Your Health Matters

If all the blood vessels in your body were laid end to end, they would go around the Earth more than twice. Fact #2: An organ that's just a bit larger than your fist, your heart pumps 2,000 gallons of blood every day. That's enough to fill about 100 refrigerators with gallon jugs.

This is a lot going on! Our bodies are a miracle! Stop, and think about it- what other gadget do you know that works harder- for so long- and is abused as much and yet keeps on keeping on? 90% of us are guilty of unprecedented abuse to our bodies! Most of us don't want to talk about it! (Including me)

We purchase "How to have… good health related books and magazines. We buy fancy treadmills, exercise machines and take multiple vitamins. We join health/fitness centers. We look for "dramatic results" at weight control clinics. All 'n all, fewer than 10% of us will continue more than six weeks with our new regimen.

CAUTION: You may find this article depressing and displeasing, but down right truthful! Here are a few helpful hints to help you (and me) to get started at being more alert-- to do the right thing!

Lower your risk for heart attack: Lifestyle changes are the best line of defense against heart disease. They include dietary changes that will reduce your intake of saturated fat and cholesterol. For those at high risk (overweight, smoker, couch potato, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, age, male, women over 55 and hereditary), the guidelines call for reducing saturated fat (fat from animal sources) to just 7 percent of daily calories. Avoid meats, poultry, and high-fat cheese- or cut way back

Also avoid "trans" fats, the hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils used in many snack foods such as pastries, crackers, cookies, and fried foods. Trans fats may be even worse for you than saturated fats. Instead of using margarine or butter, cook with monounsaturated oils such as olive oil and canola oil.

Eat more vegetables, grains, and fruits that are high in fiber. Oats, dried beans, and peas are among the most beneficial grains and legumes. Fruits- including citrus fruits, apples, prunes, berries, pears, apricots, grapes, and figs- should be in your diet. Vegetables should include cabbage, carrots, beets, sweet potatoes, and Brussels sprouts. Soy-based foods may also help lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease.

Every part of you needs oxygen-rich blood to stay alive and healthy, and so does the heart itself. It comes equipped with three special blood vessels that keep it supplied. Shaped like the tubes on a cornet, they're known as coronary arteries----coronary means, "crown"- so they crown the heart.

Normally, the insides of your coronary arteries are slick and even, so blood flows smoothly to your heart. When you have heart disease, though, the inside of the arteries gets clogged with a waxy mixture of cholesterol and other substances, called plaque, that limits blood flow. Now the blood looks as if it's surging through rapids. If the flow gets dammed up altogether, the result is a heart attack.

Your heart isn't the only organ that can be affected by this dangerous clogging. The arteries to your brain and other key body parts, like your legs, can also get clogged with plaque. Cut off the blood flow to your brain, and the result is a stroke. Limit the flow to your legs, and you're almost guaranteed to have chronic cramps and leg pain.

Smoking, contributes to a multitude of problems- not enough space to begin to write/cover all of them!

By the time we reach midlife, most of us are at a crossroads. And the traffic light at that crossroads is turning from green to yellow. Not enough exercise and too much fat in food will send us veering into the vigor-sapping, lifeshortening lane toward heart disease. Fortunately, we can change direction, take a turn for healthier options, and protect or restore the former youthful power of those life-lending muscles.

Don't take the attitude that "you're too old to reverse"! See your doctor- see how you stand with your blood pressure, weight and cholesterol. "Get with the program- for a healthier YOU!"

Claudia Parks, RN is a former doctor's office and emergency room nurse and retired as an educator from Fulton County Schools. She writes Your Health Matters as a public service; the information here is designed to help you make informed choices about your health. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of your physician. Claudia and her husband make their home in the beautiful north Georgia Mountains. Claudia can be reached at yhm@windstream.net