Keep glycemic index of foods low to bolster cardiovascular health, says study

(NaturalNews) Australian researchers recently reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine that a diet rich in low-glycemic carbohydrates leads to lower levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol.
A Sydney research team conducted a 12-week study of 129 overweight and obese people an average of 32 years old, with an average BMI of 31.2. The researchers split the subjects into four groups and randomly assigned each group a diet to follow. The first group followed a high-carbohydrate, high-glycemic diet with average protein intake. The second group followed a high-carbohydrate, low-glycemic diet with average protein intake. The third group followed a high-protein, high-glycemic diet with low carbohydrate intake. The fourth group followed a high-protein, low-glycemic diet with low carbohydrate intake.

Researchers measured each group's levels of glucose, insulin, leptin, total cholesterol, HDL "good" cholesterol and triglycerides at the start, middle and end of the study, and found that the third group had the highest percentage of people with five percent weight loss or more. However, the third diet group also experienced an increase in total and "bad" LDL cholesterol levels.

Dieters in group two (high-carb, low-GI, average protein) saw a reduction in total and LDL cholesterol. Women and participants with high triglycerides benefited the most from following the second group's diet.

"Diets based on low-GI whole grain products (instead of high-GI whole grains) maximize cardiovascular risk reduction, particularly if protein intake is high," the researchers concluded.

Researchers have debated for some time whether or not the glycemic index could be an effective tool for consumers seeking to become healthier.

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Fight Cardiovascular Problems with Vitamins and Over the Counter Products

Except pulmonary arteries, all Arteries bring oxygenated blood to the tissues and except pulmonary veins, all Veins bring deoxygenated blood back to the heart. Blood passes into the lungs where Oxygen is pickup and CO2 is expelled. The Blood then through the arteries into capillaries, which are the thinnest and most numerous of the blood vessels and these capillaries helps transport nutrients into the cells and picks up waist products for transport. Blood then flows into the veins and transports CO2 to the lungs. Without the cardiovascular system vital oxygen and nutrients would not be able to be delivered to the cells in your body you would cease to exist.
The most common life threatening problems of the Cardiovascular System are Arteriosclerosis and Strokes.

Arteriosclerosis is commonly referred to as a "hardening" or "furring" of the arteries. Arteriolosclerosis (hardening of small arteries, the arterioles) is the result of collagen deposition, but also muscle wall thickening and deposition of protein ("hyaline").

The constant accumulation fatty substances called plaques on the arterial walls characterize arteriosclerosis. These complications are chronic, slowly progressing and cumulative. This plaque buildup is usually found in most major arteries of the human body. Arteriosclerosis typically begins in early adolescence but is rarely diagnosed until late in life usually due to a stroke or heart attack.

When a bubble (aneurysm) occurs in the walls of the blood vessels it can lead to a blowout of the blood vessel and subsequent damage of the organ being supplied and even death. When this happens in the brain it is call a Stroke.

Research has shown that lowering cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood will lower the chance of coronary arteriosclerosis. Non-pharmaceutical means are usually the first method of treatment, such as cessation of smoking and regular exercise.

Copper - Calcium - Magnesium
Vitamin C - Vitamin E - Zinc
Vitamin B - Ginkgo Plus - M.S.M

There is strong evidence that trace mineral Copper is vital to the tensile strength of the coronary blood vessels.

Scientists have found that people who drink hard water, water rich in calcium and magnesium, stand less chance of developing cardiovascular disease that people who drink soft water.

Vitamin C is essential for defending the body against pollution and infection. It enhances the immune system and aids in growth and repair of bone and tissue. Vitamin C has show to reduce cholesterol levels and lowers high blood pressure.

Vitamin E supplies Oxygen to the heart and the other muscles in the body. Accelerates wound healing and aids in the functioning of the immune system.

