Heart disease kills an estimated 630,000 Americans each year. It’s the leading cause of death for both men and women.
In the United States, the most common type of heart disease is coronary artery disease (CAD), which can lead to a heart attack. You can greatly reduce your risk for CAD through lifestyle changes and, in some cases, medication.
But the good news is…in most cases, heart disease is optional! [click to continue…]
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One of the questions I still hear in my practice is, “Why do I need to be concerned with my heart? Women don’t get heart disease like men”. So, let’s talk about that for a moment.
The truth is heart disease is the #1 cause of death in women over the age of 50. About one in four women dies of heart disease. And the older we get, the more likely we will suffer from heart disease. While both men and women can suffer from heart attacks, we as women are more likely to die from them.
The good news is, most heart disease (and Type II Diabetes) is preventable and that’s what I try to focus on with my patients. This is good news as more and more people are interested in how to prevent disease so they can live long healthy lives (not to mention, reduce their health care expenditures!).
Here are some steps you can take to reduce your risk of heart disease. [click to continue…]
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You’ve heard this all your life…”you are what you eat”. But often, we get confused about what we should be eating. While there is a lot of information available to us about healthy nutrition, it’s good to start with a few sound principals.
As a rule, people of all ages, who wish to be healthy may want to look at the portions of food we eat. You’ve heard of supersizing no doubt? You don’t have to supersize in order to be eating too much…you can do that just by having portions that are a bit larger than they should be.
Most people have “portion distortion”. Get a good reference book on the subject of portions (any diet or nutritional book) and start measuring your portions.
Yes, get out the measuring cup, the tablespoons and the scale. Do this until you relearn the proper amounts of food to eat. Check yourself periodically to make sure you are staying on target. You’ll be amazed with the results.
Eat organically as much as possible. Food today is loaded with hormones, pesticides, anti-bruise chemicals and the like. Simply washing your fruit may not get rid of the pesticides, and you certainly cannot get the hormones and antibiotics out of your meat. If you cannot grow it yourself (and know it’s clean) then consider purchasing foods that are certified as organic.
We, as whole human being, like to stay in balance as much as possible. I believe that much of our stress, much of our illness, and indeed a large part of aging is due to being out of balance. This principal holds true for our eating habits as well.
We need all components of nutrition. We need the fats (healthy fats), carbohydrates (complex carbohydrates) and the protein. Stay away from dietary recommendations that tell you to avoid “all fats” or “all carbohydrates”. You need all three. Balance.
Excerpt from Aging with Success, page 21-2.; (C) Barbara C. Phillips, NP
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You know how if you look up in a grocery store, they will have signs that direct you to where the coffee, flour and cereal are? Well, in a store about an hour from me, I found the most amazing signs….”Nutritional Food”, “Natural Cereal” and “Nutritional Drink”. This is a chain supermarket (and I’ll leave them un-named).
While, I don’t have to tell you that not all food is healthy, the fact that the grocer is now advertising this is telling. Truly…it’s time for the consumer to beware. If you are looking for foods that are nutritional, make sure you are in the correct aisles.
Seriously thought, learn to read the labels and check them for any products you buy. [click to continue…]
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