Authored by Alex Timbol/Maccess Corporation
Consumers' Post
Ethel Timbol
HEART HEALTH
Up to 92% of Filipinos are at risk for serious heart disease, according to a recent study by the Philippine Heart Association. Of these, over half are not aware of any heart problems until tragedy occurs.
The forties and fifties are peak years for cardiac events as sins of the past? bad diet, poor sleeping habits, smoking, a sedentary lifestyle, work and home stress?take their toll.
Ideally, protecting your heart and health should start in the twenties, but it's never too late to start.
Dr. Nathan Pritikin had his first heart attack in his 40s, the result of years of poor diet and bad habits. His doctor, and his own training, told him that he had less than a year to live.
Determined to overcome his condition, he shifted to a low-fat, almost meatless , favoring vegetables and whole grains. When Dr. Pritikin died in 1985 at the age of seventy, an autopsy showed that his previously clogged arteries were cleared of obstruction. He had the circulatory system of a healthy young man!
Under different names and with minor variations, Dr. Pritikin's diet principles, are recommended by almost every medical and health professional today.
Start your day off with fresh fruits or cereals. The fiber in fruits and cereals (oatmeal is the best!) helps clean you up inside. Your liver disposes of excess cholesterol through bile fluids.
Fiber helps by sweeping it away before your intestines can dutifully re-absorb it.
Milk and dairy products are nutritious, but not a good idea in the morning.
Casein, the protein in milk, takes a long time to digest, and calcium will make you drowsy.
Take your glass of milk, and cheese plates in the evening, when your body has the time to digest it, and the calcium lulls you into a restful sleep.
Stay vegetarian for lunch, go slow on rice, unless it's red rice, and eat more veggies: Greens (lettuce, kangkong, alugbati), gourds (upo, ampalaya, patola, etc), brocolli, cauliflower, carrots and tomatoes.
Eat more veggies than any meat. Much more. Much much more.
Eat garlic. Love garlic. Garlic tones the muscles, including those in your heart. Your other half will understand if it means many more years together.
If you must, have red meat only in the evening, but remember, either way, it?s negative health points. If you can stick with veggies, tofu, fish, & chicken until dinner, so much the better.
Nightcaps are the time for a glass of skim milk and some cheese. The milk helps you relax after a long day.
Nutritional supplements are a good idea, just don't go overboard.
The Life Extension Foundation is a sound reference for nutritional supplementation.
Start on a daily high potency multivitamin/multimineral with at least a couple of milligrams of B vitamins. There are dozens of brands in pharmacies, health stores, and your favorite PX store.
Multi-level marketed vitamins are usually overpriced, but some are very well formulated.
The number of nutrients is not as important as the proper combinations of essential nutrients. Multis are not a substitute for a good diet, but they help on those days you just can't eat right.
Once you've started on a good multi, consider adding specialized supplements.
Nobel Laureate Dr. Linus Pauling, who died at the ripe old age of ninety, says Vitamin C added 20 years to his life (He was diagnosed with prostate cancer at seventy).
The US National Institute of Health says that most people can safely take up to two grams of Vitamin C a day. Whether you want to go that high or start low (around 200 milligrams a day), remember that it is best to take half in the morning and the rest in the evening.
Not really a supplement, but very useful, is Psyllium. Psyllium has fourteen times the soluble fiber of oatmeal. It will remove cholesterol and toxins from your digestive system like a rotorooter, and help maintain regularity.
Like clockwork.
Psyllium is usually mixed with water, but you can mix the coarse powder into your fruit juice, regular cereal, even use it as a thickener for sauces.
Vitamin E has received some bad press of late, until the Journal of the American Medical Association debunked the metastudy stating that the benefits far outweigh possible risks.
If you must know, the supposed problem is that pure Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherols) displaces other tocopherols (e.g. gamma-tocopherols). This is only an issue with synthetic vitamin E (pure alpha-tocopherols), natural vitamin E normally contains mixed tocopherols.
If you aren't taking milk at night, take Cal-Mag supplements. Calcium is for your bones, and magnesium helps maintain normal heart rhythm.
Taking calcium alone displaces magnesium in your body, so the two are usually combined into a single tablet.
Calcium should help you sleep, but if you still can't, try taking Melatonin, the body's natural sleep hormone. Older people produce less of it, leading to insomnia. Doctors today prescribe melatonin for sleep problems instead of traditional sleeping pills.
CoEnzyme Q10 improves oxygen utilization in the heart. In Europe and Japan, it is the standard prescription for congestive heart failure and has been proven to improve heart function by up to 20%.
Most healthy people don't need CoQ10--a good thing, as this is an expensive supplement; but for anyone with heart problems, it can be a lifesaver.
Individuals taking cholesterol lowering "statin" drugs should also take CoQ10. "-statin" drugs deplete the body?s natural stores of CoQ10, causing fatigue and encouraging angina attacks, according to the Life Extension Foundation.
One "statin" producer, acknowledging the problem, recently filed a patent to include CoQ10 in its product.
Beyond a healthy diet and supplementation plan, do you live in a "heart safe" environment?
A heart safe environment is a place where maintaining a healthy heart comes naturally, and has the resources to deal with any potentially life-threatening cardiac events.
If it is easy for you to maintain a heart healthy diet, then you are in a "heart safe" place.
Fruits, veggies, tofu, and other healthful goodies should be readily available in nearby markets. If you do decide to eat out, it should be easy to find places with healthy options on the menu.
If you live in the San Juan/Mandaluyong area, check out Vegefoods along Luna Mencias street. Apart from delicious soy milk, taho, tofu, vegemeats and other products in the factory outlet, there is also a vegetarian canteen that serves tasty & affordable healthy meals.
A heart safe environment has the facilities to allow you to engage in heart healthy activities.
It could be as basic as a safe, well-lighted neighborhood sidewalk. A short evening stroll helps relieve everyday stresses. If taken with family, friends and neighbors, evening strolls become opportunities for bonding, for sharing ideas, and strengthening relationships.
A heart safe environment has accessible resources to deal with common cardiac events. Not only in the home and neighborhood, but in the offices you work in, the malls you visit, and the hotels and sports clubs you frequent.
Do they have trained personnel to deal with sudden cardiac emergencies?
The answer may surprise you.
Because the Philippines doesn't have its own equivalent of the United States "Good Samaritan" laws, many public places are not equipped to deal with most types of medical emergencies. Quite alarming considering that we market ourselves as a retirement destination.
What are "Good Samaritan" laws?
Simply put, "Good Samaritan" Laws require that persons trained in first aid render assistance during a medical emergency, while protecting them from liability if the rescue event is unsuccessful.
What the absence of these laws mean for us is that in the Philippines, most public places are so worried about liability, that they adopt a "hands-off" policy, intentionally doing nothing more than to call an ambulance.
Only basic first aid for wounds and scrapes, nothing more. If the customer in a mall, hotel, or golf courses collapses, they?ll call the hospital, but will make no attempt to administer even basic CPR.
This is unfortunate, even more so for the victim. Every minute that passes since the cardiac event reduces survival odds by 10%.
Obligated to provide care but protected from liability by "Good Samaritan" laws, malls, buildings, and sports centers in the United States make sure they have trained personnel and equipment on hand.
Given the recent high stress levels of our congressmen, perhaps it's time they considered proposing a similar set of laws. After all, it would be sad if they suffered a cardiac event while out in a public place whose management has opted not to provide life-saving facilities.
