Heat Disease is not a disease of cholesterol, it’s An Inflammatory Disease!

What is heart disease?

We have all been told and marketed to for years that heart disease, strokes and heart attacks are a result of too much cholesterol causing a blockage or partial blockage to our arteries.  We have been told to change our diets to a low cholesterol diet and have of course been give the all-powerful prescription for cholesterol lowering drugs.  As a matter of fact this has been an incredible windfall for the pharmaceutical companies.  What most people don’t know is that studies have shown that most people, who have a heart attack, over 50%, have normal cholesterol levels.  Of course, now that this information is finally getting out and people are finally realizing that the cholesterol medications do not solve the problem we will of course get the new scripts for new anti-inflammatory drugs.  Well it’s time to get the truth about cholesterol and the truth behind what is the leading cause of heart disease, stroke and heart attacks.  No script required.

How to lower low grade inflammation

Heart disease is an inflammatory disease of the fine lining of the arteries called the endothelium.  You see insulin resistance begins in the smallest arteries of the muscle called the capillaries.  The low grade inflammation that starts here is the beginning process of high blood pressure, central weight gain, elevated cholesterol, elevated triglyceride levels, low HDL or good cholesterol levels.  This inflammation can cause damage to the DNA of the nucleus and lead to cancer.  So, the question we should all be asking is what causes the inflammation in the first place and how can we control it.  It’s really quite simple and most people can put into place the simple lifestyle changes needed to live a healthy life.  The underlying cause of this inflammation is oxidative stress which causes excessive free radicals in our bodies, triggering our immune systems to go into overdrive to stop the oxidative stress and eliminate the free radicals which in turn causes low grade chronic inflammation of our cells, the lining of our arteries, and the DNA nucleus of the cell.  I encourage you to watch a short video on Oxidative Stress and what it is and what causes it.  I will give you a short summarization of what are some of the causes of the free radicals which by the way is the result of Oxidative Stress.    

• High blood pressure 
• Diabetes
• Cigarette Smoking (primary and second hand smoke)
• Elevated Homocysteine level
• Oxidized or modified LDL level
• High Fatty Meal
• High glycemic meals (meals that spike your sugar)

This list of causes of inflammation is not all inclusive and the point here for your to notice is that all of these conditions can be reversed or eliminated with a diet made up of good fat, good proteins, good carbohydrates, modest exercise program and nutritional supplementation.  I have also written a note on Why Take Nutritional Supplement so please read this post. Additionally, there are other causes of oxidative stress like pollutants in our air, food, water, excessive stress, excessive exercise, radiation, sunlight, and most medication.  I invite you to learn a little bit more on what you can do to stop this process.  Please visit and watch my online nutrition seminar at www.livewellintl.com/jackiebennett which is located on the left hand side.  I invite you to contact me with any questions on how to get started with a Healthy Simple New Lifestyle.

God Bless,

                         

Jackie Bennett

Live Well Certified Coach