• Maintains normal blood pressure. At least 28 independent studies have shown that patients with hypertension (high blood pressure) have a magnesium deficiency. People who have long-term high blood pressure have magnesium levels that average at 15 percent below normal.
• Keeps the heartbeat regular. A magnesium deficiency can lead to irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia). If you’re on the medication digitalis to treat heart disease, the medication can be toxic if you are deficient in potassium or magnesium.
It looks like magnesium is involved in just about every aspect of keeping a healthy heart, yet most Americans are deficient in this essential mineral. A large survey done by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that only 25 percent of 37,785 individuals had magnesium intakes at or greater than the RDA, which is too low to begin with. Some 20 to 65 percent of critically ill hospitalized patients have a magnesium deficiency. A normal blood serum magnesium test will not give you an accurate indication of your magnesium levels. It’s more accurate (and unfortunately more expensive) to measure intra-cellular magnesium levels.
Early symptoms of a magnesium deficiency can include muscle and nerve pain and an irregular heartbeat. A magnesium deficiency can also create potassium and calcium deficiency. Magnesium can be depleted by stress, excessive alcohol, sugar, diabetes, kidney disease, chronic diarrhea, not enough protein in the diet, too much protein in the diet, and thyroid disorders. Many researchers believe that alcoholics are at a much greater risk for heart disease because in excess, alcohol severely depletes magnesium.
Drugs That Deplete Magnesium
Good food sources of magnesium include whole grains (especially oats, brown rice, millet, buckwheat, and wheat), legumes (lentils, split peas, and beans), bran, almonds and peanuts, and broccoli. Chocolate contains large amounts of magnesium, and a craving for chocolate may be an indicator of a magnesium deficiency.
Magnesium by itself can cause diarrhea, so unless you are constipated, be sure to take it in a multivitamin, in combination with calcium, or in the form of magnesium glycinate, gluconate, or citrate. You can take 300 to 400 mg of magnesium daily as a supplement.
Antioxidants, Antioxidants, Antioxidants
When a squirt of lemon juice helps food stay fresh, it is working as an antioxidant, protecting against the harmful effects of oxygen. Oxygen harmful? When an oxygen molecule loses an electron, it becomes an unstable molecule called a free radical, which tries to stabilize itself by grabbing another electron from a molecule of any body substance or tissue nearby, causing that molecule in turn to become unstable. Anti-oxidants are molecules that can donate an oxygen molecule to the free radical without becoming destabilized themselves.
This process of free radical creation is called oxidation, a normal and important part of your body’s metabolism. It’s when oxidation reactions overwhelm your body’s ability to stabilize them that they do damage. Oxidation does damage when we’re under a lot of stress, exposed to a heavy load of toxins, or don’t have enough anti-oxidants in our diet.
Out-of-control oxidation is a causative factor in illness, including heart disease and strokes. Today’s polluted world means our bodies have to cope with far higher levels of free radicals than ever before. Free radical culprits include smog, cigarette smoke, pesticides, and food additives. The average American doesn’t eat nearly enough antioxidant-rich fresh fruits and vegetables to counteract these environmental toxins. Our bodies are in double oxidant jeopardy, which makes taking antioxidant supplements an important part of preventing heart disease.
Antioxidants come in many forms, from teas and herbal tinctures to foods and vitamins. Their marvelous power gives a shielding, protective effect against heart disease. Some work better than others to protect against heart disease.
Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) is made from the tree of the same name. It is particularly rich in antioxidant substances that act synergistically. One of its properties leads to improvement in circulation to the heart. As might be expected, it also reduces oxidized LDL cholesterol levels and lowers LDL cholesterol generally. In addition, it raises “good” HDL cholesterol and lowers blood fat levels.
Ginkgo biloba can take from a few weeks to a month to produce its beneficial effects. GBE with at least 24 percent ginkgoflavonglycosides is the best form to take. Standardized, semipurified, and concentrated, GBE provides consistent levels of its most active compounds. Take the recommended dosage on the package.