Zinc is needed for healing and maintaining healthy tissues. Amino Acids are the building blocks of protein and are the vital components of skin, hair, muscle tissue, the body's organs, blood cells, various enzymes and hormones. Zinc also has a profound influence on the body's ability to resist disease.

Vitamin B taken together as B-Complex work as a team to perform vital biological processes, including energy production and efficient metabolic function.

Ginkgo Plus supplies a comprehensive range of important nutrients needed for the proper functioning of the vascular system and for improving blood circulation to the brain.

M.S.M maintains the development of the body's protein by forming flexible disulfide bonds between certain amino acids and in maintaining the strength of connective tissue. This allows water and nutrients to flow freely into cells and allows toxins to flow freely out of the cells. M.S.M increases athletic stamina and helps eliminate muscle soreness. M.S.M is a natural supplement that is getting a lot of attention due to its role in tissue healing at the cellular level. It is a natural organic sulfur that comes from rain fall and is found naturally in the human body.

Always consult your doctor before using this information.

This Article is nutritional in nature and not to be construed as medical advice.

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Cardiovascular Diseases

The cardiovascular diseases are those diseases which are caused by disorders of heart and blood vessels. Coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, hypertension, artery disease, rheumatic heart disease, congenital heart disease and failure of heart came under the category of cardiovascular diseases.
Most of the western countries face the high and increasing rate of cardiovascular diseases. More people are killed by this disease every year as compare to cancer. A survey concludes that diseases of the heart alone caused 30% of all deaths, with other diseases of the cardiovascular system causing substantial further death and disability. Every 2 out of 3 cardiac deaths occur without any diagnosis of cardiovascular disease.


After a survey it was conclude that this is the prime cause of death and disability in the United States and most European countries. A large histological study (PDAY) showed vascular injury accumulates from adolescence and makes primary prevention efforts necessary from childhood. An estimated concludes that17.5 million people died from cardiovascular disease in 2005 and this is about the 30 % of all global deaths. 7.6 million out of these were died due to heart attacks and 5.7 million were due to stroke.


Around 80% of these deaths occurred in developing or under developed countries as they have low and middle income. If not step is taken against it then according to an estimate, by 2015, 20 million people will die from cardiovascular disease every year and most of them will be from heart attacks and strokes.


Causes- The cause of cardiovascular disease is a blockage that prevents blood to go to the heart or to the brain. The most important and main cause of cardiovascular disease is build up of fatty deposits in the inner wall of blood vessels. In this particular condition, blood vessels become narrower and less broad and heart doesn’t receive the blood. In that case it results to failure of heart.


Reasons- The major reasons of having cardiovascular disease are tobacco, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity. An early form of fatty deposits, which is known as fatty streaks can also be found in children. Some children may be younger than 10 years. These deposits get slowly worse as the person gets older.


Helpful tips- If you are obese or overweight then it increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes. To maintain an ideal body weight, you should take regular physical activity and eat a healthy diet.

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Q&A: How do I avoid atherosclerosis and improve cardiovascular health? What if I have been diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse?

In the first part of this question on avoiding atherosclerosis and improving cardiovascular health, we talked about what to avoid so that you don't worsen your situation. Here in the second part, we'll talk about more proactive strategies that you can use for reversing the build up of plaque in your arteries.
First off, one of the better-known therapies for eliminating the buildup of arterial plaque is called intravenous chelation. This is a therapy that can truly work miracles and help people avoid heart bypass surgery and other complications from atherosclerosis. Intravenous chelation involves the introduction of certain minerals and binding compounds into the human bloodstream through an intravenous solution. In other words, they put an IV in your arm and drip fluids containing chelated minerals into your bloodstream.

What does this do? This chelation solution binds with the plaque in your cardiovascular system and then helps flush it out of your system. At the same time, it is also very useful for removing heavy metals, such as mercury, cadmium, and lead from your body.

