Let Food Be Thy Medicine

Thursday, August 19, 2010 by Jan Sinatra
Dr. Sinatra has long believed in the famous words of Hippocrates, the Greek physician of centuries past who is now recognized as the “Father of Medicine.” Hippocrates employed food to assist his patients in healing their physical ailments. With all our high tech medical approaches and complex pharmaceutical agents, it is amazing how much we have forgotten that simple approach!

After years of applying nutritional solutions to the myriad faces of heart disease—high blood pressure levels; chronic hypertension; high triglycerides; elevated L(p)a; angina; and heart attack and stroke—Dr. Sinatra has finally answered his patients’ many requests for a book that they can have as a reference at home. His research and personal experiences with his family, friends, and cardiac patients has continually impressed my husband that Hippocrates was so right on—and provided the foundation for this effort.     

Dr. Sinatra has collaborated with former pro athlete and health editor Jim Healthy, as well as recipe queen Rebecca Bent to write Bottom Line’s The Healing Kitchen. The Healing Kitchen is a strategic resource for making healthy grocery selections and healing meal planning guidelines, as well as specific recipes to assist you in selecting the right healthy foods to meet your specific health and fitness needs.

Subscribers to Heart, Health, and Nutrition have been reading Dr. Sinatra’s take on which foods, herbs, and supplements can help with their cardiovascular problems (not to mention cancer and other diseases caused by inflammation) for many years. Now all that information and more is the basis for this one reference to help guide you to foods that can heal your body.

For instance, the omega 3 essential fatty acids—especially those found in squid and fish oils—assuage cardiac arrhythmia, lower blood pressure levels, reduce LDL cholesterol levels, and even prevent plaque rupture.

Garlic is a potent blood thinner and, like onions which are rich in quercetin, helps you prevent the oxidation of LDL cholesterol. Garlic and onions are both superb foods for lowering blood pressure levels. And, speaking of hypertension, Dr. Sinatra also recommends sardines and wakame seaweed as natural blood pressure lowering foods.

And that’s just the beginning! Did you know that the right diet can help alleviate your migraines headaches, or that non-inflammatory foods can heal your arthritis?

Foods can also protect women from menopausal symptoms, as well as heal and protect us from cancer. The lutein in tomatoes along with pumpkin seeds and other fine herbs and spices can help men with their prostate concerns. From heart disease and diabetes to sleep and sex, The Healing Kitchen will educate you about natural, tasty remedies for many of the illnesses that afflict the 20th century. 

If you are looking to use simple, healthy foods, herbs and spices to get your body back on track, and keep it there, you will love this book!

For more information on healthy heart nutrition or some of Dr. Sinatra’s famous recipes, visit his Web site at www.drsinatra.com.
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Cardiovascular Problems and Women

Wednesday, August 18, 2010 by Stephen Sinatra
I worry about the fact that so many women still think that cardiovascular problems, like heart disease and stroke, is primarily a problem for men. The truth is that heart disease is a major health risk for women, but many physicians did not realize this until recently, so they’ve done little to encourage their female patients to take steps to protect their heart health.

I also worry because much of our knowledge about heart disease describes how the condition affects men. This leads many physicians, including some holistic practitioners, to diagnose and treat women as if heart disease affected them the same way. Nothing could be further from the truth. Heart disease affects men and women very differently and I’ve written about that here in this in newsletter articles, books, and here in this blog.

For example, if a 45-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man both come into the emergency room with chest pain, most physicians will probably admit the man and tell the woman her symptoms are due to stress and anxiety. Not many physicians realize that the incidence of coronary events among women quadruples as they reach middle age.

What You Can Do About It

I want you to understand that much of this, in both women and men, is related to lifestyle and the choices you make.
  • Choose to seek natural ways to lower blood pressure if that’s a problem for you.
  • Choose to adhere to good cardiovascular nutrition, which may include increasing the amount of fresh vegetables you consume and lowering the amount of breads and other starches you eat each day.
  • Choose to do what you need to do to maintain good cholesterol levels, improve blood circulation, and healthy triglycerides.
  • Choose to exercise so that you can more easily prevent blood clots and maintain a healthy weight.
In short, while it may be difficult at the start, choose to live a healthy lifestyle.  Choose life.

