. Most animal products are rich in an amino acid (methionine) which is a precursor to homocysteine. This biochemical is reported to be a free radical generator, capable of oxidizing cholesterol. Oxidised cholesterol is the main culprit in damaging our blood vessels.

A higher concentration of cholesterol with presence of homocysteine in our blood can make us highly susceptible to the diseases of the cardiovascular system. By eating foods with too much cholesterol and saturated fats causes our blood cells to become overloaded with cholesterol. This may lead to hardening of arteries (atherosclerosis). This may be further aggravated into arteriosclerosis and become a major cause of serious vascular problems and heart attack and/or stroke.

NOTE:If our cholesterol level is too high, we should reduce our intake of foods not only rich in cholesterol but also in saturated fats. These may include whole milk, egg yolks, regular butter, cheese, ice cream, shellfish, coconut oil, avocado and some hydrogenated vegetable oils. Foods rich in saturated fats will increase the cholesterol level in the blood. Therefore, it is essential that we regulate our cholesterol intake, such that we try to eat as much "good cholesterol" (High density) and avoid the "bad cholesterol" (low density) as much as possible.


RULEE 3: We should control our body weight by balancing our calorie intake according to the need of our body system to utilise these calories for the generation of energy and body heat. If our calories' intake is not fully utilised, we will have leftover calories that are generally stored in the form of body fat. Extra weight (mainly due to fat accumulation) can impose extra stress on our cardiovascular system. Our body weight can also increase due to a tendency of water and/or fluid retention in the tissues and in the inter-cellular spaces. This can create problems of internal inflammations and the resultant pressure on blood vessels and nerves endings all around in our body. Most of our aches and pains in the muscles and joints can be due to this unwarranted phenomenon. The accumulated water and/or fluids have to be excreted from the system. Instead of relying too much on the anti-inflammatory drugs (both NSAIDs and SAIDs), we should resort to various natural diuretic foods, beverages and spices: like pineapples and their juice, oranges and their juice, fish, melons, radishes, turnips, zucchinis, green tea, fennel seed, cardamom, coriander, turmeric etc. As the water and/or fluid retention is reduced, there will be a significant decrease in our body weight.

RULE 4: We should watch our blood pressure. Both low and high blood pressure can be harmful to our health. Higher than normal blood pressure is a major cause of both acute and chronic damage to our heart and the blood vessels. This requires monitoring our blood pressure regularly so that any abnormality may be corrected in time to avoid any other disorders to be caused by acute or chronic hyper/hypotension.

RULE 5: We should watch for all kinds of disorders associated with cardiac disrythmias. This may include disorders of heart rate, rhythm, origin or conduction within the heart due to an acute or chronic cardiovascular ailment or as a result of a continuous intake of harmful food items or medications. Anti-arrhythmic medications are usually effective, but not without side effects. We need to pay close attention to the toxicity's associated with these drugs.

RULE 6: There is now enough reported evidence that excessive smoking can cause serious cardiovascular problems. This can happen by disturbing our body's natural mechanism to deal with lipids (including cholesterol). It is advisable to quit smoking as soon as possible. Enough evidence is also mounting about the harmful effects of the secondary smoke. It is advisable to avoid staying in places where there is such secondary smoke risk.

RULE 7: Stress is considered as one of the biggest causes of high cholesterol level, hypertension, hardening of arteries, and vasospastic and other cardiovascular disorders. We should try to eliminate and/or manage stress in our life as much as possible. This can be accomplished by channelling our stress into more productive endeavours (i.e.: sports/recreation, prayers/meditation, housework, etc.)

RULE 8: We should avoid irradiated foods as much as possible. Our fibre intake should be consistently high to prevent and heal diabetes, high cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood that cause cardiovascular disorders. The best sources of fibre are: Green leafy vegetables, beans, lentils, fresh natural fruits, bran, whole grains and cereals, and psyllium seeds.

RULE9: We should avoid taking sugar, tobacco, alcohol, and foods prepared with margarine and in the overheated vegetable oils (mono and polyunsaturated oils) which are sources of free radicals. These can cause malfunctioning of and damage to the organs of our digestive system (intestines, liver, gallbladder, spleen and pancreas), the cardiovascular system, the respiratory system and the endocrine system. This can also reduce the absorption of fat-soluble anti-oxidant nutrients (e.g. Vitamin E) and decrease the absorption and elimination of the free radicals produced by the bacterial action in the stagnant ileum and the colon.

And here's a general list of various dietary options to keep our cardiovascular system healthy. We should include:

Legumes (soybeans, mung, tofu, tempeh, peas, other beans and lentils),

Whole grains (Oats, rye, brown rice, amaranth, sprouted hard red winter wheat and buckwheat),

Nuts and seeds (almonds, hazelnuts, chia seed, flax seed, pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds, walnut and sunflower sprouts),

Leafy green vegetables (spinach, carrot greens, radish greens, cabbage, mint, green coriander, lettuce, kale, dandelion green, wheat and barley green, parsley, broccoli, asparagus, green peas, bell pepperetc.)

Other Specific vegetables (Brussels sprouts, cucumbers, marshmallow, seaweeds, chlorella, celery, tomatoes, spinach, turnips, zucchinis, green beans, egg plant, potatoes etc.)

Fruits (bananas, persimmon, figs, apples, pears, pomegnarates, melons, mangoes and citrus fruits,

Fish products (sardines, mackerel and other deep cold water fish),

Meat products (skinless poultry meat and extra lean beef and mutton),

Dairy products (low fat cheese, yoghurt and milk).

And don't forget: (Chick peas, vegetables and fruits (pungent vegetables like radishes, horseradish, hot peppers, onion family vegetables like garlic, leek, scallion, shallot, chives), are great for your Cardiovascular system.

Note: We have made this list long enough so that we can be selective according to our own specific needs, liking and taste.

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