Did you know that often the first sign of heart disease is sudden death? About 600,000 people die of heart disease each year , mostly from coronary artery disease. Heart disease is a leading cause of death year after year. The statistical spread over people of different races is fairly even, meaning that being of a certain nationality or background won’t save you.
Death by heart disease can be fairly quick compared to death by cancer or Parkinson’s Disease, for example. But let’s assume that you aren’t the one that is going to drop dead of a sudden heart attack. In that case, you might be more concerned with the impact that heart disease can have on your quality of life and wonder what you can do to change it.
To make any meaningful lifestyle changes, you will need proper motivation. The right motivation can vary from person to person – what motivates one person to stop smoking can be ineffective for another, for example.
The purpose of this article, then, it is to point out some reasons to improve your heart health and help you understand consequences of destructive habits. Which ones speak to you will be unique. Knowledge is a good first step, however.
Let’s start with libido and sex. The small arteries of the heart are not the only ones affected by artery disease. The small arteries of the penis and clitoris will be affected also. Erectile dysfunction is now recognized to be a sign that all is not well with the arteries. Good blood flow at the proper times is crucial to the entire sex experience, as you might imagine. Therefore heart disease isn’t just about your heart but your sex life, too.
Let’s say you didn’t make any lifestyle changes and decided to follow your medical doctor’s advice and opt for some stents or other types of surgery to improve your heart blood flow. Many people report a loss of sex drive afterwards. We are not talking about dialing back your libido but watching it disappear entirely. Is the meds? Is it the procedure itself? Is it reduced blood flow to your brain? Does it matter as that part of your life will be over. I suppose if you are 95 and everything else is failing, that might not be a big deal but if you are 42, loss of libido might take a bigger toll on your lifestyle.
How do you feel about not being able to do the most basic of physical activity? With heart problems you think about which seats you have at the ball game because you might have to climb up too many levels to get to your seat. How about going for a hike on a beautiful day? Maybe you rethink your plans for a trip to a mountain resort because you know the altitude is just too much of a stress. Maybe playing with your grandkids is too much work now.
You fill in the blanks for your own personality and desires. Which parts of your life are you willing to eject?
The short list of the basic steps you must take to protect your heart and other arteries are: no smoking or second hand smoke, no trans fats (also known as partially hydrogenated fats), exercise 30 minutes a day most days, lose the gut and practice good sleep hygiene.
Each of these is a blog post in itself except for the smoking. That is just too easy and should be pretty obvious by now. I will address trans fats in future post, however. I already have articles and videos on sleep and exercise that you can find at OVitaminPro.com.
Think about your diet. Choose organic, non-GMO and free-range products whenever you can. It is vital, necessary, super helpful, prudent, a great idea, wise and an important health step, too. Contaminants in other foods interfere with your body’s ability to maintain healthy cell membranes and proper energy storage and transport. This is linked to heart and brain health. Your healthy choices must extend to your grocery cart. Look for my articles and videos on glyphosate.
I want you to ask yourself if that Snickers or Big Mac is worth the trade-off now that you know better what that trade-off is. Yes, there is a link between your sex life and those food choices. You vote at the voting booth a few times a decade, but vote with your dollars every day at grocery stores and restaurants. If you want to promote better and healthier food choices, cast your ballot there. Your community and body will thank you.