But because this is an invasive procedure, it is only performed by trained medical professionals. Typically, you're only going to have access to this by visiting a naturopathic clinic or some kind of alternative health clinic that pursues pioneering medicine. But by no mean is this intravenous chelation a brand new technology. It's been around for decades and has been well proven to reduce the buildup of atherosclerosis or plaque in your arteries.

However, remember that if you continue to pursue a diet and lifestyle that created the plaque in the first place, then engaging in intravenous chelation is really only going to help for the short term. To have long-term results, you need to change your lifestyle, as was discussed in part one of this article.

Next on the list is what's called oral chelation. This is a strategy where you take supplements known as EDTA that claim to work in the same way as intravenous chelation. These substances bind with heavy metals and plaque in your arteries and help flush them out of your system. Unfortunately, my information on oral chelation is rather sparse at the moment. I haven't fully investigated this, so I can't say whether I support it or whether it has been proven to work. I plan to look more closely at this in the future.

Another thing you can do from a nutritional standpoint to enhance your cardiovascular health is to be sure to take a plentiful supply of antioxidants. Of course you want to get those from natural sources, and some of the best sources of antioxidants are berries, such as blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and so on. You can also get antioxidants from superfoods such as various sprouts, Spirulina, Chlorella, and seaweed.

One of my favorite sources of antioxidants is a substance I'm calling Vitamin X. It is known as astaxanthin. Astaxanthin is just now emerging on the scene. Most people don't know about it yet, but it's a powerful antioxidant that belongs to the same carotenoid family as the better-known zeaxanthin, which is quite well known to be important for eye health -- that is, the health of the retina and in preventing macular degeneration.

To my knowledge, there aren't many studies available right now showing the relationship between astaxanthin and heart health, but I think those studies will be coming down the road. So this is one of those areas where, if you're taking the supplement, it's not necessarily proven for cardiovascular health but it probably will be down the road. And in the meantime, you're giving yourself worthy antioxidant protection by taking it.

Moving on to heart health in general, one of the main points I want to get across to readers here is that many of the defects that are diagnosed in people's hearts are really not physical defects at all. There's a great tendency in conventional medicine to misdiagnose functional disorders as physical or structural disorders. For example, one of the most common diagnoses in heart health is the so-called mitral valve prolapse. This is generally explained to patients as being some kind of physical defect with their heart valve. Often it's called a genetic defect or a birth defect; but far more often than not, this is really just the lack of fitness of the heart muscle due to chronic malnutrition, typically a lack of B vitamins.

So, if you think about it, any muscle in the body that isn't fit, that doesn't have good nutrition and plenty of hydration, will lose its tone, and muscles will begin to sag or deform or not have the structural strength they once had. This is especially evident in people with back pain who have experienced a loss of muscle tension in the lower spine so that when they sit, their lower back begins to hurt. I'm quite familiar with this. I suffered from it for more than 10 years before I transformed my own health.

The very same thing can be true with the heart. If a person isn't getting adequate nutrition (and remember that most Americans are nutritionally deficient even though they're overeating in terms of calories), then their hearts can lose a level of fitness. They no longer retain the shape -- that is, the physical shape -- that they should retain in order to properly pump blood. So of course a conventionally-trained medical doctor is going to see this misshaped heart and diagnose it as some kind of physical, structural deformity, typically one that can only be resolved through surgical procedures.

But that's about as crazy as telling someone who has weak shoulder muscles that the solution is to cut into their shoulder with sharp instruments and insert a balloon that can be pumped up so that their shoulder appears larger. The real solution, of course, is to strength train the shoulder. Engage in some strength training, and get proper nutrition so that the muscles can have the nutrients they need to grow on their own.

When it comes to heart health and subsequently cardiovascular health, nutrition is the key. Virtually all surgical procedures conducted for mitral valve prolapse are medically unnecessary. What the patient really needs is adequate hydration, a brand new approach to nutrition, and the avoidance of all dietary substances that are known to worsen cardiovascular health and deplete water soluble vitamins from the body. And of course, B vitamins are water soluble vitamins.

