Supplements, herbs, and foods that support a healthier heart Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/041210_healthy_heart_supplements_curcumin.html#ixzz2gXw7rCVi

All who enter here must abandon the myths involved with fats and cholesterol. They remain as dogma only because too many health practitioners and journalists are still stuck with that misinformation.

Yes, diet has a lot to do with whether you have good cardiovascular health or not. But it's not from a low or no fat diet.

Nor will statin drugs help out. They do lower cholesterol, but cholesterol is necessary for brain and myelin sheath tissue to maintain nerve transmissions and for cellular reproduction.

Epidermal cholesterol is the first part of converting UVB rays from sunshine or tanning beds into vitamin D. You may wind up with with dementia and still have a heart attack while on statin drugs.

The types of fats you eat are important. Most fats used in processed and fast foods, the staples of SAD (Standard American Diet) and in many homes for occasional cooking or salads are processed hydrogenated fats, toxic fats that create inflammation.

Cardiologists Stephen Sinatra, MD (1) and Dwight Lundell, MD, (2) are among the leaders of those who are breaking out and writing books against the mythology that has increased heart disease over the last part of the 20th Century.

Both doctors have books listed on Amazon. Dr. Robert Lustig gave a fantastic lecture that went wildly viral on YouTube. (3)

They all cite decreased healthy fats, increased unhealthy fats, an extremely out of proportion ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids, processed grains, and increased sugars, especially HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) in our processed and junk foods as the sources of arterial inflammation that lead to heart disease 

So for starters, cut out the low fat foods and processed foods and start eating organic whole foods, including saturated fats such as coconut oil and organic real butter. Healthy fats don't make you fat.

Supplements and foods you can add for a healthier heart

A superior more assimilable antioxidant form of CoQ10 known as ubiquinol is a highly recommended supplement for anyone within a high cardiac event risk profile, including high blood pressure. It's good for anyone, but Dr. Sinatra recommends double dosage for higher risk types.

L-Arginine supports the production of endothelium-derived nitric oxide (EDNO). The endothelium is a thin layer of epithelial cells lining the inside of the blood vessels and heart. EDNO is a potent substance that dilates blood vessels and allows more blood to course through them, thus lowering blood pressure.

It can even reverse the development of heart disease, including hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), the most serious form of heart disease. It has other benefits as well. (4)

Curcumin from turmeric is a clinically proven powerful anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer herb that also helps prevent heart disease. Learn more about this here (http://www.naturalnews.com/040330_turmeric_heart_health_curcumin.html).

Free-floating calcium that isn't absorbed into bone matter is common in our culture of excessive calcium intake. This situation offers the possibility of arterial calcification, literally. Vitamin K2 is important for ushering calcium out of the blood and into bone matter (http://www.naturalnews.com/027832_vitamin_K_osteoporosis.html).

Vitamin C: Make sure you get plenty every day.

Supplementing magnesium, a vastly underrated, more important mineral for bone structure than calcium also provides an important factor for maintaining regular heart beat rates (http://www.naturalnews.com).

Here's a terrific triple threat against heart disease: Cayenne at 40,000 or more heat units, hibiscus tea, and hawthorn berry. These foods can all be used daily with very little expense. Here's how (http://www.naturalnews.com/026285_health_cayenne_tea.html).

Moderate exercise and good mental and emotional health are very important contributors to heart health.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/041210_healthy_heart_supplements_curcumin.html#ixzz2gXwFdm8J

Excess salt consumption found to be the cause of millions of heart disease deaths worldwide

New cases of cardiovascular disease continue to mount in the U.S. and worldwide, making this the leading killer of men, women and children in western cultures. Enlightened, health-conscious individuals now understand that heart disease is not only preventable, but also treatable in all but the most advanced stages. Lifestyle modifications including elimination of processed and fried foods, smoking cessation, stress reduction and adequate physical activity are among some of the changes that promote heart health and dramatically lower future disease risk.

Excess salt consumption from synthetic salt products is a known risk factor for early heart disease, but researchers now report that sodium, largely coming from the disproportionate amount of processed foods that many people eat, is killing millions around the globe. Scientists from the Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health now report the result of their research that found how eating too much salt contributed to 2.3 million deaths from heart attacks, strokes and other heart-related diseases throughout the world in 2010, representing 15 percent of all deaths due to these causes.

