Health

Be fab after 50 and look after your heart

The truth is that most heart disease is preventable. And that’s the message that the early pioneers wanted to get across. People just didn’t get the disease in places like South Africa and Zimbabwe. And if they did, it was because they were eating a Western diet. Missionary doctors, like Hugh Trowell, went for decades without seeing a single case. And when they did finally find cases of the disease, it was always linked to the Western lifestyle. It wasn’t that heart disease was lower in places that ate a traditional diet. It was that it just didn’t exist.

Published

8 years ago

September 14, 2016

Lily Asis

You’d think that with all the fundraising efforts and media buzz that cancer was our biggest killer. But you’d be wrong: it’s heart disease. Heart disease kills more people than diabetes, infectious diseases and accidents put together. And yet, we don’t tend to hear a lot about it these days.

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This wasn’t the case in the past. In the 1960s and 1970s, there was a big drive by Western governments to drive down rates of heart disease. Senator McGovern launched the first dietary guidelines designed to reduce heart disease rates in 1977. He, and other scientists saw heart diseases as an epidemic, and they wanted to do something about it.

There was, therefore, a big drive to eat like Africans. That meant eating less meat, more grains, and more vegetables. But the public was never really told the full extent of the effect of lifestyles on heart disease. Instead, they got a watered down version, advising them to eat “a low-fat diet.” Low-fat was never really the solution. It was a cover to protect the meat industry which could market low-fat cuts of meat. The real heart disease preventing diet was centered on whole foods and fresh vegetables. It was about eating foods in their natural, unprocessed form, and staying away from meat and processed foods.

All of this has led to the situation we find ourselves in today. Special interests and dishonest journalists have fought to confuse us about the effect of lifestyle on heart disease. And that means we’ve never really got the message that heart disease was something preventable.

Despite all the lobbying, however, there are scientifically-backed ways you can look after your heart. Here’s how.

SCHEDULE A CHECKUP

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Research shows that people who get regular checkups have better health outcomes than those that don’t. At your checkup, your doctor will measure your blood pressure and cholesterol. These measurements are important. High blood pressure and cholesterol are an indication that you’re at risk of a more severe cardiovascular event. But it should be pointed out that they are not diseases in themselves. They’re merely markers that your heart may not be healthy.

It’s also worth mentioning that the type of cholesterol you have is important in determining your overall heart health. Low-density, LDL cholesterol is the so-called “bad” cholesterol. This is the type of cholesterol most often found in the arterial plaques that kill people. Another type of cholesterol, HDL, cholesterol is often called good cholesterol. This is because it has a role in clearing the blood of LDL. The number that your doctor reports is important. They may report LDL cholesterol, in which case, you’ll want a number that’s below 70 mg/dL. Or they may report total cholesterol, in which case, you’ll want a number lower than 150 mg/dL. Below these numbers the risk of getting heart disease almost completely vanishes.

It should be emphasized that the “normal range” is not normal. You might go to the doctors and get a reading of, say 200 mg/dL. And your doctor will tell you that that’s fine. In fact, if they know their stuff, they’ll tell you that that’s actually at the bottom end of the normal range. Most people’s cholesterol is a bit higher than that. Unfortunately, what’s normal for a population living in Kansas isn’t normal in the grand scheme of human history. Sure, 200 mg/dL might be low in the context of Kansas. But that’s only because everybody there is living a western lifestyle and is sick. Go to places where people live in a traditional way and you’ll find much lower cholesterol.

There are, however, other good reasons to schedule a checkup with a doctor. Heart disease isn’t just one thing: it’s lots of different diseases and conditions. For instance, your cholesterol might be fine, but you might have a heart arrhythmia. This is where your doctor will direct you to afib solutions to prevent the condition from becoming more serious.

There’s also the possibility that your heart disease is caused by an infection you had earlier on in your life. If you’ve ever had strep throat, the bacteria can get into your heart and weaken it. As a result, you can have unexpected heart problems, even if your cholesterol and blood pressure are rock-bottom.