Moving on in the herbs category, of course there are many, many healing herbs for heart health, including herbs like garlic, onions, and juniper berries. But I think that the big solution here when it comes to avoiding atherosclerosis, and doing what many people describe as unclogging their arteries, really comes down to avoiding hydrogenated oils, fried foods, and trans fatty acids.

This is a disorder for which avoidance is really the best treatment. In fact, if you avoid those foods and engage in basic nutritional supplementation and cardiovascular exercise, your body will clean out the arteries for you over time all on its own. But don't forget it also means shifting to healthy oils and getting plenty of omega-3 oils, fish oils, and other healthy oils into your diet on a regular basis.

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Aloe vera may hold promise in treating cardiovascular disease

Aloe vera is one of my favorite healing plants, and I believe it is quite promising in terms of enhancing cardiovascular health. This is a subject that hasn't had many studies conducted yet, but there has been some related research that I think sheds light on the issue. For example, it is now known that an extract from aloe vera gel, when injected into the human bloodstream, greatly multiplies the oxygen transportation and diffusion capabilities of red blood cells.
In other words, if a patient is losing a tremendous amount of blood, such as a soldier who is wounded on the battlefield, and perhaps they've lost several pints of blood and their blood stores are getting dangerously low, they can be injected with a very small amount of extract taken from the aloe vera plant. This extract will then quickly diffuse through the bloodstream and multiply the effectiveness of the blood remaining in that person's system.

Effectively, this aloe vera extract makes that blood that's left in the body function as if it were a full supply of blood. It delivers oxygen more efficiently to the organs in the body that need oxygen to stay alive, most notably the brain and the heart. This has been well proven, and in fact aloe vera extract is now a part of a first aid medical product that is being marketed to the U.S. military for precisely this purpose. I've covered it in other articles here on this web site.

But the question is how does aloe vera actually do this? This is just an educated guess on my part, but it seems to me that aloe vera accomplishes this by increasing the viscosity of human blood. In order words, a normal person walking around day to day with normal blood of average health has a certain amount of stickiness in their red blood cells. The blood cells tend to stick together. This is not necessarily clotting, but it's just blood stickiness. In fact, you can see it under a microscope if you look at the blood of an unhealthy person versus a healthy person. The blood of an unhealthy person will tend to group together in small clusters, whereas the blood of a healthy person will tend to be free-flowing with individual red blood cells moving independently

Now, obviously the surface area of red blood cells is going to be far greater when each blood cell can move independently. And the surface area is directly related to the diffusion capability of red blood cells. In other words, the greater the surface area, the faster oxygen can move into red blood cells and be carried by the hemoglobin (the oxygen-carrying molecule in human blood). At the same time, once those red blood cells reach their destination in the body, the more surface area is available and the faster the oxygen can move out of the hemoglobin and be absorbed by the tissues that need that oxygen to operate.

If you use aloe vera and you increase the viscosity of red blood cells, then you effectively take a quantity of red blood cells that wasn't functioning at its optimum efficiency and transform them into something very efficient. You effectively increase the working surface area of the entire blood supply. And that explains exactly why this extract can help a hemorrhaging patient who has lost a tremendous amount of blood continue to live and function even on a much smaller volume of blood.

What does all of this mean to you as a person who might be a heart patient or a person with atherosclerosis who is looking to enhance your cardiovascular health? It means simply that if you eat aloe vera gel, which is something that I do on a daily basis, then you may be doing yourself a huge favor in terms of your cardiovascular health. Very likely you are increasing the viscosity of your blood at the cellular level. You're increasing its ability to carry oxygen, and to diffuse that oxygen into the organs in your body.

