Gabby's story

The American Heart Association has a new story to honor the upcoming Hispanic Heritage Month. The American Heart Association has presented Gabby's story and the love of her family as they go through the hardship with Gabby's heart disease. 

The left side of Gabby’s heart didn’t form properly. Many babies with the same condition don’t survive, but after three surgeries, Gabby is thriving. Her success is partly due to scientific research that has advanced treatment.

Cite source: American Heart Association 1/15

Fighting Inflammation with your Food

It turns out that you can fight inflammation in the body more effectively with the right foods than with prescriptions drugs. Our immune systems are marvelously designed to attack anything that they don’t recognize; things like plant pollen, germs, toxins, pollutants, microbes, or chemicals.

Inflammation is the end result of this process, it’s a protective measure in our programming but it can cause a lot of other complications. It’s your body’s natural response to threats and involves immune, vascular and cellular biochemical reactions which work to remove the offenders and protect tissues from damage. So, let’s talk about why you want to avoid Inflammation in the body. 
This natural defense mode works to shield your body’s systems and initiate the healing process. But when your body is in a chronic state of inflammation, it can have serious effects on your cellular health. It can greatly contribute to towards diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, cancer, Alzheimer’s and even depression.

Foods you definitely want to avoid or limit are refined carbohydrates like white bread or pastries. Also try to limit fried foods. You want to try and eliminate or limit sugar, red meat, processed meats, shortening and margarine. This “avoid” list is pretty common as it seems to affect many things in the body negatively. These foods seem to be linked with diabetes as well as heart disease.

Now for the good foods. A few foods that are beneficial and have been shown to help reduce inflammation in the body are tomatoes, olive oil, canola oil…which is rich in Omega-3, poultry, legumes nuts such as walnuts , pistachios or almonds. Nuts contain arginine which is an amino acid that can aid in calming inflammation. You also want to eat plenty of green leafy vegetables like collard greens, kale and spinach. Fish is great for your heart and also helps to fight inflammation. Salmon, tuna, herring, sardines and mackerel are all great examples of fish to start incorporating into your diet.

Fruits are wonderful, they contain Vitamin C, fiber and help fight inflammation. You should have things like strawberries, cherries, oranges, blueberries, grapes and apples. The antioxidant resveratrol found in the skin of grapes and red wine also fights inflammation and even cancer. Drinking concord grape juice may lower inflammatory markers in the blood of people with stable coronary artery disease. Even coffee in moderation, contains polyphenol which has anti-inflammatory properties as well.

Inflammation can also exacerbate asthma, acne and obesity and can even cause your moods to fluctuate. The more natural, and less processed your foods are, the better for your body. Aren’t you glad to know you can play such a part in avoiding all of these health conditions just with your food choices, it’s very empowering.Your body will thank you as well as your heart.

Women and Heart Disease

As women age, so does their risk for heart disease. I bet you would be surprised to learn that heart disease is the leading cause of death in women over 40, this is especially true after menopause.

During menopause the ovaries will gradually produce less of the female hormone (estrogen) and this causes quite a few changes. The decline in estrogen can affect a woman’s susceptibility to heart disease. It’s important to monitor your cholesterol levels. An increase in LDL Cholesterol (the damaging kind) can be a threat to your heart just as a decrease in HDL cholesterol (the good kind) can make you more at risk.

An increase in fibrinogen levels can also affect the health of your heart. Fibrinogen is a substance in your blood that helps the blood to clot. It is a good thing, but too much is not- it can cause heart disease and even strokes. This can happen when a clot forms which can narrow the arteries and actually reduce the flow of blood to your heart. As a woman ages, changes in the walls of the blood vessels can occur too. This can increase the likelihood for plaque and blood clots to form.

But don’t lose “heart”, (pun intended) there are ways you can be proactive. Try to keep your weight in check, excess weight especially around the middle section can put you in danger of heart problems. If you are a smoker, please quit. Your heart and the rest of your body will thank you. Women who smoke and take birth control pills are at greater risk of having a heart attack or stroke because this increases the risk of blood clots.

Try to watch out for high blood pressure and diabetes as these are both also high risks for your heart. Try to be active exercising for at least 30 minutes 3 times a week or more. It was thought years ago that hormone replacement therapy – replacing the estrogen that the body no longer produces was helpful against the threat of heart disease. However research is now showing that some forms of this replacement therapy could actually be harmful.

Limit bad fats such as saturated fats and Trans fats. They are very dangerous for heart health and should be avoided. Saturated fats should be kept to nor more than 10 percent of your diet. Examples are red meat, dairy products and palm oils. Try to keep Trans fats out of your diet altogether. Hydrogenated fat is also another kind of Trans fat. Examples are deep fried foods, packaged snack foods, margarine and most crackers. These fats can build up and cause blockages in your arteries. Eat more fish, they are rich in omega-3 fatty acids which are actually good for your heart. A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fiber, legumes and whole grains can help protect your heart. Beans, other low-fat sources of protein and fish also can reduce your risk of heart disease.

Your heart is one of the hardest working organs in the body and the more you do for it the better off you will be.

Habits for Better Heart Health

Research shows these habits listed below can be very destructive and play havoc with your heart.

Being overweight, poor diet, alcohol in excess, smoking and not exercising and being active. These can also affect blood pressure, cholesterol and even blood sugar levels. They can also lead to a long list of heart complications such as stroke, heart attack, heart failure etc. etc. Long-term excessive drinking increases your risk of developing problems with your heart. Check out this statistic, being a nonsmoker who is at an average healthy weight, who exercises and eats right would be 83 percent less likely to have a heart attack or heart disease. That’s very encouraging.

Don’t get discouraged, if you struggle in some of these areas, you can always make some positive changes. Start exercising. Find something you enjoy doing. Mix it up. Try to do something for at least 30 minutes a day. You can always work your way up to some serious cardiovascular exercise that will really benefit your heart. You don’t have to exercise strenuously to achieve benefits, but you can see bigger benefits by increasing the intensity, duration and frequency of your workouts. Physical activity helps you control your weight and can reduce your chances of developing other conditions that may put a strain on your heart, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.

Excess weight can really put a strain on your heart. Change your nutritional plan. Add fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and fiber to you diet. Try to really limit processed foods, simple carbohydrates and sugar. Pay close attention to the kinds of fats in your diet. So there are good and bad cholesterols; LDL is the dangerous kind of cholesterol and HDL is the beneficial kind to your heart. You can produce more of the HDL cholesterol by exercising regularly and limiting saturated fat, and cholesterol by avoiding too many animal products such as red meats and full-fat dairy, and including healthier fats such as certain vegetable oils. It’s also important to limit trans fats (like palm oils, fried foods, and what you find in a lot of processed foods).

Smoking and heart problems go hand in hand. Smoking doesn’t just affect your lungs. Chemicals in tobacco can damage your heart and blood vessels, leading to narrowing of the arteries, which can ultimately lead to a heart attack. Physical activity helps you control your weight and can reduce your chances of developing other conditions that may put a strain on your heart, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Also, monitoring your blood sugar levels can reduce your chance of diabetes. Diabetes can quadruple your risk of heart disease or stroke, so keeping blood sugar levels under control is crucial to preventing medical problems involving the heart. If left untreated, diabetes can also cause many other health complications.

It’s never too late to make positive, proactive changes to avoid heart disease. Think of making yourself your own project. Just be more mindful of how your day to day behavior can affect your health. Get support and encouragement from those close to you. The American Heart Association can be a great resource and motivator for tips and suggestions to battle heart disease. Start with reasonable goals and you will achieve them and your heart will thank you.