EVERY YEAR, NEARLY ONE MILLION AMERICANS DIE FROM HEART DISEASE
Some Startling Statistics!!!
- One in five individuals has some form of cardiovascular disease
- Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the United states and has been every year since 1919
- One of every 2.5 deaths in 1998 was due to cardiovascular disease.
AND MORE THAN HALF WERE WOMEN !!!
Did you know that women have a 50% chance of dying from heart disease or stroke?
The risk of a woman dying from cardiovascular disease is nearly twice that of all forms of cancer combined. But, you can do something about it.
Out-patient adults diagnosed with heart disease: 23 million (2001)
The medical establishment perceives the heart as a separate organ that requires specialization. But what is forgotten is that all the organs in the body are related to each other. The heart pumps the blood to support the circulatory system. In turn, the blood supports the other organs and itself. The other organs support the heart. All parts of the body are interdependent. The liver filters (one of many functions) the blood from toxins, which aids all the other organs.
ANOTHER EXPLANATION FROM TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE
Chinese Medicine has had an answer for more than 1000 years!
According to Traditional Chinese herbs & medicine, the heart, like all organs of the human body, requires blood and energy to maintain itself. Arteries, capillaries and veins support the feeding and cleansing of the heart. When any of these vessels are blocked, then the heart becomes interrupted in its functioning. This can become serious resulting in many HEART & CIRCULATION problems. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) focuses on opening up the targeted channels revitalizing and harmonizing the heart’s function and obstructed circulatory channels.
The liver, spleen, and every circulatory system organ can be involved in an obstructive process that impedes natural blood flow. This results in the body lowering in energy or Qi (Chinese medicine), high blood pressure, with every body function suffering from poor nutrition and de-oxygenation. No amount of vitamins or minerals can overcome the level of toxicity that develops except through gradual elimination of toxins in the blood. If detoxification happens too quickly, then a crisis can occur where nausea, exhaustion, and further setbacks in the cleansing process. If elimination is allowed to proceed on a gradual improving pace then expulsion is optimized. This requires working with the body as opposed to making physiology conform to a standardized strategy.
If the blood remains toxic for too long then an acidic environment is created. The result is a breakdown of vascular walls. This involves a scarring effect with blood components filling in the damged areas. This build-up complicates the process of cleansing. If the circulatory plumbing is not cleared out then all organs suffer speeding up the aging process. Its important at this stage that balance is re-established before established damage occurs.
Summary: Excess constitution with heat and dampness characteristics stemming from over-ingestion of rich, greasy, spicy, refined, intoxicating foods. Foods: excess red meat, eggs, cheese, fried foods, salt, excess sweet, refined & stale flour and oil products, chemicals, drugs and acoholic drinks.
When the body becomes overwhelmed by the above foods then the blood, organs and body becomes toxic and malfuctioning. The excess wears the body down into deficiency resulting in conditions of arthritis, tumor, diabetes, etc. The blockages in vasularity produces heat and pressure resulting in the following conditions – high blood pressure, constipation, excess weight, stroke and circulation ailments. The remedy is purging and cleansing.with bitter herbs and foods. Bitter cools and reduces dampness in the body. There may be exceptions which require a seasoned Master herbalist’s (Traditional Chinese herbs & medicine) input.