Theoretically, by increasing the viscosity, you are effectively halting the plaque buildup in your arteries, because there aren't groups of red blood cells floating around in your system that get stuck on the micro tears and abrasions that appear along the walls of your arteries. So blood viscosity works in your favor and aloe vera, I believe, will some day be scientifically proven to be a healing plant that vastly improves blood viscosity.

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CoQ10 improves cardiovascular health of heart patients

(NaturalNews) A new Italian study published in the online edition of the European Heart Journal has found that daily oral supplementation with coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) can improve the cardiovascular health of people with heart failure.
Researcher Romualdo Belardinelli and colleagues from the Lanicisi Heart Institute in Italy conducted a study of 23 patients with stable chronic heart failure (CHF), including 20 men with an average age of 59. The double-blind, placebo-controlled study randomly assigned the participants to four groups.

The first group was treated with oral supplements of CoQ10 (100 mg, three times per day); the second group took CoQ10 supplements and engaged in supervised exercise training five times a week; the third group took placebo; and the fourth group took placebo plus exercised five times a week.

The researchers found that the group taking CoQ10 supplements experienced a significant 9 percent improvement in the heart's functional capacity, compared to the group taking placebo. The group taking CoQ10 plus exercising experienced similar results over the group taking placebo and exercising.

Blood flow to the heart also increased by 38 percent in the groups taking CoQ10 supplements, and plasma levels of CoQ10 in those groups was tripled. That benefits CHF patients because it helps increase the bioavailability of CoQ10.

CoQ10 is a vitamin-like antioxidant compound that is essential to the body's ability to produce energy in cells. CoQ10 is mostly available in supplement form, but it can also be partly obtained through the diet. Foods rich in CoQ10 include oily fish that contain high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, and in organ meats and whole grains.

Though most researchers are focused on the effects of CoQ10 on heart health, research is under way to examine the supplements' possible benefits for people with diabetes, breast cancer, lung and prostate cancers, male infertility and kidney failure.

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Resveratrol Has Anti-aging and Anti-Cancer Properties, Linked to Cardiovascular Health

(NaturalNews) A wealth of new research findings continue to underscore the wonders of resveratrol, the compound discovered only a few years ago that has already achieved superstar status. Found predominately in red wine, grapes and peanuts, resveratrol is now showing to significantly impact the aging process, regulate for positive cardiovascular function, and protect against and reverse cancer.

Newest research finding

Researchers at Zhejiang University in China investigated the effect of injections of resveratrol on the central regulation of blood pressure, heart rate, and renal sympathetic nerve activity in animals. Their results suggest that resveratrol powerfully inhibits blood pressure, heart rate, and renal sympathetic nerve activity. This study has tremendous implications for anti-aging therapies.

In the July 26, 2008 Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, researchers addressed the question of the potential chemo-preventative activity of resveratrol against human cancers and its effect on normal cells. They examined the differential effect of resveratrol at physiologically relevant concentrations on nonmalignant and malignant cell lines and compared the underlying mechanisms via cell cycle modulation, induction of cell death, and potential toxicity. They found that 24 hours of exposure to resveratrol was toxic to both nonmalignant and malignant cells in a dose dependent manner. However, nonmalignant cells re-grew 5 times more than malignant cells after 120 hours. Significant alterations in cell cycle kinetics were induced by resveratrol in the malignant cells, but to a lesser extent for the nonmalignant cells. The proportion of cell death was 3 times higher in malignant cells compared to nonmalignant cells.

This research confirms that resveratrol produces a selective action that is able to target malignant cells for destruction while allowing nonmalignant cells to modulate its effect. It is just this type of malignant cell action that chemotherapy aims to achieve. However, the effects of chemotherapy are also toxic to healthy cells.

Apoptosis, July 26, 2008 reports a search for compounds capable of protecting cells against deoxycholate, a bile salt that harms cells and causes disease. In colon epithelial cells, deoxycholate increased generation of reactive oxygen species and caused DNA damage and cell death. Resveratrol and also quercetin were each able to largely prevent the occurrence of cell death in cells exposed to deoxycholate. These findings suggest that resveratrol may be able to undo cellular damage that leads to colon cancer.