For more information on women and cardiovascular problems or tips for good cardiovascular nutrition, visit Dr. Sinatra's Web site.
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Leading Causes of High Blood Pressure Levels

Wednesday, August 11, 2010 by Stephen Sinatra
The leading causes of high blood pressure levels include stress, genetics, being overweight, a high-sugar diet, heavy metal toxicity, and lack of exercise. 

This blog is loaded with posts that can help you manage all of these.  And once you have them under control, you’ll be well on your way to avoiding a host of cardiovascular problems, including heart attack and stroke.

Obviously, it’s better to prevent high blood pressure levels than to treat them.  That’s why I work so hard to educate my readers.  I want you all to know that there are natural ways to lower blood pressure, including:
  • reducing stress,
  • losing weight  (you can get great tips for doing this here),
  • controlling your sugar intake, and
  • exercising more.

You also want to adhere to good cardiovascular nutrition and following my PAMM diet makes that easy.  You’ll never go hungry, but will enjoy delicious foods filled with the nutrients you need to maintain good health.

For more information on blood pressure levels and healthy blood pressure, visit Dr. Sinatra's Web site.

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Watch White Coat Hypertension

Friday, July 23, 2010 by Stephen Sinatra
Often when patients come to my office, I will find their blood pressure levels to be high. However, when they go home and measure it themselves, their blood pressure levels are normal. Occasionally they’ll ask if the instruments in my office are off, or if my staff misread the result.

The actual problem, however, is a common condition called white coat hypertension. It’s used to describe people who become anxious over a visit to a physician, holistic health practitioner, dentist, or other medical facility. Such visits evoke a fight-or-flight response, and their blood pressure levels go up. But research has shown that abnormally high blood pressure readings in a medical setting could be more than just a benign byproduct of anxiety. Although the condition is poorly understood, WCH could be a precursor to high blood pressure and other cardiovascular problems.

A Danish study published in the Journal of Human Hypertension found a heightened cardiovascular event risk for patients with WCH over a 10-year period. A Japanese study reported in the journal Hypertension Research suggests that white coat hypertension contributes to carotid arteriosclerosis. And in another Japanese medical report, based on eight years of observation, researchers suggest that white coat hypertension is a “transitional condition to hypertension” and may carry a “poor cardiovascular prognosis.”

If you experience white coat hypertension, I suggest you introduce a regular stress-reduction program into your life. That could include activities such as exercise, T'ai chi, meditation, or yoga.

You may also want to start taking blood pressure-friendly supplements on a daily basis—such as fish oil (2–3 grams), magnesium (400–800 mg), hydrosoluble CoQ10 (100–200 mg), and a garlic supplement high in allicin (500–1,000 mg).

Finally, consider my book, Lower Your Blood Pressure in Eight Weeks (Ballantine Books, 2003). It has lots of great, practical tips for lowering blood pressure levels.

For more information on natural ways to lower blood pressure, visit www.drsinatra.com. While there, sign up for FREE e-letters or subscribe to Dr. Sinatra’s monthly newsletter, Heart, Health & Nutrition.

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Beware of Salt and Elevated Blood Pressure Levels

Wednesday, July 21, 2010 by Stephen Sinatra

I’ll never forget a patient I treated a few years ago who was living with chronic hypertension.  One Easter Sunday, he ate his fill of canned ham (packed with salt) and found himself in the hospital emergency room the next day.  He was in a hypertensive crisis and suffering with acute heart failure. His heart just couldn’t handle the large amount of salt he had consumed.

His was an extraordinary situation, but it underscores the need to be careful with salt intake. So please let his story be a lesson to you.   And please share it with family and friends who may be dealing with cardiovascular problems.