NUTRITION FOR THE HEART & FOODS TO AVOID
FOODS THAT BALANCE THE HEART
Legumes: mung bean sprouts, soy bean sprouts, tofu, tempeh, peas, Adzuki Beans, Black Beans, Black-eyed peas, Broad Beans (Fava Beans), Butter Beans, Calico Beans, Cannellini Beans, Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans), Edamame
Great Northern Beans, Italian Beans, Kidney Beans, Lentils, Lima Beans, Mung Beans, Navy Beans, Pinto Beans, Soy Beans, including black soy beans, Split Peas, White Beans
Grains: (whole grains, ½ cup for all grains) sprouted wheat – hard red winter wheat, Amaranth, Barley, pearled, Buckwheat (kasha), Bulgar, Oats, whole kernel, Rice, brown, Rice, wild, Rye, whole kernel, Quinoa, Wheat, whole kernel, All Bran with Extra Fiber, Bran Buds, Fiber One, Kashi, Go Lean, Shredded Wheat, Shredded Wheat and Bran, Buckwheat Groats, Oat Bran, Old Fashioned Oatmeal, Steel-Cut Oats
Vegetables: (Pungent) radish, horseradish, hot peppers, onion family (garlic, onion, leek, scallion, shallot, chive), Leafy greens (cabbage, spinach, carrot greens, mint leaf, nasturtium leaf, dandelion greens, kale, wheat greens, barley greens, broccoli, parsley), asparagus, bell peper, rose hip, tomato, celery
Green seaweeds: Green rope, Green tuft, Dead man’s fingers, Encrusting codium, Bird guano alga, Sea lettuce, Stringy, hairy, ribbon Ulva, Green barrels, Brown seaweeds: Winged kelp, Bottlebrush seaweed, Seersucker, Three-ribbed kelp, Northern bladder chain, Flattened acid kelp, Witch’s hair, Green acid kelp, Geather Boa, Rockweed, Spiraling rockweed, Sea cauliflower, Perennial kelp, Twisted sea tubes, Bull kelp, Dwarf rockweed, Woody-stemmed kelp, Sea fungus, Sugar kelp, Stiff-stiped kelp, Sea cabbage, Split kelp, Wireweed, Soda straws, Studded sea balloons), Red Seaweeds (Turkish towel, Bleached burnett, Winged rib, Sea moss, Sea sac, Rusty rock, Sea tangle, Turkish washcloth, Tar spot, Iridescent seaweed, Coarse sea lace, Black pine, Flattened sea brush, Sea brush, Sea laural, Red ribbon, Sea comb, Bleachweed, Sea noodles, Red eyelet silk), chlorella, cucumber
Mushrooms: Honey Mushroom, Brown Stew Fungus, The Miller, Shaggy Ink Cap, Green Russula, Russula integra, Weeping Milk-Cap, Saffron Milk-Cap, Hedgehog Fungus, Man on Horseback, Wood Blewit, Chantarelle, Funnel Chantarelle, Horn of Plenty, Yellow-Crack Bolete, Slippery Jack, Brown Birch Bolete, King Bolete, Sheep Polypore, Pestle Puffball
Fruit: (citrus) Clementine, Kumquat, Minneola, Mandarin, Orange, Satsuma, Tangarine, Tangelo, Lemon, Rough Lemon, Lime, Leech Lime, Grapefruit, Pummelo, Sweety, Ugli, banana, persimmon
Nuts & Seeds: Almonds, hazlenuts (filbert), flax seed, chia seed, pumpkin seed (lightly roasted to remove surface E coli), poppy seed, walnut, sunflower sprouts
Animal products: fish: sardine, salmon, mackerel, Cold water fish (LAKE TROUT, RAINBOW TROUT, BROOK TROUT, BROWN TROUT, ARCTIC GRAYLING, ARCTIC CHAR, SPLAKE, etc.) raw honey, bee pollen
Herbs: hawthorn berry, dandelion root, burdock root, chaparral, peppermint (palpitations), cayenne pepper, ginger, rhubarb root (constipation), yarrow, chamomile, motherwort, valerian
FOODS TO AVOID (worsens heart conditions)
Sugar, or foods with added sugars, Processed grains, or foods containing them (except as listed on the Grains List e.g. packaged cereals, even whole grain cereals, are usually processed, verify), Refined grains (which don’t say “whole” in front of each grain on the label) or foods containing them, “Wheat” or “wheat flour” without the word “whole” is usually a code word for “white” (includes white rice, “Flour” listed alone is always white flour), Potatoes, Cakes, cookies, muffins, etc. Crackers, unless whole grain, Cereals, unless whole grain and at least 8 grams of fiber per serving, Chips, Ice cream, Jams and Jellies, Maple Syrup, Regular Soda and other sweetened beverages, Juices, Oils except for extra virgin olive oil, nut oils, and canola oil, Mayonnaise, Creamy salad dressings, Butter, Magarine, Dairy products that are not fat-free, including cheese, cream cheese, milk, etc., Fatty meats such as bacon or sausage, Anything with hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats in it.
This listing is certainly not the end-all list but is the longest that I know for this condition.
Mark Hammer C.M.H. Master Herbalist Longevity Mountain 5/09
