Preventing Heart Disease

I was really close with my grandmother growing up; she was one of my favorite people in the world. I clearly remember the day she had a heart attack–the concerned expressions on everyone’s faces, the worry and tension. It was devastating. The hospital had my grandparents take classes on how their lives needed to change; switching to a low fat diet was emphasized as well as decreasing their stress levels. My grandmother’s heart attack seemed to be the beginning of the end; a few years later she passed away of lung cancer.

My grandmother’s story is not unlike many Americans. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, Americans have an average life expectancy of 78.2 years, but our average healthy life expectancy is 68.1 years. In other words, we are expected to be sick for around 10 years of our lives. Americans also have more years lost due to disability than any other nation. In essence, Americans are suffering old or dying young. In the last few years, drugs related to cardiovascular issues like high blood pressure and cholesterol were in the top 5 drugs prescribed in the US. About 600,000 people die of heart disease in the US every year; that is 1 in every 4 deaths. In fact, heart disease causes more deaths than breast cancer, hand guns, and traffic accidents combined.

If a low fat diet was the answer to our cardiovascular problems, why is heart disease such a prevalent issue in our society today? High cholesterol is a major concern for many of my patients. They have tried low fat diets and often have had little success with lowering their cholesterol. This is the kicker: according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, there is no correlation between saturated fat and heart disease. This research has been public since 2003, but for years, Americans have been buying low fat products in which fat has been replaced with what secret ingredient to create flavor? Sugar…….hence the rise of Type 2 Diabetes. I hate to say it, but guess what ingredient is associated with increased cholesterol and malfunctioning of our good (HDL) cholesterol? Sugar and excess carbohydrates. Because sugar creates an inflammatory response within our bodies, it is fueling the fire for heart disease, cancer, autoimmune conditions, Alzheimer’s, etc.

How do we help our patients lower their cholesterol and change their fear of having a heart attack? We help them change their lifestyle; therefore setting a foundation for great quality of life as well as longevity. A lifestyle change needs to be more than changing someone’s diet. A lifestyle change should include having the right nutritional support, learning how to build posture and improved function (chiropractic), building strength, balance, agility, and cardiovascular health (fitness training), as well as teaching the body and mind stress-relieving strategies (massage and meditation).

The truth is, you cannot medicate your way out of a problem you behaved your way into. Changing your lifestyle is the key……and is what we help people do every day. 8 Weeks to Wellness is a holistic approach to improving your health, quality of life, and longevity. Our success in creating long-lasting change for patients is due to our understanding of the latest research combined with a team of professionals who are devoted to holding our patients accountable to creating a lifestyle overhaul. Our passion is seeing people thrive instead of just survive, creating health by choice, not by chance.