Here are some things you need to know about salt consumption:
  • Your body requires sodium (a component of salt) to regulate fluid balance and distribution, as well as nerve and muscle cell function. Although you need some sodium, the standard diet includes way too much.
  • “Salt sensitivity” is a key factor in determining the response to dietary salt intake. Cardiovascular problems, including heart attack and stroke, are more common in “salt sensitive” patients than in “salt resistant” ones.
  • The current recommendation for salt consumption is less than 2,400 mg of sodium a day, which amounts to about one teaspoon of salt. Recent research suggests that people ingesting less than 1,500 mg of sodium a day are better able to control high blood pressure. If you have high blood pressure, you should definitely aim for that kind of level. Don’t use salt from the shaker, and read labels to add up the amount you’re taking in.
  • Many items at fast food restaurants are high in salt, so you can easily exceed the recommended level with one serving.
  • You can easily make up for the reduced salt in your diet by cooking with fresh herbs and spices such as basil, garlic, oregano, rosemary, chives, parsley, and onion. What’s more, all of these flavorings contain natural substances that are good for your health. Garlic, in particular, has been shown to have a positive effect on blood pressure when consumed on a daily basis.
  • Beware of cutting your salt consumption too much. You need a minimum amount of sodium in your system to maintain proper electrolyte balance, regardless of your blood pressure status. For that reason, don’t let your daily salt intake fall below about 500 mg.

Managing your salt intake is just one of the natural ways to lower blood pressure that are highlighted here. For even more information on reducing hypertension visit www.drsinatra.com. While there, sign up for FREE e-letters or subscribe to Dr. Sinatra’s monthly newsletter, Heart, Health & Nutrition.

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Controlling High Blood Pressure

Monday, July 19, 2010 by Stephen Sinatra
Uncontrolled blood pressure levels (or hypertension) are a leading risk factor for heart attack and stroke. Often, there are no symptoms, which is why hypertension is called the “silent killer.” You may not know you have it unless you have your blood pressure checked regularly.

Your blood pressure reflects how hard your heart has to work to pump adequate blood through your arteries. Each contraction of your heart pumps out a wave of oxygen-rich blood that causes the flexible arterial walls to expand. After the wave passes, the walls deflate. The intensity of this sequence is your blood pressure. The first number is your systolic reading (the pressure of the blood against arterial walls at the wave’s peak), and the second number is the diastolic reading (the pressure when the wave passes).

Years ago, we thought a reading of 140/88 was the upper limit of normal. These days, a reading that high is unacceptable. Research shows that you want your systolic pressure to be in the 120s and your diastolic pressure to be in the high 70s or low 80s.

Unfortunately, our arteries become more rigid and calcified as we age, making it harder to attain these optimum blood pressure levels. Think of your arteries as rivers full of twists and turns. Just as the force of rushing high water can eat away at the bank of a river, high blood pressure has a potentially damaging effect on the inner layer of the arterial wall. The arteries are especially vulnerable where they bend or form branches.

The leading causes of high blood pressure include stress, genetics, being overweight, a high-sugar diet, heavy metal toxicity, and lack of exercise. Stress-related hormones, for instance, cause the peripheral vessels to constrict. This forces the heart to pump harder in order to move blood through the narrowed channels, and leads to more pressure at the bends.

Obviously, it’s better to prevent hypertension than to have to treat it. For more information on natural ways to lower blood pressure, visit www.drsinatra.com. While there, sign up for FREE e-letters or subscribe to Dr. Sinatra’s monthly newsletter, Heart, Health & Nutrition.


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Lowering Blood Pressure Naturally

Friday, June 25, 2010 by Stephen Sinatra
When considering targeted nutritional supplements for lowering blood pressure naturally, there’s no room for a “one size fits all” mentality.

For example, some patients who are trying to control high blood pressure will require as much as 800 mg of magnesium, higher doses of essential fatty acids, or a raft of insulin support, while others do well with just haw­thorn and garlic. It all depends on many variables, such as how high the blood pressure levels are, how overweight the individual is, and so on.

Typically, I start patients on the four minerals (magne­sium, calcium, potassium, zinc), CoQ10, L-carnitine, and fish oil. Then we wait three to four weeks to see if blood pressure levels come down. Some do very well with these nutri­tional supports alone, and that’s all they need.

If there’s little or no response, I add garlic, haw­thorn, and grapeseed to their regimen. We wait another three or four weeks and re-evaluate. If blood pressure levels are still not coming down, I add L-arginine and possibly another essential fatty acid, usually flaxseed.

