Tobacco And Your Heart: Can Weight Gain After Quitting Be Harmful?
This week I am sharing with you a guest post provided by Lisa Redmond.
If we’re all brutally honest there are perhaps certain habits we all have that we know are bad for us, yet continue to carry on with them regardless. It may be drinking to excess frequently, indulging in foods that we recognize aren’t the most healthy dietary choices, or it could be smoking, whether it is done socially or regularly, every day. May 31st saw in World No Tobacco Day and this may well have been the incentive for a lot of people to finally ditch nicotine and reduce their risk of a heart attack, stroke or cancer. What sometimes puts people off stopping is a worry that they will gain weight and not be able to successfully shed the pounds once they quit, but a new study published in the Journal of American Medicine has put that theory to bed once and for all.
Quit smoking for good
The study, carried out by JAMA was done intensively over a period of thirty years from 1981 to 2011 – with the results being published in March this year. It involved over three thousand participants. The results of the scientists’ work showed that people who had chosen to give up smoking and had successfully managed to keep off nicotine for four or more years reduced their risk of having either a heart attack or stroke by as much as 54%, significantly higher than those people who carried on smoking, but knowing the risks. Similarly, those smokers who had recently quit and had managed to keep away from cigarettes, cigars or pipes for up to four years also had a 53% decreased chance of suffering the same complaints compared to those who carried on.
These results were a surprise given that many of the participants of the study typically gained anything between 5-10lbs during the period they quit. Speaking of the results, Dr James Meig who is based at Harvard University and is one of the co-authors of the study commented that “We can now say without question that stopping smoking has a very positive effect on cardiovascular risk, even if they experience moderate weight gain”.
Weight gain, smoking and your heart health
Lower Blood Pressure with Vegetables
Are you familiar with the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) Diet? The DASH Diet is a very effective plan to lower blood pressure. However, it can be difficult to follow, especially if you don’t currently consume many vegetables. The DASH Diet calls for 4-5 servings of vegetables each day. One vegetable serving equals one-half cup or a one-cup serving of greens, such as spinach and lettuce.
Here are 3 easy to locate aromatic vegetables you can incorporate more into your daily diet for a variety of health benefits. Aromatic vegetables are used to add flavor to many dishes.
Onions – Probably one of the most often used aromatic vegetables in the United States. Onions are high in allyl sulfides, which aid in the fight against heart disease and cancer. Onions provide inulin, vitamin C, fiber manganese, and folate.
Celery – A great low-calorie addition to meals, celery promotes a lower blood pressure. Celery contains Vitamins A, C, and K, as well as potassium and quercetin. Quecetin is a flavonoid with anti-inflammatory properties to protect heart health.
Garlic – Reduces atherosclerosis, which is the thickening of your arterial walls, and reduces cancer risk.
Continue readingReduce Heart Disease Risk with “Meatless Mondays”
The Meatless Monday program is associated with the John Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health. This program advocates that you can make a positive impact on your health by decreasing your meat intake once a week.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans in 2010 even included a section on vegetarian diets, indicating that vegetarian style eating patterns are associated with lower levels of obesity, decreased cardiovascular disease risk, lower blood pressure and reduced total mortality. The 2010 Dietary Guidelines focus on a diet rich in legumes, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts/seeds, with moderate amounts of lean meats, eggs, and dairy.
Notice that this focus is similar to recommendations of the DASH Diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) to lower blood pressure. Those who follow a vegetarian diet tend to have healthier weights and lower intakes of saturated fat and cholesterol.
Are Plant Based Meals Nutritionally Adequate?
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Common myths about cholesterol, foods and fats
Guest post provided by Rebecca S. Reeves, DrPH, RD, FADA
2013 is shaping up to be a year of prevention, which should have you thinking about how well you are treating your own heart. If you are trying to maintain healthy cholesterol levels, or your doctor has said that you need to lower your cholesterol, you are probably trying to keep a close eye on your diet.
This does not mean that you must avoid all your favorite foods. What it might take is substituting different ingredients in a recipe or stir-frying a food rather than deep fat frying it.
Learning the difference in the types of fat that we eat and where these fats are found in our food is also important to controlling the cholesterol levels in our blood. Taking precautions today could prevent a heart condition tomorrow.
Here are some of the most common myths and facts that you should know.
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Educate Children on Healthy Behaviors to Reduce Heart Disease Risk
At the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session in March of 2012, information was presented from the University of Michigan Systems showing that children understand the effect of healthy behaviors on overall health.
Project Health Schools, which is a community-University of Michigan System project, measured risk factors for heart disease in middle school children. Measured risk factors included lipid profiles and physical activity before and after receiving education on healthy behaviors. They found that after receiving education the middle school students showed positive behaviors towards improving lipid profiles, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. This indicates middle school children are not too young to understand the impact of healthy behaviors and they have the ability to implement changes.
This implementation of healthy behaviors at an early age is critical to lifelong health and reduced risk for heart disease, heart attacks and strokes. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 17% of children and teens are overweight or obese. This is triple the rate one generation ago and puts children at increased risk for health complications just as excess weight impacts adults.
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3 Tips to Naturally Lower Stress to Reduce Heart Disease Risk
Stress is part of life. There’s no way you can avoid stress entirely. However, if you constantly live with high stress levels it can lead to physical problems. These physical problems may include high blood pressure, angina (i.e. chest pains), arrhythmia (i.e. irregular heart rate) and heart disease.
How Does Stress Increase Heart Disease Risk?
Stress can increase heart disease risk in different ways. First, stress affects you emotionally. This could lead you to make unhealthy food and lifestyle choices, such as overeating, not exercising, and smoking. Stress also causes elevated levels of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol, which may have a negative impact long term. Research is also finding that stress impacts the way blood clots.
What Can You Do to Reduce Stress?
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