Excess dietary sodium increases blood pressure, dramatically increasing incidence of heart attack and stroke

Researchers presented their findings to the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism 2013 Scientific Sessions. Lead study author, Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian commented "National and global public health measures, such as comprehensive sodium reduction programs, could potentially save millions of lives." To conduct their study, scientists analyzed data from 247 surveys of adult sodium intake, sorted by age, gender, and region spanning 50 countries over a 20 year period.

The team then determined how the amount of sodium people were consuming was affecting their risk for cardiovascular disease in a large cohort of 107 randomized trials that determined the impact of sodium consumption on elevation of blood pressure. They determined that an optimal daily sodium intake of 1,000 mg was optimal. The current target in the U.S. for adults is 2,300 mg per day, and many people who eat regularly at fast food restaurants and prepare meals using processed and refined foods can consume 3,500 to 5,000 mg per day, placing them at considerable risk for chronic vascular disease.

Researchers determined that nearly one million deaths occurring during the study period were due to excessive sodium consumption. This represented 40 percent of all deaths recorded, as 60 percent occurred in men and 40 percent in women. The U.S. ranked 19th out of the 30 largest countries where 429 deaths per million (one in 10) were attributable to excess sodium intake. Nutrition experts explain that added salt should always be from natural salts containing the full-spectrum of minerals that encourage healthy cellular metabolism. Eliminating canned and refined food consumption, and closely monitoring processed salt usage could prevent the early demise of millions worldwide over the next decade.

Treat your high chloresterol and clogged arteries naturally with curcumin: Research

The humble spice that gives curry powder its characteristic yellow color may hold the key to helping people lower their cholesterol and fight heart disease naturally, research suggests.

The spice in question, turmeric, has a long history of use as a traditional medicine across Asia. In recent years, Western scientists have conducted numerous studies on turmeric and the trio of yellow pigments that it contains known as curcuminoids. The curcuminoids (sometimes simply called "curcumin," after the most famous of the three) are antioxidant polyphenols known to function as potent anti-inflammatories.

According to a study published in the journal Atherosclerosis in 2004, turmeric extract may reduce the susceptibility of LDL ("bad") cholesterol to oxidation, an important step in the development of atherosclerosis and heart disease. Turmeric extract also reduced overall LDL and total cholesterol levels. Notably, the study found the most benefit to turmeric extract at a lower rather than a higher dose.

Another, more comprehensive, study was conducted by French researchers in 2008, presented at the American Heart Association's Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Annual Conference in 2009 and published in the journal Molecular Nutrition & Food Research in 2012. Mice predisposed to develop atherosclerosis were fed either a control diet or the same diet plus curcumin supplements for four months. At the end of this time, researchers found 26 percent fewer fatty artery deposits in the mice fed the curcumin-enhanced diet. Fewer atherosclerotic lesions were seen in these mice. In addition, the researchers found that curcumin seemed to actually change the expression of genes related to plaque buildup in arteries.

Turmeric outperforms cholesterol-lowering drugs?

Another study on mice predisposed to heart disease was conducted by researchers from Kyungpook National University in South Korea and published in the journal Molecular Nutrition & Food Research in 2011. In this study, the mice were fed a high cholesterol diet that was supplemented either with curcumin, the cholesterol-lowering drug lovastatin or a placebo. After 18 weeks, the researchers found that just like lovastatin, curcumin lowered blood levels of cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL cholesterol, while increasing levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol. It also led to changes in gene expression that could be expected to reduce the risk of artery damage and heart disease.

"Long-term curcumin treatment lowers plasma and hepatic cholesterol and suppresses early atherosclerotic lesions comparable to the protective effects of lovastatin," the researchers concluded. "The anti-atherogenic effect of curcumin is mediated via multiple mechanisms including altered lipid, cholesterol and immune gene expression."

Turmeric for your heart and health

Lowering cholesterol and fighting arterial disease are not the only ways that turmeric improves the health of your heart, or of your body as a whole. In a trio of studies published between June and October 2012, researchers from the University of Tsukuba in Japan found that curcumin supplements improved two measures of heart health (vascular endothelial function and arterial compliance) as much as an aerobic exercise program, while a combination of the two lead to even more dramatic benefits. A combination of curcumin and exercise was also found to significantly slow age-related degeneration in the heart.