And this is how the process goes—add a nutrient or two, wait a month, assess blood pressure, add a few more nutrients from the lists above if needed. The process can take as long as six months to a year, which is why patience is key. (A good blood pressure cuff for home monitoring is also important.)

Lowering blood pressure naturally doesn’t take rocket science, but it does take a special kind of dedication to get those numbers down—and keep them there.

Note: These targeted nutritional supplements must be used in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle that includes exercise; weight loss; following a a healthy cardiovascular nutrition plan; minimal or no alcohol use; avoid­ing excessive use of common NSAID medications; and stress reduction.

For more information on natural ways to lower your blood pressure and other health conditions, visit www.drsinatra.com.
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Lower Blood Pressure Levels With Hawthorn and Garlic

Monday, June 21, 2010 by Stephen Sinatra
If you suffer with cardiovascular problems or suffer from chronic hypertension, you should know about hawthorn and garlic.  They’re both recommended for natural ACE inhibition. Research has shown that together they naturally interrupt the conversion of the hormone angio­tensin I to angiotensin II, without undesirable side effects.   In addition, they both  provide natural ways to lower blood pressure.

If you can manage it, take garlic in its natural state—one raw clove on a daily basis, crushed to activate its healing enzymes. Or toss crushed garlic into food for the last few minutes of cooking, but remember that anything more than lightly warming it will destroy its medicinal properties.

Supplemental garlic is somewhat controversial because nobody can say for sure which of its substances is most therapeutic. The prevailing theory amongst most doctors and holistic health practitioners is that “alli­cin potential” is the best measure of effectiveness, so if you’re going to take garlic supplements, look for one with high allicin potential and an enteric coating. Enzymatic Therapy’s Garlinase fulfills both requirements; it’s widely available in health food stores.

I typically prescribe 500–1,500 mg/day of haw­thorn and 500–1,000 mg/day of garlic, both taken in divided doses. 

For more information on cardiovascular problems and reducing hypertension, visit www.drsinatra.com.
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Magnesium, Calcium, and Heart Disease

Friday, June 18, 2010 by Stephen Sinatra

 Most of us are deficient in magnesium, which is unfortunate because it is so critical for helping to maintain healthy blood pressure and to avoid a myriad of cardiovascular problems.

Adhering to good cardiovascular nutrition can help, but even if you do eat whole-food sources of magnesium (tofu, navy beans, lima beans, and figs are the rich­est) you may not get enough of this nutrient through diet alone. That’s why I rec­ommend 400 mg of magnesium for healthy folks and up to 800 mg daily if you’re interesting in a great way for lowering blood pressure naturally.

Magnesium works synergistically with calcium, but you must be careful about the amount of calcium you take. More than 2,000 mg per day can cause your kidneys to excrete magnesium.

Although my cardiovascular nutrition plan includes many calcium-rich foods, such as green leafy vegetables, tofu, low-fat cheeses, and skim or 1% milk, you should still take a calcium supplement to be sure you get the right ratio and balance of each mineral.

I like calcium in softgel form because of its rapid disintegration time (six minutes or less) and better bioavailability. In people with poor digestion, solid calcium tablets may pass intact through the digestive tract and out of the body.

I urge my patients to choose a calcium formula that contains mixed compounds such as citrate, carbonate, aspartate, and gluconate, in combination with a similar magnesium complex. I recommend taking up to 750 mg daily of calcium in conjunction with the above recommended dose of 400 mg daily of magnesium. 

For more information on healthy blood pressure and cardiovascular nutrition, visit www.drsinatra.com.
 

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Control High Blood Pressure Naturally

Wednesday, June 16, 2010 by Stephen Sinatra
Most doctors and holistic health practitioners will tell you that lowering blood pressure naturally is possible. But it takes a few changes in lifestyle, good cardiovascular nutrition, and the use of targeted nutritional supplements.

It also requires a total commitment, and I do my utmost to support every patient who chooses to go this route. In fact, my belief in a non-pharmacological approach to controlling blood pressure levels is so strong that I wrote a book (Lower Your Blood Pressure in Eight Weeks) about lowering blood pressure naturally.

