Heart disease effects many of us in the UK, more so than in many other countries, but there is a strong possibility that this could be changed simply by changing our attitude towards food and consuming more juice.

The term heart disease includes several conditions such from Congenital heart defects seen at birth to atherosclerosis hardened arteries that develop later. It is a complex issue with several inter-related factors. Hardening of the arteries and angina are a result of the inner walls of the bodies arteries narrowing due to a build up of plaque fat, LDL cholesterol and other substances. Plaque build up is increased in people who have high levels LDL bad cholesterol and low levels HDL good cholesterol. Oxidation of excess LDL cholesterol results in an increase of plaque. The HDL cholesterol helps to prevent the LDL cholesterol from increasing the plaque, moving it instead to the liver. Plaque build up alone may be enough to cause pain angina or heart attack. However, if the plaque is ruptured or torn it can block the artery causing a coronary thrombosis heart attack. Atherosclerosis can also be caused by inappropriate platelet activation causing the platelets in the blood to clot.

Grape Juice inhibits Atherosclerosis

Many of us will have seen news items claiming red wine helps to keep our hearts healthy. This is due to a substance in the grapes that used to make the wine known as polyphenols. However, recent tests have shown that although less polyphenols are present in grape juice than red wine, grape juice is better at inhibiting atherosclerosis 1. Purple Grape juice has also been found to help patients with coronary artery disease due to significantly improving the function of the cells endothelial lining the hardened arteries as well inhibiting inappropriate platelet activation 2. Purple grape juices action as a potent platelet inhibitor is important as Platelets are involved in the development of Atherosclerosis 3. Other research has shown grape seed proanthocyanidin extracts reducing Atherosclerosis by up to 50 in animals. 4 Although that study was for grape seed extract alone, other studies have shown that the combination of grape seed extract and grape skin, as you would find in the juice, is more effective 5.

Fruit Juices Reduce Cholesterol

Pomegranate juice also offers wide protection against cardiovascular diseases6 and has been shown to reduce cholesterol build up in plaque 7 and reduce the development of atherosclerosis 8.

In laboratory tests orange juice has been found to lower cholesterol and significantly inhibit atherosclerosis 9. A 750ml serving of orange juice daily has been shown to decreased the LDL-HDL cholesterol ratio by 16 in tests on people 10. Tests on smokers has shown that carrot and orange juice combined significantly susceptibility of LDL to oxidation 11 the process that increases plaque.

As little as 330 mL of tomato juice 12 has also been shown to significantly reduce LDL oxidation 13

Adding garlic to vegetable juices takes some getting used to, but garlic has also been shown to decrease bad LDL cholesterol while increase HDL cholesterol 14 as well as reducing LDL oxidation 15.

Plant sterols and stanols found in high quantities in veg like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower16 have been found to reduce LDL cholesterol 17. One report says around 2g per day of plant sterol ester can decrease LDL cholesterol levels from 9 to 20 18

Ginger has also been shown to significantly reduce LDL cholesterol and abnormal cell tissues Aortic atherosclerotic lesion 19 in the arteries around the heart.

With so much evidence proving the benefits of fruit and vegetable juices why on earth would we not want to include them in our diet?

1 Atherosclerosis. 2001 May;156167-72. Red wine, dealcoholized red wine, and especially grape juice, inhibit atherosclerosis in a hamster model. Vinson JA, Teufel K, Wu N. Department of Chemistry, University of Scranton, Linden and Monroe Streets,

2 Adv Exp Med Biol. 2002;50595-111. Potential health benefits from the flavonoids in grape products on vascular disease. Folts JD. Coronary Thrombosis Research Laboratory, University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison, USA.

3 J Nutr. 2000 Jan;130153-6. Grape juice, but not orange juice or grapefruit juice, inhibits human platelet aggregation. Keevil JG, Osman HE, Reed JD, Folts JD. Cardiology Section of Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison,
WI 53792, USA.

4 ol Cell Biochem. 2002 Nov;2401-299-103. Beneficial effects of a novel IH636 grape seed proanthocyanidin extract and a niacin-bound chromium in a hamster atherosclerosis model. Vinson JA, Mandarano MA, Shuta DL, Bagchi M, Bagchi D. Department of Chemistry, University of Scranton, Scranton, PA, USA.