Glutathione (GSH) is a tripeptide made from the amino acids cysteine, glycine, and glutamic acid. This humble little protein is found in the cells of nearly all living organisms on Earth, and its primary job is waste disposal. GSH has three main detox jobs in the body:
1. When there are free radicals lurking about, threatening to start an oxidation reaction, GSH catches them, neutralizes them, passes them on (often to another antioxidant such as vitamin E), and begins the cycle anew.
2. In the liver, GSH latches on to toxic substances and binds to them so the liver can excrete them without being damaged.
3. GSH prevents red blood cells from being damaged by neutralizing unstable forms of oxygen. We cannot survive without this miraculous antioxidant.
GSH’s antioxidant work is the frontline defense for preventing oxidation of LDL cholesterol, which damages the arteries. It also protects the lymphatic system and the digestive system from an overload of unstable lipids (fats and oils). If glutathione levels drop anywhere in the body, the burden of toxic stress goes up.
GSH is one of the most abundant substances in the body, and as long as we have a good supply of its building block cysteine (the other building blocks, glycine and glutamic acid, are rarely in short supply) and its cofactor selenium, it will be hard at work doing its detoxifying chores. GSH levels drop as we age and can be depleted by an overload of rancid oils (such as polyunsaturated and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils), overexposure to poisons such as pesticides, and pharmaceutical drugs that stress the liver, which is to say virtually all prescription drugs. Since glutathione often passes off its neutralized waste products to antioxidants such as vitamin C and vitamin E, a deficiency of these vitamins can impair its function.
Measuring GSH levels is expensive at this time, but if you have heart disease, are at a high risk for it, or have high LDL cholesterol levels, try raising your GSH levels. The best way to raise GSH levels is by taking a cysteine supplement, preferably in the more stable form of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC). Follow the directions on the container for dosages. Foods with high levels of cysteine include onions, garlic, yogurt, wheat germ, and red meat.
Green tea is a polyphenol, an aromatic, organic compound that acts as a potent antioxidant in the body. Like others in this family, it prevents the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, lowers cholesterol, raises “good” HDL levels, and lowers triglyceride levels. It also reduces blood coagulation and helps prevent the clumping of red blood cells, both good steps for the prevention of heart disease. Green tea extract is available in tablet form, without caffeine.
PCOs are procyanidolic oligomers, which are bioflavonoids found in grape seeds, lemon tree bark, peanuts, cranberries, and citrus peels. Known to improve circulation, PCOs strengthen blood vessel walls and prevent the clumping of blood-clotting substances, protecting against stroke. These properties come on top of PCOs’ very strong antioxidant powers that preempt LDL oxidation.
To address high cholesterol with PCOs, 150 to 300 mg per day is recommended. Otherwise, 50 mg of PCOs daily makes a good supplement if you’re over 50. Many studies have shown that PCO extract from grape seed is one of the most powerful antioxidants known. It also increases the performance of other antioxidants.
Vitamin D is an essential vitamin that is easily kept at healthy levels with regular exposure to sunshine. Unfortunately, thanks to intensive marketing by the sunblock industry, we have become sun-phobic in Western countries. Dozens of studies on vitamin D have been published in the past few years, and we now know that vitamin D is a must for good heart hea
lth and reducing the risk of stroke. In one study, men who were vitamin D deficient had a 63 percent higher risk of heart disease.
Sunshine is perfectly safe unless you get a sunburn. There is no solid evidence that normal sun exposure increases the risk of skin cancer and melanoma. The biggest risk factors for skin cancer and melanoma are having fair skin and getting sunburned. Thus the key is to enjoy the sun every day if possible, but to cover up and apply sunblock before you become burned.