If you have high blood pressure levels, you’ve undoubtedly been advised to evaluate your lifestyle and start exercising. You may have been told to consider psychotherapy to explore unexpressed or unrecognized emotions like anger, fear, and anxiety. I have written and will continue to write about these topics because they’re essential to lowering blood pressure levels, as well as healing from heart attack and strokes, and almost any other illness.

For more information on natural ways to lower your blood pressure, visit www.drsinatra.com.
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Natural Ways to Lower Blood Pressure

Monday, June 14, 2010 by Stephen Sinatra
It’s estimated that 60 million Americans need to control high blood pressure, making this condition the No. 1 concern of cardiologists and internists today. Only about two-thirds of the people who know they have high blood pressure have it under fair control, usually with drug therapy.

Despite lifestyle modifications and drugs, many people’s high blood pressure levels remain uncontrolled. And uncontrolled high blood pressure (known medically as hypertension) is a leading risk factor for both heart attack and stroke, with women even more vulnerable to its ravages than men.

One of the most common consultations I see in my office is someone with high blood pressure levels who can’t tolerate the side effects of prescription drugs or who just doesn’t want to risk taking drugs. I can’t blame them: The fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. is properly prescribed drugs in a hospital environment.

Anti-hypertensive medications can control high blood pressure levels, but at a high cost in terms of side effects and increased risk of other diseases. However, some patients need pharmacological agents, especially those whose hearts and daily life are highly compromised.
 
There are natural ways to lower blood pressure. They involve good cardiovascular nutrition, as well as simple lifestyle modifications and targeted supplementation. Lowering blood pressure naturally is possible, but it takes commitment and the willingness to make some changes.

For more information on natural ways to lower blood pressure and good cardiovascular nutrition, visit www.drsinatra.com.
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The Connection Between Lipoprotein A and Heart Disease

Friday, June 4, 2010 by Stephen Sinatra

Lipoprotein A, or Lp(a), is a component of LDL or “bad” cholesterol and high levels of it in your blood can be a serious heart risk factor.  

According to an article in the 1997 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Lp(a) appears to regulate clot formation (thrombosis) and inhibit blood thin­ning, which can lead to blood circulation problems.

We know that Lp(a) increases in unstable diabetics and menopausal women with elevated levels due to lowered estrogen levels. This may be why the incidence of heart disease among menopausal women quadruples.

Conversely, Lp(a) decreases with estrogen replacement therapy. For this reason, it’s imperative that all menopausal and perimeno­pausal women with a strong family history of heart disease have their Lp(a) levels checked by their doctor. Further, postmenopausal women with multiple heart risk factors should consider natural, topical estrogen replace­ment therapy, particularly if their Lp(a) is elevated.

Research shows that elevated Lp(a) levels appear to be even stronger predictors for the development of premature heart disease in men. JAMA reported a study of 2,191 men confirming this.

Statin Drugs Will Not Reduce Lp(a)

Statins, drugs commonly prescribed to help you keep good cholesterol levels, are not effective for lowering Lp(a) levels. In fact, a study involving these drugs showed an increase in Lp(a) levels! And therein lies the dilemma.

While cholesterol-lowering drugs can reduce LDL, they can’t reduce Lp(a). If you find that a high Lp(a) level runs in your family, you must attack it with an alter­native approach.

Here’s what I recommend:

  • Take 100 mg of niacin, twice a day. If you experience side effects like flushing, headache, and diarrhea, follow the diet and stop the niacin. You can try a lower dosage at a later date and you can increase the dose to 500 mg a day, twice a day for further protection, or reduce it by no less than 100 mg daily if you have side effects. Twinlabs’ quick-acting Niacin is a good product.
  • Follow my Pan-Asian Modified Mediterranean (PAMM) diet.
  • Take 1–2grams of vitamin C and 100–200 mg of standard coenzyme Q10.
  • Take 1–2grams of fish oil daily.
  • Take 50mg of nattokinase twice a day.
  • Take 100mg of delta tocotrienols twice a day.
  • Exercise regularly.

If you’re concerned, you and your family members should have your Lp(a) and other risk factors (homocysteine, fibrinogen, and serum ferritin) evaluated by your doctor. And be aware of other heart disease risk factors, includ­ing smoking, high blood pressure, obesity, glucose intolerance, and repressed emotions, all of which can cause cardiovascular problems.

