The Health Nut Blog

Around one in four of all deaths are attributable to heart disease owing to thrombosed or 'furred up' coronary (heart) arteries, a condition known as atherosclerosis that is caused by high blood cholesterol levels. A important factor in heart disease is your life style and what foods you eat.

Easy steps like following a 7 day detox plan, getting some exercise, losing a few pounds and giving up smoking can play a big part in cutting down your dangers of heart disease - you could also try using a foot detox to assist in mopping up all those toxins rushing round your bloodstream.

Warning signs of heart disease

If you get heart disease, you are at enhanced risk of developing angina (intense chest pain resulting from your heart not getting sufficient oxygen), a heart attack; an arrhythmia (which is an subnormal heart beat, which will bring about shortness of breath, lightheadedness and even death); or heart failure (when the heart can't pump effectively, leading to breathlessness, fatigue, swollen up ankles, and which might eventually shorten your life expectancy).

Atherosclerosis can start in arterial blood vessels in other parts of your body, such as the brain, kidneys, or legs. This often leads to strokes, kidney failure, or poor blood flow in the legs and in some cases amputation. Other conditions of the heart and blood flow system include raised blood pressure, heart attacks and varicose veins.

Virtually all heart problems can be warded off, or improved considerably by making simple changes to your lifestyle and eating habits. To reduce your risk of heart disease, you should eat a healthy diet, do not add an excessive amount of salt to your food, learn how to quit smoking, be careful of how much alcohol you drink, try an exercise every day, get your weight down (there's plenty of quick weight loss tips to help you), and cut down your stress levels.

Green tea is very high in OPCs and antioxidants, and is thought to help prevent heart and circulatory disease, and makes a great addition to a detox diet. At the moment the evidence for its powers are inconclusive, drinking green tea appears to be stable, so it will likely be worth trying along with other preventative actions.

# posted by NeilG @ 1:52 PM