Hearth health Today: Almonds - A heart smart food!

Every seven minutes in Canada, Someone dies in heart attack or stroke. The number one reason of premature death in that country is no other than Cardiovascular disease. So, New research on the mechanisms behind the fight against cardiovascular disease is always welcome - particularly when it involves a simple behavior change that can make a difference.

There is a research from the journal of Nutrition that provides insight into how the antioxidants in almonds may help maintain a healthy heart.

In previous research, experts determined that almonds contain phenols, flavonoids and phenolic acids in their skins similar to fruits and vegetables. Researchers used high-performance liquid chromatography, UV detection and mass spectometry.

The effects of almonds on heart health is unbelievable! The researcher team found that when men and women with elevated cholesterol ate about two and a half servings of almonds every day for a month, their levels of these two established markers - blood malondialdehyde (MDA) and urinary isoprostane - statistically significantly decreased. MDA significantly decreased by 18.75% from baseline in the full-dose almond group and isoprostane decreased by 27% in both almond groups compared to controls.

Almonds provide a dose of monounsaturated fats, the great kind found in avocados and olive oil. A recommended serving of almonds (about a handful, or 23 almonds) is a perfect source of vitamin E and magnesium, a good source of fiber, phosphorus, and offers protein (6 grams), calcium (75 mg) and potassium (200 mg). Not only can almonds boost nutrition, but they also add awesome taste and crunch to any meal or snack.

Healthy Aging - Ways to Optimize your health

Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Healthy Aging

Here is a great video regarding healthy aging and lifestyle.
Most of the topics focus to nutritional strategies, potential useful supplements and other risk factors that affect aging.

A Safer Way to Prevent Heart Disease

There are a number of irregular conditions that affect the heart and the vessels supplying the heart with blood. But this article will explore only four types of heart diseases that are common to people.
As we all know, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, Canada, England, Etc. That's why having a knowledge about heart health today is a must! For me, knowledge regarding common heart diseases would be the safer way to prevent it. Knowing its symptoms and description would be a great guard against these conditions and diseases.

#1 Coronary heart disease
Coronary artery disease is a disease of the artery caused by the accumulation of atheromatous plaques within the walls of the arteries that supply the myocardium. It is the most frequent type of heart disease at all. And it is also the main reason of Heart Attacks.

#2 Pulmonary heart disease
Cor pulmonale is a change in structure and function of the right ventricle of the heart as a result of a respiratory disorder. There are tons of different symptoms that typically come with pulmonary heart disease, such as shortness of breath, syncope, dyspnoea, and chest pain.

#3 Rheumatic heart disease
Rheumatic heart disease is the most serious complication of rheumatic fever and chronic rheumatic heart disease is estimated to exist in 5-30 million children and young adults in the poorer countries of the world.

#4 Congenital heart disease
Congenital heart disease is a defect in the structure of the heart and great vessels of a newborn.
The term congenital is also called hereditary heart disease which refers to heart disease that is passed down through the family. If you have an account of early heart disease in your family then you also are at danger for congenital heart disease.

Reading articles and watching videos regarding medical stuffs are important for us to be aware on different medical issues around us. Moving forward, I will be focusing to different Heart disease symptoms and prevention. But of course, Always consult your doctor before following or applying any information that is found on the web.

Heart health: Dark Chocolate lovers rejoice!

”Only a small daily treat of dark chocolate may substantially increase the amount of antioxidant intake and beneficially affect vascular health”

Like all foods, Moderation is the key! There are now more reason to enjoy our favorite chocolate! Studies show that dark chocolate contains more antioxidants per gram than other foods and beverages with the same properties, such as red wine, tea and berry fruits.

Eating dark chocolate every day may cut the risk of serious heart disease by helping to stave off the hardening of arteries, according to a study published. It is also capable of improving your mood. Not all chocolates are created equal when it comes to nutritive value. Choose chocolate that contains 70% cocoa solids for maximum benefits; dark chocolate is best.

To recaptulate, dark chocolate is more beneficial than any other chocolate and even better to milk chocolate. It should also be pure chocolate not combined with other unhealthy substances. So what are you waiting for? Take advantage of the benefits of healthy chocolate and save your heart!

Protect your heart: 4 strategies to prevent heart diseases

With heart- healthy lifestyle, you can prevent heart disease symptoms. Here are four techniques to help you protect your heart.

1. Never attempt to smoke!
According to studies, Smoking is one of the most preventable reason of diseases. That's why if you are smoking, STOP IT! and if you don't smoke, never attempt!
For me, "That's the most powerful, preventable risk factor for heart disease."

2. Eat a healthy diet
Limiting intake of fats is very important. There's growing evidence that trans fat may be worse than saturated fat because unlike saturated fat, it both raises your LDL (bad) cholesterol and lowers your HDL (good) cholesterol. My point here is to consistently eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products that will benifit your heart.

3. Be Active
Physical activity is definitely good for everyone, but do you know that it can reduce your risk of fatal heart disease? Physical activities prevent heart diseases because it increase blood flow to our heart and result to heart pumping with less effort.

4. Get regualr health screenings
Hypertension and high cholesterol can damage our heart, that's why we need to take healthy screenings to check the stability of our healthy-lifestyle. Regular screening can tell you what your numbers are and whether you need to take action.
a.) Hypertension or High Blood Pressure
b.) Cholesterol levels