For those who live in colder, cloudier, northern climates or who just can’t get out in the sun enough, it’s probably a good idea to take a vitamin D supplement. The RDA of 400 IU is clearly too low. It was put in place before Americans became sun-phobic. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin and as such can accumulate in the body and become toxic, so there has been justifiable concern about taking too much. Now that we have more research, it seems clear that we can safely take 2,000 IU daily in the D3 cholecalciferol form to maintain our vitamin D levels. If your doctor wants to ratchet up your vitamin D levels quickly with large doses, be sure to test levels regularly. Check the “Resources and Recommended Reading” section in the back of the book for how to get a vitamin D test.
Vitamin E is your greatest ally and protector when it comes to vitamins and heart health; yet most people are deficient in vitamin E. In one study, the vitamin E intake of elderly, affluent Americans was less than three-quarters of the RDA.
Impressive results were shown in two major Harvard University studies of health professionals. A survey of over 39,000 male professionals showed that they enjoyed a 37 percent lower risk of coronary artery disease when they took 100 IU or more of vitamin E daily. The Nurses’ Health Study of 87,000 women showed a 40 percent lower risk of heart disease for women on the same dose of vitamin E. More recent research has given us conflicting data about whether vitamin E helps prevent heart disease. However, nutrition studies show that without a doubt, eating foods high in vitamin E is protective.
A European population study looked at 100 apparently healthy men between ages 40 and 49 years old. Blood levels of vitamin E were found to be the most important risk factor for heart disease, even beyond smoking. There is evidence, too, that vitamin E can dissolve clots, helps the heart pump more efficiently, naturally makes arteries widen, and increases the oxygen available in the blood.
Vitamin E is a fat-soluble oil found in many foods, including unrefined vegetable oils, whole grains, butter, organ meats, eggs, a variety of nuts, sunflower seeds, fruit, soybeans, and dark green, leafy vegetables.
If you’re going to take vitamin E supplements, we recommend that you take it in the form of mixed tocopherols and tocotrienols. These various forms of vitamin E occur together in food sources, and supplements that contain all of them are closer to what exists in nature. Studies from the University of Sweden in Uppsala and elsewhere have shown that when mixed, these various forms of vitamin E have much greater antioxidant power than d-alpha-tocopherol—generally known as natural vitamin E—alone. Do not use the synthetic form of vitamin E, called dl-alpha-tocopherol.
Although vitamin E is very safe even at high doses, 400 IU (dry form) daily should be an adequate dose for adults. The dry or succinate form is recommended for anyone sensitive to oils or with problems absorbing nutrients (if you’re over the age of 65, you probably fall into the latter category). Vitamin E works well taken with its partners in the body, the nutrients vitamin C, beta-carotene and other flavonoids, and selenium.
Natural Remedies for a Stronger Heart
Natural remedies for strengthening the heart tend to help significantly with symptoms such as arrhythmia and angina, and can also make a big difference in people with CHF. Three of the most effective remedies are CoQ10, hawthorn berries, and carnitine.
Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10)
CoQ10 has been shown to protect and strengthen the heart and lower blood pressure. CoQ10 is a vital enzyme, a catalyst to the production of energy in the mitochondria of our cells. Without it, our cells simply won’t work. Its chemical name is ubiquinone or ubiquinol—it is ubiquitous, or everywhere, where there is life. Its levels in the human body are highest in the heart and liver. When we are ill or stressed, and as we age, our bodies are less able to produce CoQ10.
According to a study done by CoQ10 expert Karl Folkers, published in the International Journal of Vitamin and Nutrition Research, patients with a variety of cardiac disorders consistently demonstrate a blood deficiency of CoQ10. A double-blind Japanese study with 100 patients who had cardiac failure showed that only 30 mg per day of CoQ10 for two to four weeks produced a measurable improvement in symptoms. Many older people whose heart function has degenerated and who try CoQ10 report an almost immediate boost in their energy levels.
People who suffer from angina report that the pain disappears and they can exercise. In a double-blind placebo study using CoQ10 and other drugs traditionally used to treat angina, it was found that CoQ10 was far more effective in reducing or eliminating angina pain than any of the other medications. Other studies have shown that people on heart medications can greatly reduce their dosage of medicine if it is combined with CoQ10.
