What Causes Heart Disease?
What Part Does Food Play in It?
On this page you'll find a detailed explanation on what causes heart disease and how it develops, but if you already know or prefer to go straight to the foods that can help prevent and treat it, then go straight to
Healing Foods for Heart Disease Page.
Cardiovascular disease, or just known as heart disease, is the most common cause of death in the UK, USA and most of the industrialized countries. For example, in the UK 21% of all people die from some form of heart disease and its complications. In fact, I'm sure that most of us know someone who's had a heart attack or, worse, has died from it. But what causes heart disease and, above all, what can we do to prevent it or even reverse it? Does what we eat affect the health of our heart?
What Causes Heart Disease
When you are born, your arteries are clean, open and elastic. Then something happens that causes damage to your blood vessel walls, which exposes the underlying connective tissue and the collagen. That damage could be caused by many factors, such as the wrong type of diet,
high blood pressure
smoking and lack of antioxidants. When the platelets in the blood come into contact with the collagen, they trigger a natural repair mechanism that starts to form clots. The immune cells that rush in to repair the damage do so as part of an inflammatory process that actually damages blood vessels further, thickens the blood and contributes to the formation of blood clots.
This process causes a proliferation of endothelial cells lining the arteries, and fatty streaks appear. These are formed by oxidised cholesterol, immune cell debris and calcium salts. Gradually these streaks are transformed into plaque, or atheroma - fatty scar tissue, which narrows the artery and reduces elasticity, eventually reducing blood flow through the vessel. This process is known as atherosclerosis and is the main cause of many cardiovascular problems. If the clot, or thrombus, becomes large enough, it can block off blood flow, suffucating large patches of cardiac muscle, causing what we know as heart attack, or myocardial infarction.
The severity of the heart attack depends on how reduced the blood flow is. In acute myocardial infarction, the supply of oxygen is so severely reduced that the region of the heart muscle may die (necrosis) within an hour or so and, as a result, the activity of the whole heart may be severely threatened. Pains in the chest that come on during exercise, over-eating and stress are early warning signs that the blood supply to the arteries of the heart is restricted, and are known as angina pectoris. The clot or thrombus may also sometimes break away from its anchor point and form a mobile embolus (thromboembolism). A freely moving embolus may partially or completely plug a smaller vessel as it flows downstream and can result in a gradual or sudden blockage of any blood vessel: if it's in the heart, it's called heart attack, if it's in the lungs it's called pulmonary embolism and if it's in the brain it's called a stroke - all potentially life-threatening events. So what causes heart disease is also the cause of other serious cardiovascular problems.
How Can Foods Affect Your Heart?
Did you know that what causes heart disease could also be what you eat? In fact, food can be a major determinant of how quickly and severely your arteries get clogged. It can set in motion destructive processes that leave arteries narrow and stiff, just right for the formation of blood clots that cause heart muscle to suffocate and die. Especially saturated fats, found in whole milk, butter, cheese, sausage, steak and poultry, encourage inflammation, leading to cardiovascular disease and many other health problems, such as cancer, and degenerative diseases. Trans-fatty acids, found in margarines, processed snack foods and baked goods, such as donoughts, are even worse for your heart than animal fats. Conversely, food can supply a chemical armada that circulates in the blood, disarming the artery's enemies even scrubbing away some of their dangerous handiwork from artery walls. Food can create blood-clot solvents, blood thinners and cholesterol reducers. You will learn all about these foods in the next pages. Because those suffering with cardiovascular disease often have more than one problem, several drugs may be prescribed at once, all with their set of side-effects. For most people, cutting down the amount or changing the type of fat in their diet is sufficient to reduce the risk of atherosclerosis. For those with an inherited tendency to high levels of fat in the blood (hypercholesterolaemia), however, lipid-lowering drugs may also be recommended.
An Inevitable Sign of Aging?
Cardiovascular disease is not an inevitable result of aging. Many preventive measures can be taken to avoid it. Controllable factors that can contribute to what causes heart disease include smoking, high blood pressure, excessive alcohol consumption, elevated cholesterol, persistent stress, obesity, a sedentary lifestyle and diabetes. Good news is, you can alter your lifestyle to keep your heart healthy. Now that you know what causes heart disease, what are you going to do about it? You can start with having a look at the next page where you'll find a summary of some of the healing foods for heart disease. You can then look up each one of them individually and have lots more information on how they act to prevent and treat heart disease, as well as the latest research on their effectiveness.
References: 1) Black's Medical Dictionary , (2009) 42nd Edition, London: Black Publishers Limited 2) Carper, J., (1993) Food Your Miracle Medicine: How Food Can Prevent and Treat Over 100 Symptoms and Problems , New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc. 3) Duke, J.A., Ph.D.,(2008) The Green Pharmacy Guide to Healing Foods: Proven Natural Remedies to Treat and Prevent More Than 80 Common Health Concerns , New York; Rodale. 4) McLannahan, H., (2004) Body Systems, Milton Keynes: The Open University
You can also have a look at these websites that I've found very informative and useful: Find out how simple lifestyle changes can greatly improve your overall health and well being. Natural Nutrition Vitamins offers information on natural vitamins for lowering cholesterol and aiding with many other health concerns.
Visit the Nutriglow website to find all the best supplements at discount prices! 
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