The July 9, 2008 Experimental Gerontology reports researchers finding that resveratrol is able to mimic the effects of rigorous calorie restriction in several cytoskeletal maintenance and multiple stress response pathways. This effect is achieved by control of mitochondrial biogenesis and turnover, critical factors in the maintenance of energy production, the prevention of endogenous oxidative stress, and the promotion of healthy aging. Previous research has revealed the healthy benefits associated with daily caloric restriction of between 30 and 50 percent below what is considered today as average. These benefits also occur as the result of fasting. Such diets have been linked to reduction in the risk of age associated diseases and stress, along with a slowing of age related functional decline. In a previous study, this research team found that consuming resveratrol improved the health and survival of obese mice, even while they continued to consume a high calorie diet. Resveratrol showed to have the same positive effect on the livers, muscles, hearts and bones as calorie restriction. Resveratrol has also been shown to extend the lives of yeast, worms, flies and fish.

In another study at Zhejiang University in China researchers investigated the effects of resveratrol on adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-induced platelet aggregation. Compared with the control group, resveratrol inhibited ADP-induced platelet aggregation and fibrinogen in a dose dependent manner. The accumulation of platelets can form clots which may result in heart attack by lodging in an artery and restricting blood flow to the heart or brain.

About resveratrol

Resveratrol’s most abundant source is the grapes used to make red wine, with the highest concentrations being found in the skins. Red wine contains approximately 160 micrograms per fluid ounce. Significant amounts of resveratrol are also found in peanut kernels, with one ounce of peanuts containing about 73 micrograms, the amount also contained in 6 cups of red grapes. It is a component of Ko-jo-kon, an oriental medicine used to treat diseases of the circulatory system, heart and liver. Since wine is the most notable dietary source, it is the primary object of speculation and research on resveratrol, although wine contains many other compounds with biologic effects.

Resveratrol’s properties as an antioxidant and anti-cancer agent are rapidly becoming documented, and it is sometimes referred to as an explanation for the “French Paradox”, the low incidence of heart disease in the French population who eat a relatively high fat diet. In grape and peanuts plants, resveratrol’s role is antibiotic and part of the defense system.

Other documented effects

Results from various research studies have shown resveratrol to be protective against the oxidation of LDL cholesterol in the blood. It is this oxidation of LDL that initiates the deposition of cholesterol in the walls of the arteries that can lead to heart attack. Its hydrophilic and lipophilic properties can provide more effective protection than other well-known antioxidants, such as vitamins C and E.

Research at the University of Illinois in Chicago using resveratrol extracted from grapes found that the threat of cancer was reduced in animals when the compound was used to stop the growth of damaged cells. Had these damaged cells been left to grow, they would have become out of control, resulting in cancer.

The Peanut Institute has concluded that the finding of resveratrol in peanuts may support epidemiological studies from Loma Linda University, Harvard School of Public Health and University of Minnesota that show peanuts may reduce the risk of heart disease by more than half when eaten frequently in small amounts.

Should you supplement with resveratrol?

Research on resveratrol is just beginning to reveal its array of health benefits, and many extracts of resveratrol are appearing on the market that make adding it to your diet very easy. Probably the best choice is to add a glass of red wine or peanuts to your diet. Both red wine and peanuts have been proven to provide very significant overall health benefits. The consumption of red wine is an integral part of the Mediterranean diet, found to be extraordinarily health promoting. It is in red wine and peanuts that resveratrol is found in nature, suggesting that this is how nature intended for us to consume it. When any compound is part of a whole food, it is a part of a complex of balanced compounds that give it an integrity not found when it appears as an isolated extract.

Additional reference:

Melissa Q.B.McElderry, M.S., R.D., “Grape Expectations: The Resveratrol Story”.

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