Shocking heart disease facts

When you give your children butter tarts, you express your love and enjoy happy smiles in return. When they grow up, they will remember their momÂ’s baking fondly. What these young adults will not know, however, is that some things enjoyed as kids stayed inside their arteries and created a path that could eventually lead to malfunction of the heart and/or circulation system. 40% of all people in the U.S. will die of it ¹.

Recent statistics of heart disease shows that womenÂ’s chances to die of heart disease are eight times greater than death rate of breast cancer ^2,3. The risks are many times greater than chances of being abducted on the street. Yet, we place more priority on our childrenÂ’s safety on their way to school, than on their heart health.

When most people think of heart disease they think of older individuals. But is it really something thatÂ’s age-specific?

Study: Coronary disease among U.S. soldiers killed in action in Korea

A landmark study was conducted by JAMA at the end of the Korean War in 1953. Over 30,000 Americans were killed in battle – and military investigators examined the hearts of 300 of them. At an average age of 22, these soldiers had been never diagnosed with heart problems. Researchers were shocked to find “gross evidence” of heart disease in a shocking 77.3% of cases! ⁴.

These soldiers were young males in their prime physical condition. Even so, one in twenty of those examined had 90% of an artery blocked. This research has demonstrated, and several other later studies has confirmed, that heart disease starts very early in young Americans.

Current situation with heart disease

Fast forward to modern times where 1.1 Million heart attacks occur in the US every year, and only two out of three sufferers survive the heart attack.

Doctors don’t think anymore that heart disease is inevitable because heart is just “wearing down”. There are enough studies proving that an individual’s chances of a heart attack depend more on the food intake and exercise, than on genetic heritage or environmental factors. Everyone is aware of cholesterol and fat contribution to the plaques building inside arteries, but not enough people are taking the risks seriously.

We still donÂ’t seem to be able to connect the dots. We donÂ’t seem to realize that we are creating shorter life spans and unhealthy hearts in ourselves and our children by eating the wrong types of food. For example, do we really want to think about plaque building in our childrenÂ’s arteries when we are handing over those cookies and burgers to them?

Most of us donÂ’t. We would rather enjoy the positive moment and happiness that comfort food offers, than think of ways to prevent heart disease. We are tired of all those messages about dangers of foods, and just want to enjoy our lives right now.

Ways to prevent heart disease

Fortunately, there are ways to prevent heart disease. Top two strategies are to adopt healthy eating and moderate exercise.

• Learn what are foods you should avoid to prevent and reverse heart disease. Mostly, these are foods high in fat and cholesterol.
• Learn to substitute heart-unhealthy ingredients with healthier ones;
• Select healthy recipes to prevent heart disease. The key is to reduce or completely exclude cholesterol and saturated fat
• Make this a lifestyle. The further you will go this road, the better the result will be. For example, among others, Dr. Esselstyn demonstrated a documented case of heart disease reversal and patientÂ’s arteries opening up after 32 months on the plant-based diet ⁴..

Unfortunately, the price tag for commercial foods that prevent heart disease is still too high. They are not main stream, so it takes artisans more money to produce them. Healthy ingredients also cost more. If you don’t want to buy these heart-smart items at a premium, you can save yourself and your children by changing your cooking – what you cook, how you cook it, and how often.

Over the next day, three thousands Americans will have a heart attack – roughly the same number of people who perished in the terrorist attack of September 11th, 2001 ⁴. If you want your children to escape this fate and enjoy life free of heart disease, start early. You will be glad you did.

Sources:

1. American Heart Association. "Heart disease and Stroke Statistics-2003 Update." Dallas, TX: American Heart Association, 2002

2. American Cancer Society. "Cancer Facts and Figures-1998." Atlanta, GA: American Cancer Society,1998.

3. Anderson RN. "Deaths: leading causes for 2000." National Vital Statistics Reports 50(16) (2002)

4. T Colin Campbell, PhD and Thomas M Campbell II . The China Study: the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted and the startling implications for diet, weight loss, and long-term health. P.111-128

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