How to Keep Heart Disease at Bay - For Women

More American women die from heart disease than men. Heart disease in women is actually more prevalent than breast cancer. Having a healthy heart might mean a change in lifestyle. Believe it or not, every woman lays her own ground work for getting or avoiding heart disease as early as childhood.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. 
   Regular blood pressure readings.

   It is never to late to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Most women have no idea if they have healthy cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure numbers, much less know what these numbers mean and measure. The truth is these numbers can tell you if you are a candidate for heart disease. Without knowing these numbers you might think you are healthy because these problems do not show symptoms until it is too late. It is important to see your doctor and have your blood checked for cholesterol levels and have regular readings done on blood pressure and blood sugar.

2. 
   Fast-Foods = Trans Fats

   Learning to eat mindfully can help make a big difference. Fresh fruits and vegetable should be a keystone of a healthy diet. But there are some important things to think about before eating. Eating lots of whole grains, two servings of fish a week, limiting saturated fats, salt and trans fat as well as avoiding processed foods can become a tricky challenge.
   
   THE SKINNY ABOUT FATS: Read the labels on all packaging. Trans fats raise bad cholesterol levels (LDL) and lower the good (HDL) levels. Trans fats will increase your risks of developing heart disease. One percent of your calorie in-take is all you should have of trans fats in a day. Trans fats are created when hydrogen is added to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid. Look for "partially hydrogenated oils" on food packaging; this means the food in that package has trans fats. Many companies use this in foods because it is inexpensive and will last a long time. Trans fats make foods taste good and add nice texture. Many restaurants and fast-foods use trans fats to deep-fry foods. Oils with trans fats can be used many times over in commercial fryers.
   
   The biggest offenders of trans fats are french fries, doughnuts, pie crust, biscuits, pizza dough, cookies, crackers, and stick margarines and shortenings. Replace trans fats with monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats. These fats can help to reduce the bad cholesterol. Foods high in monounsaturated fats are vegetable oils such as olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil, and sesame oil. Other food sources are avocados, peanut butter, many nuts and seeds. Polyunsaturated oils provide your body with Omega 6 and Omega 3 these play a crucial role in brain function. Omega 3's are fatty acids which help reduce hardening of arteries. The AHA recommends eating up to 12 ounces a week of a variety of fish or shellfish. Omega 3 supplements can help women who's triglycerides are high. Triglycerides are blood fat. Other foods high in polyunsaturates are soybean oil, corn oil, safflower oil as some nuts and seeds; walnuts especially and sunflower seeds.

3. 
   Great benefits to drinking green tea.

   TAKE TWO! There are two beneficial herbs that have been recorded to promote a healthy heart: grape seed extract and green tea. Grape seed extract is made from the seeds of the grape and produced into capsule and tablet forms. This herb is used for conditions related to the heart and blood vessels, such as atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and poor circulation.
   
   Green tea has been around a long time as a tea for drinking in China, India, and the Middle East. It has been effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels, and inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots. The latter takes on added importance when you consider that thrombosis (the formation of abnormal blood clots) is the leading cause of heart attacks and stroke. It is revered for its medicinal benefits. It is believed to be a preventative for cancers, heart attacks, strokes, and high blood pressure.

4. 
   Brisk walking for a healthy heart.

   Brisk walking helps to lower your blood pressure and challenges your heart to beat more efficiently. To understand your body mass index (BMI) go to www.nh1bisupport.com/bmi. American Heart Assoc. (AHA) outlines a healthy weight as a body mass index of 18.5 to 24.9 and a waist circumference of less than 35 inches for women.

[ceholmes]

on 10/26/2009 These are all excellent ideas, thanks for mentioning how important it is to read the label! Ingrediants and oils are so important to know about in order to keep heart problems away. 5* and recom