CONTROL CHOLESTEROL

So how do you go about controlling cholesterol and getting it below that magical 150 mg/dL threshold? Most of the official advice out there is to eat “lean meats.” But remember, this is exactly the advice that they ended up peddling back in the 1970s. It didn’t work then, and it won’t work now. The problem is that lean meat, like fish and turkey, still cause damage to your cardiovascular system. The only real way to get your cholesterol into the low range is to reduce the amount of meat you’re eating. It’s not just the fat and cholesterol in meat that causes the body to produce more blood cholesterol. It’s a bunch of other factors in the food. The iron in meat, for instance, speeds up the oxidation of cholesterol. And this, in turn, makes it much more damaging to your arteries. There’s also something called TMAO that’s produced in our guts when we eat meat. Like heme iron in meat, TMAO can also boost cholesterol, even if the meat itself doesn’t contain any.

Controlling cholesterol isn’t just about what you can’t eat. It’s also about what you can eat. However bad animal products might be for your heart, there’s a bunch of plant foods that are incredibly good for it. Take kale, for instance. Kale, like most leafy greens, binds to the bile in your stomach, helping to lower cholesterol. Other plant foods, like oats, have also been shown to lower cholesterol levels dramatically.

The interesting thing about plant foods is how they show that it’s not just about low fat. Take nuts, for instance. Around 85 percent of the calories in almonds come from fat. And yet, almonds lower cholesterol. The same goes from practically every nut you can eat. They’re all high in fat, but lower blood cholesterol. It shows that it’s not just about whether something contains a lot of fat or not. It’s about whether the nutrients are packaged up in the whole food. Nutrients, like fat and sugar, contained in whole food appear to be safe. But when they’re not in whole foods, that’s when the danger starts.

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QUIT SMOKING

Back in 1969, the Surgeon General released a report on smoking. The report was the first that officially confirmed that smoking was devastating to health. It found that smoking increased heart disease risk by a whopping 150 percent. And remember, in 1969, heart disease rates were already at record levels.

Quitting smoking is not easy, of course. But today, thanks to a bunch of help-to-quit products, it’s a lot easier than in the past. Since 1969, smoking rates have steadily declined. So too has heart disease, on an age-standardized basis.

CUT DOWN ON SALT

We’ve listened to advice to cut down salt for decades. And yet, there’s been something of a backlash against the advice. The problem is that the only way to make processed foods taste good is to add a huge amount of salt. Salt, however, raises blood pressure and stiffens arteries. And this is believed to contribute to heart attacks, strokes, and death. The food industry doesn’t like the fact that scientists keep finding that salt is bad for our health. And so they pay journalists to confuse the truth. Now many people don’t focus on salt as a health issue.

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Salt comes in many different forms and varieties. You might see it on food labels as sodium citrate, MSG or sodium hydroxide. You might also see sodium benzoate, disodium phosphate, sodium caseinate or sodium sulfite. All of these are salts which, presumably, can negatively affect heart health.

STAY POSITIVE

But perhaps the most important piece of advice of all is to stay positive. There will be times when you fall off the bandwagon. You’ll feel stressed out and have a cigarette. Or you’ll order the biggest steak you can buy. But just because you don’t stick to your regimen, doesn’t mean you have to quit. When you do something that’s not healthy, immediately get back on track. Work as hard as you can towards achieving your healthy lifestyle. And don’t muse about the times when you’ve failed.

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Related Topics:good heart health heart health wellness

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Health

Self-care for sick days

To help navigate this cough, cold and flu season, consider these tips.

Published

4 months ago

December 13, 2023

Rachelle Grace Tan-Estrecho

Cooler weather inevitably means cough, cold and flu season isn’t far behind. Now is the time to take precautions and set yourself up with healthy habits.

“As much as we try, avoiding viruses, bacteria and germs to prevent getting sick can be a challenge,” Dr. Tim Tiutan, MD, said. “However, being prepared with the right remedies, listening to your body and its symptoms and remaining diligent with a healthy routine is just as important as treating symptoms head on.”

To help navigate this cough, cold and flu season, consider these tips from Tiutan and the experts at Mucinex.

Prepare and Prevent
You won’t find a foolproof way to keep germs away, but you can lessen your chances of getting sick and make sure you’re equipped to weather an illness.