Studies have also suggested that turmeric and curcumin can help fight infection, arthritis, Alzheimer's disease, and numerous forms of cancer.

The body absorbs curcumin best from turmeric root (which is more commonly consumed in the West ground up, as a spice), rather than from supplements. As seen in the 2004 study, evidence suggests that the greatest health benefit comes from consuming curcumin and other "nutraceuticals" at low doses over a long period of time, rather than from short-term, high dosage schedules.

Skipping Breakfast May Increase Coronary Heart Disease Risk

• Here's more evidence why breakfast may be the most important meal of the day: Men who reported that they regularly skipped breakfast had a higher risk of a heart attack or fatal coronary heart disease in a study reported in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.
• Researchers analyzed food frequency questionnaire data and tracked health outcomes for 16 years (1992-2008) on 26,902 male health professionals ages 
• Men who reported they skipped breakfast had a 27 percent higher risk of heart attack or death from coronary heart disease than those who reported they didn't.
• The men who reported not eating breakfast were younger than those who did, and were more likely to be smokers, employed full time, unmarried, less physically active and drank more alcohol.
• Men who reported eating late at night (eating after going to bed) had a 55 percent higher coronary heart disease risk than those who didn't. But researchers were less convinced this was a major public health concern because few men in the study reported this behavior.
• During the study, 1,572 of the men had first-time cardiac events.

"Skipping breakfast may lead to one or more risk factors, including obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, which may in turn lead to a heart attack over time," said Leah E. Cahill, Ph.D., study lead author and Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Mass.

"Our study group has spent decades studying the health effects of diet quality and composition, and now this new data also suggests overall dietary habits can be important to lower risk of coronary heart disease," said Eric Rimm, Sc.D., senior author and Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health and Associate Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School.

Men who reported eating breakfast ate on average one more time per day than those who skipped breakfast, implying that those who abstained from breakfast were not eating additional make-up meals later in the day. Although there was some overlap between those who skipped breakfast and those who ate late at night, 76 percent of late-night eaters also ate breakfast, researchers said.

The study collected comprehensive questionnaire data from the participants and accounted for many important factors such as TV watching, physical activity, sleep, diet quality, alcohol intake, medical history, BMI, and social factors like whether or not the men worked full-time, were married, saw their doctor regularly for physical exams, or smoked currently or in the past.

While the current study group was composed of men who were of 97 percent white European descent, the results should also apply to women and other ethnic groups, but this should be tested in additional studies, researchers said.

"Don't skip breakfast," Cahill said. "Eating breakfast is associated with a decreased risk of heart attacks. Incorporating many types of healthy foods into your breakfast is an easy way to ensure your meal provides adequate energy and a healthy balance of nutrients, such as protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. For example, adding nuts and chopped fruit to a bowl of whole grain cereal or steel-cut oatmeal in the morning is a great way to start the day."

Eating breakfast (meal timing) lowers heart disease risk by more than 25%

Eating breakfast and avoiding after dinner snacks lowers blood pressure and normalizes blood lipids

To perform this study, researchers analyzed food frequency questionnaire data on 26,902 male health professionals, aged 45 to 82 years over a period of sixteen years. Lead study author, Dr. Leah Cahill commented "Skipping breakfast may lead to one or more risk factors, including obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, which may in turn lead to a heart attack over time." The team accounted for modest differences in diet, physical activity, smoking and other lifestyle factors and found the association between skipping breakfast and eating very late at night did not diminish the strong correlation with coronary heart disease.

During the study period, 1,572 of the men had a first-time cardiac event. The study revealed that men who reported they skipped breakfast had a 27 percent higher risk of heart attack or death from coronary heart disease than those who reported they didn't. Additionally, men who reported eating late at night after going to bed had a 55 percent higher coronary heart disease risk than those who ate nothing after their dinner meal.

Dr. Cahill concluded "Don't skip breakfast... eating breakfast is associated with a decreased risk of heart attacks. Incorporating many types of healthy foods into your breakfast is an easy way to ensure your meal provides adequate energy and a healthy balance of nutrients, such as protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals." Prior studies have shown that eating late at night alters metabolic repair processes that increase the risk of developing multiple chronic conditions. The bottom line is simple. Eat a healthy breakfast every morning within the first hour after rising, and stop eating after dinner to dramatically lower the risk of cardiovascular disease.