For more information on LDL cholesterol levels and ways to lower them, visit www.drsinatra.com.

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Exercise Can Be Hazardous To Your Heart

Friday, May 21, 2010 by Stephen Sinatra

While the benefits of exercise far outweigh the negatives, especially when it comes to helping you avoid cardiovascular problems, I do want to mention an important precaution to take while exercising...

Free radical assaults can be aggravated by even the most moderate exercise. Exercise-induced free radicals can contribute to the development of arterial blockage by causing your LDL cholesterol levels to increase and it then sticking to the  walls of your arteries in the form of plaque.

If you jog on a hot, sunny day when the air-pollution level is high, inhaling airborne toxins creates a huge surge of free radicals that are carried along by your high metabolic rate. Combined with free radicals produced by exercise itself, it’s an unrelenting assault.

Over time, such repeated influx of free radicals sets the stage for serious cardiovascular problems. 

I don’t want to give you the impression that exercise is bad for you. You need exercise for optimal health and it is one of the best natural ways to lower blood pressure. The risks of not exercising, or of exercising too little, are far greater than the risks of free radical damage. I want you to get both benefits: the healing gains of regular, moderate exercise and protection from free radicals that result from exercising too aggressively or too much.

Protect Yourself from Free Radical Damage

Extensive research indicates that antioxidant supplements neutralize free radicals before they do damage, by preventing the oxidation of fats and stabilizing cell membranes broken down by exercise.

Key antioxidant supplements to take regularly if you exercise include:

  • Coenzyme Q10 (30-90 mg softgels daily),
  • L-carnitine (500 mg daily),
  • Lutein (3-6 mg daily),
  • Grape seed extract (30-60 mg daily),
  • Vitamin A (200-400 IU), and
  • Magnesium (200-400 mg).

For more information on cardiovascular health, visit www.drsinatra.com.
 


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Exercise is a Great Way of Lowering Blood Pressure Naturally

Monday, May 17, 2010 by Stephen Sinatra

I am often asked what the best exercise is. I answer that the best exercise is the one you will do.  Afterall, there’s no point recommending an exercise if the person you’re recommending it to won’t do it.

You can’t be truly healthy without exercise and it is great for people who are dealing with circulatory problems, need help reducing cholesterol levels, or are trying to maintain healthy triglycerides.

Exercise also is just what this doctor orders when it comes to lowering blood pressure naturally.  As you know, maintaining healthy blood pressure levels is one of the smartest things you can do to reduce your risk of risk for heart attack and stroke.

Two of the best forms of movement are also the most pleasant—walking and dancing. Research, including some of my own, has continued to reinforce this view.

Research has demonstrated that exercise reduces the incidence of coronary heart disease, diabetes, depression, and osteoporosis. Now we can add stroke to the list. In a study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), 4,065 nurses ages 40 to 65, without cardiovascular disease or cancer, completed detailed physical activity questionnaires. The surveys revealed that walking was associated with reduced risk of stroke.

If all this isn’t enough to get you off the couch, consider that if you have been relatively sedentary most of your life, you are likely to lose 30 to 40 percent of your muscle strength by the time you’re 65. By age 75, more than a quarter of American men and two-thirds of American women can’t lift a gallon of milk above their waist with one hand.

Exercise burns calories and increases body metabolic rate, which means that your body burns more calories even as you rest. So let's get moving!

For more information on lowering blood pressure naturally, visit www.drsinatra.com.

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Fight Heart Risk Factors With Nutraceutical Support

Friday, April 30, 2010 by Stephen Sinatra

Vitamin and mineral supplements are not substitutes for a proper diet, but even the rare American who eats a balanced diet does not get the amount of nutritionals needed to combat the toxins and heart risk factors that threaten his/her health. This is why it’s critical that you take a quality multivitamin/mineral supplement with antioxidants every day with your meals. It’s just smart cardiovascular nutrition.

Hundreds of studies have shown that antioxidant nutrients protect cells from free radicals, neutralizing these molecular marauders before they do serious damage. Antioxidants protect your genetic DNA, cellular membranes, and even the enzyme systems that support cell metabolism. These activities have implications far beyond daily health. They can be found at the heart of aging itself.

