Body Health

The Bad

The Good

STOP Smoking

Everyone knows the association between lung cancer and smoking, however it is also one of the best ways to go about getting heart disease. According to the heart foundation you are 2 – 4 times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke if you smoke.  There are hundreds of chemicals in cigarettes that cause all sorts of problems to the cardiovascular system, but the main ones are as follows:

• Nicotine – speeds up the heart, raises blood pressure and constricts the arteries throughout the body.
• Carbon monoxide – reduces oxygen supply in the blood and consequently the heart and combined with nicotine increases blood thickness, thus increasing the tendency to clot.
• Free radicals – smoking increases free radicals, which damage the veins and arteries.  The body tries to fix this by taking things like cholesterol, calcium, fats and fibrin from the blood and patching it up.  This causes a thickening in the arteries and could eventually lead to a blockage.

Exercise

We all know regular exercise is good for us and it is good for the heart...but do you know why? Below are some of the benefits you can see from exercise that will keep your heart healthy:

• Strength - like building any muscle, when you work out it becomes stronger, toned and performs better.  The heart is a muscle and when we exercise it can result in a stronger heart beat, which can move the blood around with less effort.
• CirculationImproves your circulation and helps your body use oxygen better.
  • Lowers blood pressure - when the heart is stronger it takes less force to pump blood, so less stress on the arteries.
  • Cholesterol; Exercise raises good (HDL) cholesterol and decreases bad cholesterol.Studies show moderate exercise 30 minutes 5 days a week can have this effect, even just brisk walking. 
  • Keeps you trim; being slimmer helps lower blood pressure and helps manage blood sugar balance.
  • Increases your happy hormones- so you are less stressed.  Reducing stress can often help in reducing blood pressure.

Loose weight - Obesity

Being overweight is associated with high blood pressure.  Obese people are two to six times more likely to develop high blood pressure than people whose weight is within a healthy range.

However, having fat round the middle is the most dangerous.  It is not just the fat we can see on the outside, but also that inside known as visceral fat.  This fat in the abdomen surrounds the vital organs and is metabolised by the liver to make cholesterol that circulates in the blood.  Visceral fat is dangerous because it is inflammatory and creates atherosclerosis.

Eat your fruits and vegetables

I know it has been stressed before, but eating your 5 a day really does help most things.  Fruit and vegetables are high in many antioxidant vitamins, which help to protect our vein and arteries from damage.

Purple and red fruits like blueberries are high in proanthocyanidins, which tone the blood vessels helping dilation and constriction. This helps maintain good blood pressure and stops plaque build up.

Other vitamins that are most beneficial for protecting and building circulatory health are vitamin C, vitamin A and vitamin E.  Also green leafy vegetables are high in magnesium, which helps to relax the arteries to lower BP and soften arterial deposits 

Decrease Bad Fats

Bad fats increase bad cholesterol.  They make the blood thicker and harder to pump around. 

Hydrogenated fats or fats that have been heated to high temperatures are oxidized and damage the arteries, which can leads to plaque formation.

Increase Good Fats

Increasing your good fats can help to keep the heart healthy and the tissues flexible.  Omega 3 oils from fish, krill, flax etc protect the fats of the cells and stop them hardening and from oxidative damage.

For more details see the previous week’s good fats/bad fats article.

High sugar intake

There is a clear link between diabetes and heart disease.  However, just because you have not become diabetic it does not mean that eating a diet high in sugar is not having negative effects on the cardiovascular system.  Eating a diet high in refined carbohydrates (e.g. potato chips, white rice, pasta, bread) or just foods with a high sugar content (e.g. fizzy drinks, some alcoholic drinks, cakes, biscuits, sweets) can cause our cells to become overloaded and to not process sugar well.  This results in lots of circulating sugar in the blood, which can cause oxidative damage to the blood vessels.

It can also increase visceral fat, which as we just discussed is the most dangerous fat.

Keep blood flowing – blood thinning foods

One of the problems in the circulatory system is when blood becomes too thick.  It can lead to increased blood pressure, as it is hard to pump round thick blood (think of the effort sucking up a thick shake through a straw). There are certain substances that are known to help keep blood more slippery, so make sure they are an integral part of your diet.

• Ginger helps to keep blood thin and is anti-inflammatory.
• Cayenne pepper stimulates circulation and keeps the blood flowing.  Great for poor circulation.
• Garlic keeps the blood slippery and helps to lower blood pressure.  Garlic is also an antioxidant and can help with raised cholesterol.  
• Omega 3 oils also help to keep blood from sticking together.

Manage Stress

Stress is known to increase blood pressure.  This then puts strain on the heart and the arteries, eventually causing damage.  This is why high blood pressure is called the silent killer, so be sure to go and get your BP checked regularly.

Stress also triggers the “fight or flight” response. This automatic response was fine when we were gearing up to run away from wild animals.  Unfortunately now with prolonged stress these responses can cause imbalances with blood sugar and gaining visceral fat.

Increase fibre 

There is research to show that those people with a diet high in fibre had lower blood pressure and fewer predispositions to heart disease. 

Also soluble fibre, like that in psyllium and oats, also helps to lower cholesterol.