Is Your Heart Taking A Beating?
The average heart beats 72 times a minute. That's 4,320 beats
per hour which makes 103,680 beats in a single day. The heart’s
function is to circulate nutrient and oxygen rich blood to every part of your
body; without this you would die. The question I have for you is... how many
times do you have to think about your heart in order for it to work?
As you know, you don't.
It just works. As humans we are blessed; I know that if I had to think
about my heart to make it work (with my level of organization) the outlook
would be bleak! I would argue that the reason we do not have to think about our
heart is because we have been entrusted with a greater task - maintenance.
Every 7 minutes someone dies of a stroke in
Canada. According
to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, almost 30% of all deaths can be attributed
to heart disease. Luckily, the CDC estimates that nearly 80% of heart disease
is preventable.
So, how are we doing at
maintaining the optimal function of our hearts?
My belief is that a lack of knowledge, some bad habits, and a
rising rate of obesity are creating what seems to be an epidemic. If we can educate
people on how to identify harmful foods, as well as get people moving again, we
can truly change these statistics. What I intend to help you with today is how
to identify a few of the foods that negatively affect your heart health.
Tips on reading food labels: Two important things are identifying
foods in your diet that either create inflammation or cause a spike in your
blood sugar levels. Excessive inflammation in the arteries damages the arterial
walls and increases the likelihood of complicating blood flow. Elevated blood
sugar levels increase the release of the hormone insulin which helps your body
either utilize sugar for energy, or stores excess sugar as fat. Excessive insulin
can create an inflammatory response. So how do you determine whether a food has
the potential to cause inflammation or spike blood sugar levels?
If you read the ingredients on a food label there are some key
things you can look for to help make better decisions about what to eat.
Rule 1: Anything
ending with the suffix -ose is a
sugar (ex: fructose is fruit
sugar, lactose is milk sugar). Some people may be thinking “If it is sugar from fruit then how
bad can it be?”. Sugar on its
own is not the problem. The problem occurs when our blood sugar levels exceed
normal limits for prolonged periods of time. Fructose that has been removed
from fruit does not have the natural fibers along with it, so when you consume
fructose on its own your blood sugar levels elevate higher then they would
naturally. The high spike in blood sugar causes your body to release insulin
and the excess sugar is stored as fat. If
your blood sugar levels are elevated for too long, the receptors in your body
that tell the pancreas to release insulin can get burned out (a condition known
as type 2 diabetes). This can negatively affect your heart's health as well as
send you on a quick path to obesity. So if you have the choice between a fresh piece of fruit or a bar filled with fructose or other hidden sugars such as a nutrigrain bar... pick the fruit.
Rule 2: Trans fats. Trans fats exist naturally in small amounts in
beef and dairy products, but they are more frequently created in the processing
of polyunsaturated fatty acids during food production. The consumption of trans
fats increases the risk of heart disease by raising levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and lowering levels of
"good" cholesterol (HDL). Cholesterol is used by your cells to create
the membranes that surround them. When you have excess cholesterol in your diet
it does not dissolve in the blood stream so what differentiates cholesterol
from being either good or bad is it’s
ability to pass through the blood stream. “Bad” LDL cholesterol has a tendency
to build up on the arterial walls and with other substances and forms blockages
which impede blood flow to the heart or brain. “Good” HDL cholesterol is considered
good because of it’s ability to move through the
blood stream to the liver for excretion so it does not build up in the arteries. The more trans fats you have in your body the
more inflammation and potential build up you create, which as mentioned earlier
increases the likelihood of heart disease.
Once I started reading food labels I realized that there are a
lot of added ingredients in our foods that affect the natural integrity of the
foods themselves. Companies do this to make their foods more palatable or to
increase shelf life. Reducing these foods in my diet not only helped me lose a
significant amount of weight, but it also changed my blood pressure for the
better.
Hopefully you found these tips helpful,
J.P. Bohemier
PS: February 26, 2013 our office is hosting a complimentary
presentation by Dr. Mylene Hopf and Ron Jarrett on this very topic. If you are experiencing problems with the health
of your heart or if you’re looking to
maximize your heart health then this presentation is for you! Ron Jarrett is from
Mission Fitness in Calgary
and together Dr. Hopf and Ron will give you tips to help get your heart in
shape. Call 403-247-4257 to reserve your seat as space is limited.