5 J Nutr. 2002 Dec;132123592-8. Grape seed and grape skin extracts elicit a greater antiplatelet effect when used in combination than when used individually in dogs and humans. Shanmuganayagam D, Beahm MR, Osman HE, Krueger CG, Reed JD, Folts JD. Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53792,
USA.

6 Atherosclerosis. 2001 Sep;1581195-8. Pomegranate juice consumption inhibits serum angiotensin converting enzyme
activity and reduces systolic blood pressure. Aviram M, Dornfeld L. The Lipid Research Laboratory, Technion Faculty of Medicine, The Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences, 31096 Haifa, Israel.

7 J Nutr Biochem. 2005 Sep;169570-6. Pomegranate juice inhibits oxidized LDL uptake and cholesterol biosynthesis in macrophages. Fuhrman B, Volkova N, Aviram M. Lipid Research Laboratory, Technion Faculty of Medicine, The Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa 31096, Israel.

8 J Nutr. 2001 Aug;13182082-9. Pomegranate juice supplementation to atherosclerotic mice reduces macrophage lipid peroxidation, cellular cholesterol accumulation and development of atherosclerosis.
Kaplan M, Hayek T, Raz A, Coleman R, Dornfeld L, Vaya J, Aviram M.
The Lipid Research Laboratory, Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion, The Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences and Rambam Medical Center, Haifa 31096, Israel.

9 Adv Exp Med Biol. 2002;505113-22. Polyphenol antioxidants in citrus juices in vitro and in vivo studies relevant to heart disease. Vinson JA, Liang X, Proch J, Hontz BA, Dancel J, Sandone N. Department of Chemistry, University of Scranton, PA 18510-4626, USA.

10 Am J Clin Nutr. 2000 Nov;7251095-100. HDL-cholesterol-raising effect of orange juice in subjects with hypercholesterolemia. Kurowska EM, Spence JD, Jordan J, Wetmore S, Freeman DJ, Piche LA, Serratore P. Departments of Biochemistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.

11 Clin Chem. 2000 Nov;46111818-29. Influence of increased fruit and vegetable intake on plasma and lipoprotein carotenoids and LDL oxidation in smokers and nonsmokers. Chopra M, O’Neill ME, Keogh N, Wortley G, Southon S, Thurnham DI. Northern Ireland Centre for Diet and Health, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulster, Coleraine, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland BT52 1SA, United Kingdom.

12 J Nutr. 2000 Sep;13092200-6. Moderate intervention with carotenoid-rich vegetable products reduces lipid peroxidation in men. Bub A, Watzl B, Abrahamse L, Delincee H, Adam S, Wever J, Muller H, Rechkemmer G. Institute of Nutritional Physiology, Federal Research Centre for Nutrition, D-76131 Karlsruhe, Germany.

13 Lipids. 1998 Oct;3310981-4. Tomato lycopene and low density lipoprotein oxidation a human dietary intervention study. Agarwal S, Rao AV. Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

14 J Nutr. 2001 Mar;1313s994S-9S. Study of garlic extracts and fractions on cholesterol plasma levels and vascular reactivity in cholesterol-fed rats. Slowing K, Ganado P, Sanz M, Ruiz E, Tejerina T. Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Complutense University, 28040 Madrid, Spain.

15 J Nutr. 2001 Mar;1313s985S-8S. Suppression of LDL oxidation by garlic. Lau BH. Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA 92350, USA.

16 Curr Opin Lipidol. 2000 Dec;116571-6. Therapeutic potential of plant sterols and stanols. Plat J, Kerckhoffs DA, Mensink RP. Department of Human Biology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.

17 Am J Clin Nutr. 2002 Jan;75179-86. An increase in dietary carotenoids when consuming plant sterols or stanols is
effective in maintaining plasma carotenoid concentrations. Noakes M, Clifton P, Ntanios F, Shrapnel W, Record I, McInerney J. CSIRO Health Sciences and Nutrition, Adelaide, Australia.

18 Circulation. 2001 Feb 27;10381177-9. AHA Science Advisory. Stanolsterol ester-containing foods and blood cholesterol
levels. A statement for healthcare professionals from the Nutrition Committee of the Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism of the American Heart Association. Lichtenstein AH, Deckelbaum RJ.

19 J Nutr. 2000 May;13051124-31. Ginger extract consumption reduces plasma cholesterol, inhibits LDL oxidation and attenuates development of atherosclerosis in atherosclerotic, apolipoprotein
E-deficient mice. Fuhrman B, Rosenblat M, Hayek T, Coleman R, Aviram M. Lipid Research Laboratory, Technion Faculty of Medicine, The Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences and Rambam Medical Center, Haifa,
Israel.

