Stress, bad food and lack of exercise present more dangers to heart health than most people recognize. So, for the upcoming new year, why not resolve to give your heart a fighting chance by avoiding these hazards? Go down a checklist of the most serious risks to your heart, eliminate one at a time, and enjoy a healthier year than you’ve ever had before.

Profundity In The Air

In this new year I predict one or more profound changes to your world as you know it. This is a magical year according to almost all predictions. For some it will bring fear. To others it will deliver excitement or even bliss. Therefore, which organ do you need to prepare the most for these remarkable changes? In my opinion, it’s your heart. The good news: Your heart health depends mostly on your lifestyle choices.  

Head Start On Heart Health

Experts in science and archeology have been excitedly discussing the upcoming year 2012. Dec. 21, 2012, marks the end of the Mayan calendar and is supposed to usher in a mysterious new era for planet Earth. Global shifts and cosmic changes are expected, too. You have to be ready to live through it all with vibrant health.

If you want to survive these upcoming cataclysmic events, you need to prepare your heart. Most hearts teeter on the precipice, and every minute someone in the United States dies from a heart event. Don’t think you are immune. At any moment you can experience a sudden arterial blockage that keeps blood from flowing to your heart wall muscles. Your heart may be a victim after blood vessels have had years of developing atherosclerosis and narrowing and your stress levels redline.

Risky Business

If you want to improve your heart’s chances of successfully enduring the next era, change or eliminate these known risk factors for heart trouble:

• Tobacco smoking doubles your risk of heart attack and increases blood pressure.
• High blood pressure endangers your heart when you eat too much sugary food and endure excess emotional stress.
• Diabetes puts the heart and arteries at risk.
• Toxic chemical exposures trigger autoimmune hypersensitivity that threatens the cardiovascular system
• Metabolic syndrome afflicts nearly 25 percent of American adults with abdominal obesity, high blood triglyceride levels, glucose intolerance and hypertension.
• Lack of physical exercise promotes degeneration of your circulatory system.
• Being overweight and obese produces metabolic changes that negatively impact the heart.
• Stress, anger and depression often lead to heart disease.
• Poor sex life lowers your chances of preserving heart health.
• Testosterone levels often drop too low when you don’t exercise, which increases your heart attack risk.
• Poor dental health and hygiene mirrors poor heart health. An eight-year study of 11,869 people (mean age 50) in the British Medical Journal¹ showed that cardiovascular events and death from all causes doubled in those who never or rarely brush their teeth.   
• Radiation exposure oxidizes LDL cholesterol which forms arterial plaque and blockages.²
• Heavy metal exposure (including mercury and antimony) is toxic to your heart muscle.³
• Electromagnetic frequencies (EMFs) from laptop computers, cellphones, televisions, microwave ovens and hair dryers can disrupt cellular activity.⁴ 
• Pesticide/insecticide exposure increases your risk of cardiovascular difficulties and complications.
• Hormones (xenoestrogens) and antibiotics (xenobiotics) that are routinely used for animal livestock growth and agricultural profitability can harm the heart when you consume their residues in meat. These foreign molecules are also found in plastics, spermicides, detergents and many personal care products which all can induce immune hypersensitivity and inflammation.
• Prescription medications can hurt the heart. The cholesterol-lowering drugs Lipitor® and the other statins drugs (Mevacor®, Zocor®, Pravachol® and Crestor®) are known to deplete the critical energy-producing enzyme Coenzyme Q10. Also problematic are Gemfibrozil (Lopid), Adriamycin (a chemotherapy drug) and certain beta blockers.⁵

Inflamed By Food

Inflammatory foods are likely the greatest single contributor to all chronic illnesses including heart disease. These include:

• Refined sugar is in an astounding number of foods. The average American consumes 32 teaspoons of added sugar per day. Sugar can increase the systolic blood pressure (Journal of the American College of Nutrition), contribute to diabetes (Federal Protocol) and metabolic syndrome (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition) and lead to atherosclerosis (Circulation Research). It also correlates strongly with peripheral vascular disease (Postgraduate Medicine).
• Hydrogenated oils and trans-fats promote atherosclerosis even more than saturated animal fats do. Several studies have clearly shown that trans-fats are associated closely with heart attacks.  
• Animal products and lack of plant fibers lead to heart disease. Cardiovascular problems increased greatly when animal protein consumption rises above 10 percent of the diet. In the 1998 Journal of Cardiology, the researchers of the China Study reported their analysis of 65 counties and 130 villages in rural China. There, animal protein intake was very low at only 10 percent, one-tenth of the U.S. average. Also, their fat intake was less than half of that found in the United States, and fiber intake was three times higher than in the U.S. The average cholesterol levels comparing Chinese to Americans were 127 mg/dL versus 203 mg/dL in the U.S. They found the death rate to be 16.7-fold greater for U.S. men and 5.6-fold greater for U.S. women compared to their Chinese counterparts. And the rate of heart attacks was similarly compared: Heart attacks were fewer when people ate less animal protein and dined on more green vegetables. 

In my next report, I’ll go through a list of other positive measures, including supplements, you can take to protect your heart.

To your continued health and learning,

Michael Cutler, M.D.
Author, Easy Health Options