Getting Your Heart Back: Eating Your Way to a Healthy Heart

Realising the problem

It’s nearly lunchtime and as I amble along an aisle of Pick n’ Pay, I am literally bowled over by a really obese mommy, an equally obese daddy and a bordering-on-obese six year old child. The child has a sugar-laden chocolate in one hand and a pie in the other (and I can even see the grease on the sides of the packet).That's not kids' food! So, one might argue, well, maybe it’s a treat? Well, the curiosity got the better of me and I snuck in the queue behind the family and had a good nosy in their trolley. My heart sunk as I stared at the loaves of refined white bread, polystyrene trays of fatty mince and sausages, as well as bottles of oil and sweetened cool drink. Obviously not a treat. And not a fruit or vegetable in sight!

Heart Disease

Heart Disease consists of a number of abnormal conditions of the heart and blood vessels, which ultimately affect the health and function of the heart.There is a strong link between an unhealthy diet high in saturated fat and cholesterol, obesity and the rise of heart disease. Worldwide, 22 million children under the age of 5 yrs, are overweight whilst in South Africa, 17 % of children between the ages of 1-9 yrs are overweight. Each day, 195 South Africans die of heart disease; 33 of which are heart attacks; 60 are strokes and 37 are heart failures.

Amazing Heart Facts:

• The heart beats roughly 36 million times per year or 100 000 times per day


• Blood vessels, which occur throughout the body, reach approximately 96 560.64 km (which is long enough to travel around the world twice!)


• The heart is able to pump 7 570 litres of blood throughout the body each day
  
• A male adult’s heart weighs approximately 284 g whilst an adult female’s weighs approximately 227 g
  
• Blood takes about 20 seconds to circulate throughout the entire vascular system

For a person of an average, healthy weight such as myself, I was alarmed to discover that according to The Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa, all South Africans are at risk for premature death due to chronic diseases. And although chronic heart disease is exacerbated by being overweight, it can still affect anyone, even young children. So I set on yet another quest to eating my way to a healthy heart!

In order to eat to avoid heart disease, we need to eat a varied diet, of fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains and pulses, lean meat, fish, eggs, dairy and drink plenty of water (check my previous post "The Importance of Being Nuts About Health. I'm Nuts, Are You?"). We need to be eating regular meals to avoid overeating and reducing our saturated fat, cholesterol, salt and alcohol intakes. We need to monitor our weight and control it through exercise and eating a nutritious diet.

There are also specific foods which have been proven to help prevent heart disease and are particularly good for those already with heart disease. These include:

• Oily fish such as pilchards or salmon- as they are rich in poly-unsaturated omega 3 fatty acids which help to lower cholesterol; improve your immune system and reduce inflammation during injury.



• Oats- as they are rich in soluble fibre which lowers cholesterol and helps prevent constipation.


• Soya beans- as they are high in protein and fibre and help lower cholesterol.
  
• Oranges- as these have certain compounds in their peel which lower cholesterol and help prevent cholesterol and triglycerides (fat) being made by the liver.

Canola oil and olive oil- as they are essential in lowering cholesterol and increasing the “good” kind of cholesterol and also contain anti-oxidants. These mono-unsaturated fats should replace the saturated fats such as butter, lard or ghee.

Spinach- as it lowers cholesterol and triglycerides. It is also rich in potassium and folic acid and low in sodium, which helps to regulate one’s blood pressure and reduces the amount of homocysteine, which damages blood vessels and hampers blood circulation. Spinach also has co-enzyme Q10 to strengthen muscle tissue in the heart and lutein, which prevents arteries from hardening, which would otherwise lead to a heart attack.

I am hoping that this article is a heavy wake-up call and shall encourage you to make a real effort to keep your heart healthy. Heart Awareness Month is in September, with World Heart Day being on the 28th September, but why wait till then to start making an effort? A healthy heart is easily achieved through following a healthy, nutrient-rich diet, regular exercise and maintaining a healthy weight. Your heart is what keeps you alive, and if that fails, what chance do you have? Getting your heart back means avoiding being another statistic and you can help get the message across to others. Got it?

Whilst cruising the internet, I came across this joke site, with one of the cutest jokes, emphasizing the cost of heart disease. Enjoy!

The cost of special reports

A woman brought a very limp parrot into a veterinary clinic. As she laid her pet on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the bird's chest. After a moment or two, the vet shook his head sadly and said, "I'm so sorry, Polly has passed away."

The distressed owner wailed, "Are you sure? I mean you haven't done any testing on him or anything. He might be in a coma or something." The vet rolled his eyes, shrugged, turned and left the room returning in a few moments with a beautiful black Labrador. As the bird's owner looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the examination table and sniffed the parrot from top to bottom. He then looked at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head.

The vet escorted the dog from the room and returned a few moments later with a cat. The cat jumped up and delicately sniffed the bird. The cat then sat back, shook it's head, meowed and ran out of the room. The vet looked at the woman and said, "I'm sorry, but, like I said, your parrot is most definitely 100% certifiably dead."

He then turned to his computer terminal, hit a few keys and produced a bill which he handed to the woman. The parrot's owner, still in shock, took the bill. "A HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS!" she cried. "A HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS just to tell me my bird is dead?!" The vet shrugged. "If you'd taken my word for it the bill would only have been $20, but... what with the Lab Report and the Cat Scan.....