Is alcohol damaging your heart?
Occasionally splurging on alcohol once or twice a week is no big deal, right? New research published in the British Medical Journal this past November 2010 would argue otherwise. Researchers found heavy drinking or binge drinking a couple days a week worse for the heart than drinking a moderate amount of alcohol throughout the week.
The 10 year study analyzed the Prospective Epidemiological Study of Myocardial Infarction (PRIME) for 9778 men (2405 men from Belfast, Northern Ireland and 7373 men from France) between the ages of 50-59 years-old.
The participating men were divided into four groups – non-drinkers, former drinkers, regular drinkers, and binge drinkers. Binge drinking was defined as excessive alcohol consumption equivalent to 4 or 5 drinks in a short period of time, such as a weekend day.
Risk Factors . . .
Lower High Blood Pressure – 5 Surprising Sodium Sources
As you work to lower high blood pressure, it’s important to limit the sodium in your diet. Current recommendations are to limit your sodium intake to 2300 mg per day or less. The new 2010 Dietary Guidelines will be released this year and it looks like sodium recommendations are going to be reduced even further to 1500 mg per day for all Americans (not just those with high blood pressure!).
Many studies repeatedly find significant decreases in systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure with a reduction in sodium intake.
Surprising sodium sources
Lower Blood Pressue by Combing Aerobic AND Resistance Training
A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research evaluated the impact of resistance training versus aerobic training on arterial blood flow.
Research to date has shown a significantly lower arterial distensibility (AD) after resistance training, but a higher AD after aerobic exercise. Arterial distensibility (AD) is a measure of blood vessel elasticity. For heart health it’s important that blood vessels are able to expand and contract to maintain a consistent healthy blood pressure.
The Study
Are you abdominally obese?
A study conducted by the American Cancer Society examined the link between waist circumference and mortality in 48,500 men and 56,343 women. All participants were age 50 or older. Over a 14 year period, 9,315 men and 5,332 women died.
The study found that large waist circumferences were linked to about twice the risk of death during the study period. A large waist circumference was defined as 47 inches or greater in men and 42 inches or greater in women.
A large waist circumference was linked to increased risk even in individuals with a normal body weight.
What is a healthy waist circumference?
Should I make myself eat breakfast if I'm not hungry?
If you typically do not eat breakfast your body adapts to this and you will not feel hungry. Also, serotonin levels are actually highest in the morning and serotonin reduces hunger. So, yes to increase your appetite for breakfast start small and work your way up. Even when you are doing a very small breakfast it’s important to have a balance of protein/carbs/fat. For example, have 1 Tbsp of peanut butter with your banana.
All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
Heart Health Made Easy
https://lisanelsonrd.com/behearthealthy.html
Here's another omega 3 option – Calamarine
The typical American diet tends to be low in omega 3 fatty acids, approximately 120 mg DHA/day, which is an omega 3 supplement may be beneficial. Some benefits omega 3’s have been linked to improvement in arrhythmias, blood pressure, lipoprotein(a) levels, arterial inflammation, HDL cholesterol, and endothelial function.
Fish oil is a very common source individuals choose to supplement to boost their intake of omega 3 fatty acids. Tuna, salmon, sardines, herring, and anchovies are common fish used for the production of fish oil supplements. Fish oil tends to have equal levels of EPA and DHA or in some cases may be slightly higher in EPA content.
A New Option
A new option produced by Pharma Marine Group is Calamarine. Calamarine is obtained from calamari, or squid, and contains higher levels of DHA. The company is also able to market Calamarine as “eco-friendly” because squid have a brief life cycle, breed rapidly, and are not endangered. Especially important with concerns regarding over-harvesting of our marine life, which fish oil production may play a part.