Practice healthy habits. Keeping your body in prime condition can help ensure you’re in the best condition possible to fight back when germs attack. That means keeping up with exercise and ensuring you’re getting enough vitamins and nutrients through a well-balanced diet.
Get a flu shot. The flu shot gives your body a head start in fighting back against flu bugs. If you’re exposed to the flu after receiving the shot, your body can immediately go on the offensive against those germs. You may not stay completely symptom-free, but you’re more likely to experience a mild case and be back on your feet quicker.
Restock the medicine cabinet. The start of cough, cold and flu season is an ideal time to dig through your medicine cabinet. Start by discarding any medications that are out of date and make a list of anything you need to replenish. Be sure to include pain relievers, fever reducers, decongestants, antihistamines and cough syrups to fight symptoms. It’s also a good time to restock items like tissues, cough drops, hand sanitizer and anti-bacterial soap.

Treat Symptoms
Although the flu can hit fast, it’s often hard to tell at first whether your symptoms are due to a simple cough, cold or a case of the flu. Either way, managing symptoms like a cough can bring relief and help you keep comfortable and get plenty of rest.

Give your body time to heal. Sleep plays an important role in your overall health, especially when you’re under the weather. On average, you need 7-9 hours each night to give your body enough time to fully recharge. When you’re sick, you likely need even more, and it’s a good idea to dial back your activity level, too. Pushing your physical limits often only delays your recovery time.
Take medications as directed. Nagging symptoms can often keep you from getting the sleep you need. One way to give your body the break it needs is to effectively manage symptoms. A hacking cough is a common symptom that can be painful and disrupt your sleep. Consider an option like Mucinex DM 12-Hour, a cough suppresent which relieves chest congestion and thins and loosens mucus, giving you an extended reprieve. It’s clinically proven to last up to 12 hours, provides relief for chest congestion and makes coughs more productive.

Prevent Spread
Getting sick may be beyond your complete control, but you can take steps to protect others from germs when you’re feeling ill.

Keep germs to yourself. Washing your hands often, covering your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze and sneezing into your elbow if you don’t have a tissue are simple ways you can limit the spread of germs, especially within your home or workspace. Frequently wiping down high-touch surfaces can also help reduce the spread of germs.
Skip socializing. If you’re feeling under the weather, stay home. Even a mild cold can easily spread, and an illness that affects you mildly could cause significant distress for someone else. Avoid unnecessary errands and take advantage of services like curbside pickup if you must get out. Also check with your employer about working remotely if you’re up to it.

Cold vs. Flu
There’s a lot of overlap between cold and flu symptoms, so it can be tricky to figure out whether the bug you’re fighting is a cold or influenza and how to tackle it.

While both the common cold and the flu are respiratory illnesses, they are not caused by the same viruses. Although colds are inconvenient, they are far less likely to develop into anything more serious, as the flu can.

What is a Cold?
Generally, colds are milder than the flu, and more likely to cause runny or stuffy noses (while the flu can cause stuffy or runny noses, it’s less likely to do so). You won’t feel good, but you’ll probably be able to do some or all of your daily tasks. The flu typically hits harder, making it difficult to go to work or follow your usual routine.

What is the Flu?
The flu often feels worse than a cold; you might experience the same symptoms but amplified. The flu comes with more pain and fever than a cold. Common flu symptoms include sore throat, chills, fever, runny or stuffy nose, muscle fatigue or aches and headaches. The flu can also develop into more serious conditions and complications, making it more dangerous than the average cold. While the common cold is rarely serious, the flu can be dangerous for young children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems.

Treating a Cold vs. Flu
You can be vaccinated against the flu. There is no such vaccine for common colds. If your provider recommends it, getting the flu vaccine each year can go a long way toward preventing sickness.

Whether you have a cold or the flu, symptom relief is largely the same. Get plenty of rest, drink plenty of fluids and take over-the-counter medicines to relieve symptoms. Stay home to avoid spreading sickness. Wash your hands frequently and cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze.

Watch for shortness of breath, chest or abdomen pain, confusion, sudden dizziness, severe or persistent vomiting and flu symptoms that improve then return with fever and worse cough. If you experience any of these symptoms, consult a doctor.

Find more ways to stay healthy and limit symptoms by visiting Mucinex.com.

Health

5 Tips For Proper Oral Care

It’s crucial that you practice proper oral care, by following these habits.