Additionally, there are some key nutritional allies that reduce your risk for many of the cardiovascular problems out there today, including heart attack and stroke.  For example, taking the right supplements is one of the best natural ways to lower blood pressure levels, improve poor blood circulation, and maintain healthy cholesterol and healthy blood pressure. Check out my previous postings, then consult with your doctor or holistic health practitioner to find out what’s best for you.

To read more on how to fight heart risk factors, visit www.drsinatra.com.
 

2 Comments »

Exercise Can Be Hazardous To Your Health

Friday, April 9, 2010 by Stephen Sinatra

While the benefits of exercise far outweigh the negatives, especially when it comes to helping you avoid cardiovascular problems, I do want to mention an important precaution to take while exercising.

Free radical assaults can be aggravated by even moderate exercise. Exercise-induced free radicals can contribute to the development of arterial blockage by causing your LDL cholesterol levels to increase and it then sticking to the walls of your arteries in the form of plaque.

If you jog on a hot, sunny day when the air-pollution level is high, inhaling airborne toxins creates a huge surge of free radicals that are carried along by your high metabolic rate. Combined with free radicals produced by exercise itself, it’s an unrelenting assault.

Over time, such repeated influx of free radicals sets the stage for serious cardiovascular problems.

I don’t want to give you the impression that exercise is bad for you. You need exercise for optimal health and it is one of the best natural ways to lower blood pressure. The risks of not exercising, or of exercising too little, are far greater than the risks of free radical damage. I want you to get both benefits: the healing gains of regular, moderate exercise and protection from free radicals that result from exercising too aggressively or too much.

Protect Yourself With Antioxidants

Extensive research indicates that antioxidant supplements neutralize free radicals before they do damage, by preventing the oxidation of fats and stabilizing cell membranes broken down by exercise.

Key antioxidant supplements to take regularly if you exercise, are coenzyme Q10 (30-90 mg softgels daily), L-carnitine (500 mg daily), lutein (3-6 mg daily), grape seed extract (30-60 mg daily), vitamin A (200-400 IU), and magnesium (200-400 mg). They’re all available in health food stores.

For more information on cardiovascular health, visit www.drsinatra.com.
 

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Lowering Blood Pressure Naturally with Exercise

Friday, March 12, 2010 by Stephen Sinatra

I am often asked what the best exercise is. I answer that the best exercise is the one you will do.

There’s no point recommending an exercise if the person you’re recommending it to won’t do it. I also tell people to think of it as “movement” rather than “exercise.” That doesn’t sound like so much work, and, after all, the whole goal of exercise is to get out and get moving.

You can’t be truly healthy without exercise, and it is great for people who are dealing with circulatory problems, need help reducing cholesterol levels, or are trying to maintain healthy triglycerides.

Exercise also is just what this doctor orders when it comes to lowering blood pressure naturally. As you know, maintaining healthy blood pressure levels is one of the smartest things you can do to reduce your risk of risk for heart attack and stroke.

Two of the best forms of movement are also the most pleasant—walking and dancing. Research, including some of my own, has continued to reinforce this view.

Studies have shown that exercise reduces the incidence of coronary heart disease, diabetes, depression, and osteoporosis. Now we can add stroke to the list. In a study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), 4,065 nurses ages 40 to 65, without cardiovascular disease or cancer, completed detailed physical activity questionnaires. The surveys revealed that walking was associated with reduced risk of stroke.

For more information on lowering your blood pressure naturally, visit www.drsinatra.com.

0 Comments »

Statin Drugs Will Not Reduce Lp(a)

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 by Stephen Sinatra

Drugs typically prescribed for reducing cholesterol have no impact on Lp(a) levels. In fact, a study involving these drugs showed an increase in Lp(a) levels! And therein lies the dilemma.