When food tastes quite bland, a sprinkling of table salt usually does the trick. Instantly, it perks up the flavor of the dish. But salt is not just for seasoning. It is also essential to maintaining good health. The human body needs a good balance of salt and water for metabolism. This careful balance between salt and water regulates the electrolytes inside and outside of the body’s cells. Salt is a chemical compound that combines sodium and chloride. It also maintains the correct volume of circulating blood and tissue fluids of the body. Our source of salt comes from food and water, while our body loses salt through urine, perspiration, vomiting and diarrhea. Loss of body salt may cause the level of fluid in the blood to drop. Losing too much salt in the body can lead to muscle cramps, nausea, dizziness, and vomiting. Eventually lack of salt can lead to shock, coma, and death.

While sodium deficiency can be problematic, excessive salt intakes have been associated with diseases and other conditions, such as hypertension and stomach cancer. Studies revealed that Americans eat nearly two teaspoons of salt daily, considered to be more than double the amount they need for good health. The culprit is not the table salt-shaker. Neither is the cook. Most of the sodium is hidden inside common processed foods like stuffing mix, gravy, and all those ingredients for your holiday goodies. Public health specialists filed a petition with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration FDA as part of their clamor for government intervention to require food manufacturers to cut down on sodium content in the products they bring to the market. Their campaign is part of their fight heart disease. The Center for Science in the Public Interest CSPI, a consumer advocacy group, and food makers held an unprecedented, closed-door meeting on how to reduce sodium.

The American Medical Association AMA says that reducing sodium content in processed and restaurant foods by fifty percent within 10 years could wind up saving 150,000 lives annually. However, food manufacturers argue that it would take a tremendous investment on the part of the government and the industry to come up with sodium alternatives that works well with food. On the other hand, studies show that people who get used to eating less salt even in just a few months usually find their old foods too salty.
High blood pressure is experienced by at least one in three U.S. adults and almost 1 billion people worldwide. On the other hand, hypertension is a leading cause of heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure. Aside from obesity and inactivity, too much salt also raises blood pressure. While the average American consumes between 3,300 and 4,000 milligrams of sodium a day, the recommended daily requirement set by the government is 2,300 mg a day as the safe upper limit. But the Institute of Medicine says that 1,500 mg a day, a little less for older adults, is enough to regulate the body’s fluid balance.
Freezing technology can help bring down the sodium level of some frozen vegetables, though other foods may get saltier. Now that the holidays are fast approaching, Thanksgiving dinner alone can easily reach those limits. Think of the stuffing, gravy, salt-injected turkey, biscuit, dinner roll and the pumpkin pie. Homemade cooking, however, can help you regulate the sodium content of the ingredients and recipes.

Over the years, about 100 million women worldwide are taking oral contraceptives with high estrogen content. Most of these pills, which were first sold in 1960, combine synthetic estrogen and progestin in various doses and are known to carry a small risk of blood clots and high blood pressure.

One small study from Belgium suggests that long-term use of oral contraceptives might increase the chances of having artery build-ups that can raise the risk of heart disease. Although the study needs further rigorous testing, it’s importance can never be undermined due to the great number of women that are now taking the pill.

However, Dr. JoAnn Manson, chief of preventive medicine at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston thinks that this theory should not cause any alarm among women. And while she had no role in the new study, which was presented Tuesday at an American Heart Association conference in Florida, she cited that many previous studies have found no large increase in heart attacks among pill users. Manson added that since they are already known to carry a small risk of blood clots and high blood pressure for women currently taking them, and any additional heart attack or stroke risk is thought to be related to those two effects.

In a long-running observational study in the small town of Erpe-Mere, researchers at the University of Ghent in Belgium studied about 1,300 healthy women ages 35 to 55 to look for other signs of heart risks among past and current pill users. According to Dr. Ernst Rietzschel, the study’s chief researcher, about 81 percent had taken oral contraceptives for more than a year at some point in their lives. The results of the Belgian study ran very close to the findings of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that undertook a similar study on American women ages 15 to 44.

