Do you know that your heart is a very hard-working organ? It starts pumping even at foetus stage and it continues to work till we die. Therefore, it is important that we protect our heart and take good care of it.
What are the issues related to the heart?
- Heart attack – lack of nutrient and oxygen flow to the heart muscle.
- Atherosclerosis – constricting of blood vessels due to plaque deposition leading to damages.
- Hypertension – elevated blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg versus normal blood pressure of 120/80 mmHg.
- Congestive heart failure – heart lose the ability to pump blood.
- Cardiac arrhythmia – irregular heart beat leading to heart attack or enlarged heart.
What are the factors causing heart diseases?
- High cholesterol – bad cholesterol cause deposition and build up of plaques on the blood vessel wall constricting blood flow.
- High blood pressure – puts pressure and strain on the heart to work harder to pump the blood throughout the body
- Diabetes – leading to damage blood vessels and high blood pressure
- Poor diet and nutrition – diet high in saturated fat, refined carbohydrate and processed food.
- Lack of exercise – exercises strengthen the heart muscles
- Overweight and obesity – increase the risk of developing heart disease
- Stress – creates a lot of free radicals that can cause damages to the heart muscles and blood vessels.
How can we protect our heart and maintain a healthy heart?
1) Coenzyme Q10
The heart produces Co-enzyme Q10. But aging, chronic disease and medication reduce the production. Coenzyme Q10 helps the metabolic reaction of transforming food into energy for the heart to work.
Coenzyme Q10 improves the heart rhythm and it is powerful antioxidants that neutralize free radicals and prevent oxidation of lipids.
You can obtain Coenzyme Q10 from meat, fish, whole grains, nuts, seeds, spinach and broccoli.
2) Carnitine
Carnitine is an amino acid that is produced by the liver and kidney and stored in skeletal muscle, heart, brain and sperm. It plays an important role in facilitating fat burning for energy in muscle cells. It also increases blood circulation to the brain.
Carnitine given to patients who had heart attack was found to reduce subsequent heart attack, die of heart attack or experience chest pain.
Food rich in carnitine are beef, pork. dairy , fish and chicken. Unfortunately, vegetarian source does not contain as high carnitine level
3) Taurine
It is an amino acid that is found mainly in the central nervous system, skeletal muscle, heart and brain. Food rich in taurine are beef, pork and animal protein.
Taurine strengthen the heart muscle and work with magnesium to regulate and stabilize the heart rhythm. It fights tissue swelling and fluid accumulation by helping with movement of minerals in and out of the cells.
4) Hawthorn
Hawthorn has been used to treat heart disease since the first century.
It contains a high amount of antioxidants such as flavonoids compounds, glucoside and proanthocyanides. These antioxidants compounds reduce the stress in the heart and neutralize agents that cause blood constriction. So, it improves blood supply by dilating blood vessels in the heart, thereby lowering the blood pressure as well.
It increases the metabolic process in the heart, helping the heart to increase the force of contraction. This helps patients with congestive heart issues to pump blood around the body as well as reduce heart palpitation.
Protect your heart now with these nutrients. You can obtain from natural food sources. However, you do notice that most of the natural food sources are from animal based. Therefore, people who are vegetarian, it is recommended to obtain them from supplements.
Do be careful of the potential interaction of these supplements with some medications which may increase or reduce the effectiveness of the medication. It is best you check with your physician before starting on them.
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