How to turn deep breathing into a second heart

A second heart

So how do you actually have a second heart within your body? The answer is really very simple...deep breathing. How does deep breathing create a second heart? Through deep diaphragmatic breathing from low down in the abdomen (dan tien area about one inch below the navel) you're bringing the diaphragm itself into play far more than when only performing upper chest breathing. The diaphragm is a muscular but flexible membrane that separates the chest from the abdominal cavity. When you inhale and the lungs expand it pushes the diaphragm down into the abdominal cavity. This gentle expansion during deep abdominal breathing is what helps to gently push huge amounts of blood throughout the system thereby taking a huge load off the heart.

The diaphragm is the most powerful muscle in the body and it acts as a perfect force pump which compresses the internal organs such as the liver, spleen, intestines, lymphatic and blood vessels and greatly aids the venous circulation from abdomen to thorax or middle and upper chest area. Due to the large surface area of the diaphragm, a large amount of blood is moved throughout the body when it is employed via the mechanism of deep breathing. Even though this muscle is moving slower than the heart on a per minute basis, the greater surface area and the amount of blood it moves means that it actually functions as a "second heart" in the body and thus greatly reduces the amount of work that the heart itself must do.

Be aware that when you first start practicing deep breathing, because most people are chronic chest breathers and this is especially true of the elderly, sedentary and overweight, you may feel some tightness or discomfort in that area as this muscle begins to be used and stretches out. With practice and time, this should disappear. In time, abdominal breathing will quickly become second nature.

How to begin

If you have never tried breathing from low down, start off slowly by taking just 5-10 abdominal breaths per day and eventually work up to at least 30 or more. Outside is the best place to practice all breathing exercises as long as the outside air is relatively clean. If you're in an area with polluted air, then indoors in a room with plants or an ionizer would be a better place to practice deep breathing.

So if you're concerned about your heart health, as we all should be, then start breathing from low down in the dan tien area every day. Learn to make deep diaphragmatic breathing a daily habit and in time this will become second nature. This will help you to gently move large amounts of blood through the body with each breath, taking a huge strain off the heart and helping it to last a lifetime as it was designed to do.

Benefits of olive oil for the heart, skin and hair

Benefits of olive oil for the heart, skin and hair:

Cholesterol and Heart Health

Despite the drama surrounding the use of fats and oils, these things are an essential part of a balanced eating plan. The key is to choose your fats wisely. Olive oil is one of the healthiest types of fat around. The monounsaturated fat in olive oil has been shown to control LDL (bad) cholesterol and raise HDL (good) cholesterol. This can potentially lower your risk of heart disease.

When you digest your food, free radicals that are naturally produced by the body can damage the cells. Free radicals from environmental factors such as dust, smog, cigarette smoke and pesticides don't help the situation. The antioxidants contained in olive oil can help fight off and repair some of the damage that free radicals can cause.

To get the best heart-healthy results from olive oil, the U.S Food and Drug Administration recommends eating two tablespoons daily. You can easily get this amount in your diet by following the examples of top chefs and using it in your favorite foods.

Skin and Hair

The antioxidants contained in olive oil can benefit more than your heart. Because this substance prevents cell destruction, it fights the signs of aging and gives you a more youthful appearance. When applied topically, olive oil moisturizes and softens dry skin. Since the product is natural, adverse reactions are not common.

The problem with a lot of commercial skincare products is that the moisturizing ingredients don't penetrate the skin. Extra virgin olive oil is composed of more than 80 percent oleic acid. This substance easily penetrates the skin, and allows the oil to heal damage, reduce wrinkles and improve texture.

If you struggle with dry, brittle hair, keeping a bottle of olive oil handy can help. A weekly deep conditioner of olive oil can be used in the place of products that contain silicone ingredients to make the hair more manageable. Shampoos that contain sulfates will strip the moisture out of your hair and make it look drab and lifeless. Using olive oil in the place of your regular commercial conditioners can moisturize the hair and give it a healthy sheen.

Olive does more than make scrumptious dishes. It is well documented that, when combined with a nutritious diet, this oil's antioxidant properties can have a positive impact on cholesterol levels and heart health. In addition, when added as part of a regular beauty regimen, it can improve the health of your skin and hair.