Ultrasound exams were done of arteries in their necks and legs to look for buildups called plaque. There was a 20 to 30 percent increased prevalence of plaque for every 10 years of oral contraceptive use. While the plaques may be small enough not to block an an artery, any plaque is thought to raise the risk of heart disease. However, researchers admitted that they have no information on whether the presence of plaque translated to any true risk of heart attacks or strokes in the group.

Several women in the study had taken first-generation birth control pills, which had twice the estrogen levels compared with those sold in pharmacies today. And though the doses and length of continuous pill use matters a lot in terms of impact assessment, the Belgian researchers do not have enough detail or facts from which to base a definitive medical analysis, said Dr. Daniel Jones, a University of Mississippi cardiologist and president of the Heart Association.

It could be an important study, said Jones, which needs to be tested in larger and more rigorous studies wherein one group of women are given pills, another are not, and their health is closely watched for some time afterward.

Rietzschel assures women who are worried about heart risks that there is no need to abandon birth control pills but should follow guidelines for their use and avoid other things that raise heart risks, like smoking, being overweight, and lack of exercise.

Nothing beats the pain of having your heart broken by someone you truly, madly, deeply in love with. It is true that ending the relationship is probably the nastiest and the most hurtful scenario in a romantic relationship. Nobody wants their hearts to be broken, and no one can really tell what it feels like unless they are or have been in that situation already.

Yes, going through a bad relationship is tough, and lucky and brave are those who survive it. Unlucky, however, for those who suffer from heart attacks because of a broken heart.

According to a recent study in Europe, it has been observed among thousands of British civilians that it is possible for an individual to have a series of heart attacks due to a painful and traumatic breakup experience. Experts who conducted the study claimed that stress and anxiety brought by a painful and traumatic end of a relationship can significantly increase a persons risk in having or developing heart diseases.

Results of the study showed that an individuals heart condition is not just determined by means of physical condition. It can also be influenced by the emotional stability or condition of a person. Therefore, an individual who has a happy and fulfilling relationship is less likely to develop coronary heart disease compared to the ones who are unlucky in love.

To spare your already bruised heart from added pain and trauma, the following are some ways on how to avoid developing heart diseases due to emotional heart issues

1. Talk to someone about your feelings.

When a relationship ends, the women are usually the most emotional ones. They tend to relay the whole breakup episode to their girlfriends or relatives. The men, however, are less vocal about their emotions. With this, doctors often recommend male patients to find someone whom they can share their feelings with. Support from people who can understand what youre going through can surely ease your emotions and heart pains.

2. Slowly acknowledge the fact that the relationship is over.

It is normal to feel hurt and betrayed once a relationship ends. However, the world will not stop and grieve at your lose. Move on. Accept the fact that the relationship is over and get on living your life. Although the process of moving on is hard, acceptance helps in keeping the mind and emotions calm after a hard and painful experience.

3. Go see a doctor when the pain progresses from emotional to physical instability.

Based on the recent study mentioned above, a person who is extremely heartbroken can die because of heart attack. So, if you feel that the emotional pain and stress are too much for you to bear any longer that it comes to the point when your health also suffers, go see your doctor to confirm your condition.

Although having an emotional breakdown is not just the only factor for developing heart diseases, it is better to let your doctor know and check your condition once heartaches turn to literal heart pains.

Since the beginning of the fat-free craze, statistics show Americans have grown fatter and fatter. Although weve been taught to think of fat as the culprit in the weight-loss battle, clearly this is only part of the whole diet picture. Just because a food is fat-free doesnt mean its calorie-free. Many fat-free foods are actually very high in sugar and carbohydrate calories. And these calories, when eaten in excess, become converted into the one thing weve been taught to avoid-fat!

Ironically, in order to burn fat and lose weight you need a certain amount of good quality fat. Thats why the ShapeWorks Weight-Management Program stresses the importance of a well-balanced diet that includes enough “good fats”, such as those found in fish and olive oil, together with Herbalifes highly nutritious meal replacement shakes and snacks.

By avoiding the fat-free craze and giving your body the complete nourishment it needs with Herbalifes Cellular Nutrition supplements and weight-management products, youll lose weight steadily and feel healthier along the way.