While drugs prescribed to help you attain and maintain healthy cholesterol can reduce LDL, they can’t alter Lp(a). If you find that Lp(a) runs in your family, you must attack it with an alternative approach. Here’s what I recommend:

  • Follow my Pan-Asian Modified Mediterranean diet, making sure to eat fresh fish at least two to three times a week. Eat fresh fruits, legumes, cold-water fish such as salmon, sardines, and mackerel or fish oils, particularly docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which blocks the inflammatory and blood-clotting capabilities of Lp(a). Omit saturated fats. Instead, choose monounsaturated fats like olive oil and polyunsaturated fats like alpha-linolenic acid, found in flaxseed and flaxseed oil.   (These are excellent tips to adhere to for overall cardiovascular nutrition.)
  • Take 100 mg of niacin, twice a day. If you experience side effects like flushing, headache, and diarrhea, follow the diet and stop the niacin. You can try a lower dosage at a later date, then slowly increase the dose to 500 mg a day, twice a day for further protection. TwinLabs' quick-acting Niacin is a good product.
  • Take 1–2 grams of vitamin C and 100–200 mg of CoQ10 each day.
  • Policosanol—20 mg daily at bedtime.
  • Exercise regularly.
  • Ask your doctor about screening techniques to assess your heart risk factors. If you’re concerned, you and your family members should have your Lp(a) and other risk factors (homocysteine, fibrinogen and serum ferritin) evaluated by your doctor.
  • Be aware of other risk factors for cardiovascular problems, including smoking, high blood pressure, obesity, glucose intolerance and repressed emotions, which can have a harmful effect on the health of your heart.
For more information on reducing your cholesterol naturally, visit www.drsinatra.com.

 
 

 

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Cardiovascular Problems and Stress

Tuesday, February 16, 2010 by Jan Sinatra
I have known for years that catch-and-release fly fishing is the #1 thing that reduces my busy husband’s stress levels. And, intuitively, I’ve been convinced that Dr Sinatra might escape cardiovascular problems himself, and even live longer, if he fished more often than his busy schedule often allowed. So, this month, I was very happy to see him set aside some extra days before his annual all-guy fishing trip time to fish a few extra bonefish “flats” by himself.

For Dr Sinatra, fly fishing is a form of “moving meditation.” His entire focus is engaged in studying nature—the nuances in the movement of the water’s surface, the behavior of the bait fish and surrounding birds, the direction of the wind, and the luminescence of the sun’s rays. Then there is best part—the soft scream of his line running out over the reel when a fish takes the fly and runs with it!

Now there is scientific evidence that stress reduction—whatever form it takes for you—bolsters longevity by directly impacting your DNA in a favorable fashion. 

Groundbreaking research out of USCF has won investigators the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology. And it is something you, too, should know about if you’re looking to prevent heart attack and stroke, avoid cardiovascular problems, or just live a longer, healthier life!

Even before the American Heart Association finally identified “stress” as an independent factor for cardiovascular problems, Dr Sinatra was facilitating workshops to help local cardiac patients learn to identify their stressors, as well as discover interventions to alleviate them. Over decades since, we have finally collected sound research that stress reduction lowers blood pressure levels, relieves physiological strain on the heart, and may even save your life. I am proud to report that Dr Sinatra even contributed to that research!

Now we are learning that there may actually be changes to our DNA to enhance longevity if we can manage to reduce our levels of psychological distress.

For more information on cardiovascular problems and how to avoid them, visit www.drsinatra.com.

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Cardiovascular Nutrition Tip -- Add Flax to Your Diet

Friday, January 29, 2010 by Stephen Sinatra

Ground flaxseed has the ability to lower your blood pressure levels and to help you to reach good cholesterol levels. It can also reward you with healthier skin, improved digestion, and a cleaner bowel, which results in less energy drain on the liver – the most important filter of the body.


You see, you can get two key types of essential fatty acids from flaxseed because it contains 19 percent activated omega-6s and 48 percent of an omega-3 precursor, alpha linolenic acid. This makes it a perfect food for people who are looking for natural ways to lower blood pressure and maintain overall good health.


In general, freshly ground flaxseed is better than flax oil because you’re assured the oil in the seed is fresh, plus you’re getting extra fiber and plant lignans. Simply grind two tablespoons of flaxseed and sprinkle on food or blend in a breakfast drink three to four times per week.

Click here for a delicious smoothie recipe using flaxseed and here for the recipe for a heart healthy flaxseed bran muffin to go with it!

For more tips on cardiovascular nutrition, visit www.drsinatra.com.

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