Published

1 year ago

February 10, 2023

Lily Asis

They’re incredibly important, yet so many people take them for granted—our teeth. A healthy smile is an important part of your overall health since your teeth are such an important and useful part of your body.

It’s crucial that you practice proper oral care, by following these habits.

Always Brush Before Bed

Dentists recommend brushing your teeth three times a day to ensure you remove harmful buildup. However, not everyone manages to make it to three, which isn’t the end of the world. Yet, if there’s one of these three brushing times that you absolutely can’t get away with skipping, it’s nighttime.

At night, your teeth have all of the food that you ate throughout the day, and also germs that cause bad breath. When you go to bed without brushing you’re allowing all of that to sit on your teeth for the duration of however long you sleep, which is usually about 8 hours. Yuck!

Visit Your Dentist

Brushing your teeth daily is already a great step towards overall tooth health. However, there are some things that a toothbrush simply can’t do. It’s important that you see a dentist regularly to get cleanings and address dental issues.

Sometimes despite our best efforts to brush, we still develop cavities. Unfortunately, this is just the way things are. A dentist can help us identify these cavities, and fill them as soon as possible so they don’t turn into something more serious like a root canal.

Floss

Despite having the best toothbrush on the market, there are crevices and cracks in your mouth that even the best toothbrush can’t touch. In addition to brushing, you should make sure that you floss.

Flossing won’t just reduce your risk of developing cavities, but it can significantly improve your breath. There are all sorts of germs and bacteria lurking in between your teeth, and flossing can get rid of that. If you notice that your breath still isn’t entirely fresh even after brushing, then pull out the floss and you’ll notice a big difference.

Avoid Sugar

There are plenty of things that are less than ideal for your health. However, most health professionals agree that one of the worst things for you is sugar and your dentist feels the same. The less sugar you eat, the healthier your teeth will be, as sugar eats away at your tooth enamel.

If you do eat sugar, make sure that you brush your teeth after. One of the worst things you can do is eat sticky candy which leaves behind residue on your teeth and is the perfect recipe for cavities.

Avoid Acidic Foods

In addition to sugary foods, acidic foods are also your teeth’s worst enemy. From coffee to citrus fruits, limit the number of acidic beverages and foods you consume, and your tooth enamel will greatly thank you for it!

Health

Tips for walking 20,000 steps a day

To walk 20,000 steps a day you’ll need to cover a total of 10 miles. This may seem like a lot, but it’s actually not as difficult as it sounds.

Published

2 years ago

May 29, 2022

ZestMag.com Staff

Photo by Sincerely Media from Unsplash.com

To walk 20,000 steps a day you’ll need to cover a total of 10 miles. This may seem like a lot, but it’s actually not as difficult as it sounds. Here are a few tips to help you reach your goal:

Invest in a Good Pair of Shoes

The first step to walking 20,000 steps a day is to make sure you have the right equipment. Investing in a good pair of walking shoes will help to prevent blisters and injuries, and make the walk more comfortable overall.

Make Walking Part of Your Daily Routine

To reach your 10-mile goal every day, make walking a part of your daily routine. This might mean taking the stairs at work instead of the elevator, or parking farther away from where you’re going so that you have to walk more. You can also try waking up a few minutes earlier each morning to fit in a walk before you start your day.

Join a Walking Group

If you’re having trouble finding time to fit in 10 miles each day, consider joining a walking group or taking part in a local 5k race. This will help keep you motivated and provide social support along the way.

Start Small

Don’t try to walk 20,000 steps all at once. Start with a smaller goal, such as 5,000 steps per day, and gradually increase your mileage as you become more fit. This will help you avoid injury and burnout.

Stay Hydrated

Make sure to stay hydrated while walking by drinking plenty of water throughout the day. This will help you feel more energized and prevent dehydration-related issues, such as muscle cramps or fatigue.

The Bottom Line – BetterMe Can Help You Walk More, Every Day

If you’re looking to improve your overall health, walking 20,000 steps a day can help. This simple form of exercise offers a host of health benefits, from improved sleep and digestion to reduced stress and anxiety. To reach your goal, use the BetterMe Blog as a guide and stay committed every day. With enough dedication, you can achieve your fitness goals and transform your body for the better.