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Over the years, people have viewed the health benefits of vitamins and nutrients found in food individually. Most nutrition studies have isolated beta carotene, calcium,vitamin E, lycopene, omega-3, among other nutrients, to study its individual health benefits in the body. However, the disappointing results of various research studies only strengthened the growing belief that there is more to food and diet than just the sum of its nutrient parts. David R. Jacobs, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota, argues in a recent commentary for the Nutrition Reviews journal that nutrition researchers should focus on whole foods rather than only on single nutrients. We argue for a need to return to food as the source of nutrition knowledge. Dr. Jacobs co-authored the article with Linda C. Tapsell, a nutrition researcher at the University of Wollongong in Australia.
According to Dr. Jacobs, nutrition science needs to consider the effects of food synergy — the notion that the health benefits of certain foods arent likely to come from a single nutrient but rather combinations of compounds that work better together than apart. Every food is much more complicated than any drug, said Dr. Jacobs. It makes sense to want to break it down. But you get a lot of people talking in the popular press about carbohydrates and fats in particular as if they were unified entities. Theyre not. Theyre extremely complicated.
When two scientists won a Nobel Prize in 1937 for identifying vitamin C as the essential component in citrus fruit that prevents scurvy, it somehow set the trend for the scientific community to focus on the health effects of biologically active single nutrients in foods. Nutrition researchers are breaking down the nutrients in food to identify its most potent benefits, such as beta carotene from carrots, lycopene from tomatoes, omega-3 from salmon, potassium from banana, among others. Foods rich in vitamin E have been widely considered as being good for the heart.
However, studies revealed that attributing the broad health benefits of a diet to a single compound is considered misguided. The idea that a diet rich in beta carotene and vitamin A can lower many types of cancer had been inaccurate based on the well-known 1994 Finnish study where smokers who took beta carotene were found to have an 18 percent higher incidence of lung cancer. In a similar study done in 1996, researchers gave beta carotene and vitamin A to smokers and workers exposed to asbestos. But the trial had to be stopped because the people taking the combined therapy showed markedly higher risks for lung cancer and heart attacks.
Since then, studies of other vitamins, notably vitamins E and B, have also failed to show a benefit. According to some quarters, vitamins are too often examined in sick people while the real benefit may be in preventing disease. On the other hand, Jacobs notes that the better explanation may simply be that food synergy, rather than the biological activity of a few key nutrients, is the real reason that certain diets appear to lower the risks of heart disease and other health problems.
So, when you are not sure what vitamins to take, just remember to have a nutrient-rich diet.

Coronary heart disease is a condition that arises from increased amounts of atheromatous plaques that gather within the arteries. Many people who develop this condition may not begin showing symptoms until years after they have initially developed the disease. The most dangerous symptom of this disease is a heart attack, and this will generally occur after the atheromatous plaques break apart and begin restricting the flow of blood into the heart. Coronary artery disease is a common cause for sudden death.

This condition is known for having varying extremes. Certain people can be defined as being asymptomatic, and will have an early form of the disease where the flow of blood is not blocked. Doctors who perform coronary angiograms at this point may not be able to detect the disease because the lumen within the artery has not been reduced in size. However, the atheromatous plaques will grow into the walls of the arteries, and once they cause the lumen to expand, the blood flow will be restricted. Many researchers believe that this process took many years to occur, but there have been some cases where the plaque would rupture, and the progression of this disease would increase much faster than normal.

If the atheromatous plaques do not block more than 70 percent of the artery, patients will typically not begin showing the symptoms that are associated with the disease. Once the atheromatous plaques block more than 70 percent of the artery, the patient will begin showing symptoms. The heart will begin working harder to increase the amount of blood that flows to it, and the lumen may nearly become completely blocked. A patient who is in this situation will typically have suffered from multiple heart attacks, and may have angina as well. The restriction of blood flow to the heart is called ischema, and the cells will starve because they don’t have oxygen.

There are a number of things responsible for the development of coronary artery disease. Smoking or being overweight is a common cause, while a lack of vitamin C can also lead to the development of this condition. There is also evidence that this disease is genetic in nature. Someone who comes from a family where many members have developed coronary heart disease will be much more likely to develop it themselves. People who have large amounts of triglycerides and low-density lipoproteins have an increased chance for developing this condition. Angina is defined as the pain a patient will go through when they have an advanced form of the disease.

Coronary artery disease is very common in the West, and has been called the number one killer of Americans. The best way to avoid it is to avoid smoking and reduce the amount of cholesterol in your body. People who are overeweight will want to exercise and avoid foods that are rich in saturated fats. Those who live a sedentary lifestyle will want to go out as much as possible to be physically active. It is also important to make sure you consume decent amounts of vitamin C.