Statin drugs, which are being taken by millions of people to control high cholesterol, deplete the body’s stores of CoQ10. In other words, by taking a drug that’s supposed to reduce the risk of heart disease, these millions of people may actually be increasing their risk. If you have to take a statin drug, be sure to supplement with CoQ10.
This nutrient is also a valuable natural therapy for periodontal disease. Following the dosage instructions at the end of this section can have the fringe benefit of clearing up inflamed gums. Interestingly, people with chronic periodontal disease have significantly higher risk of heart disease. Some research indicates that this connection has to do with elevated inflammatory levels throughout the body, but it may also have to do with CoQ10 depletion.
In 2006 a new form of CoQ10 called ubiquinol became available. Ubiquinol is the more active and thus more bioavailable (more easily used) form of CoQ10, but it is very unstable and reverts back to ubiquinone when exposed to light and air. A Japanese company named Kaneka developed a method for stabilizing ubiquinol so it could be added to supplements. Within a year of making it available to the public, nearly every major vitamin company had incorporated some ubiquinol into its CoQ10 supplements. Although there are no formal or independently published clinical studies on ubiquinol yet, published research by Kaneka shows that ubiquinol raises CoQ10 levels in the blood eight to ten times more effectively than ubiquinone. An unpublished clinical trial in Texas with end-stage CHF patients who took ubiquinol for three months showed that it improved their cardiac function and may have extended life span.
Dosages for both forms of CoQ10 can range from 30 mg as a maintenance dose in a multivitamin to 400 mg daily of ubiquinone or 200 mg daily of ubiquinol for those with heart disease.
Hawthorn Berries (Crataegus oxyacantha)
Hawthorn berries have been used as a heart tonic for centuries and are widely used in Europe for angina and for lowering blood pressure. They are rich in bioflavonoids, which help strengthen the blood vessels. They are also a vasodilator, which increases the flow of blood and oxygen to the heart, lowers blood pressure, and strengthens the heart muscle. An analysis of studies on hawthorn showed that it offers significant relief from the symptoms of heart failure.
Hawthorn berries work gradually, and you may not notice a difference for a month or so. You can find hawthorn berry extract in capsule or tincture forms. Because the amounts vary widely, follow directions for use on the bottle. Some of the tinctures can be very powerful, so it is very important that you work with your doctor if you’re already on heart medicine. However, in and of themselves, hawthorn berries are nontoxic and very safe.
Carnitine
This amino acid is another heart-strengthening nutrient that appears to be especially useful for treating angina and CHF. You can take 500 mg twice a day, preferably between meals.
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nbsp; Use L-Arginine with Caution
L-arginine is an amino acid that is the precursor of nitric oxide (NO), which plays a role in relaxing blood vessels and helps keep the lining of blood vessels healthy. There have been small studies with CHF and angina patients showing that L-arginine increased exercise tolerance and improved quality of life. However, a small government-sponsored study (National Institutes of Health) that compared L-arginine supplementation with a placebo in patients who recently had a heart attack found that more of those taking L-arginine died during the study. The numbers were very small but still statistically significant. L-arginine is, in general, a very safe supplement, but taking high doses of any one amino acid can have effects on many other systems of the body. Until more research has been done with high-dose amino acids, it would be wise to use them only under the care of an experienced health care professional.
Ban Pesticides from Your Life
Chronic exposure to pesticides is a known heart disease risk, but it is one that most people never think of when they have their lawn doused with chemicals, spray their garden, go after bugs in the house with a can of spray, or have their house fumigated. If you’re pouring poisons down gopher or mole holes, or dousing your aphids with pesticides and your dog with flea dip, you’re exposing yourself and your heart, not to mention your dog, to unacceptable levels of poisons.
These poisons may not kill you on the spot, but they will create free radical damage in your tissues and accumulate in the body. A study done of agricultural workers in the Ukraine showed that those frequently exposed to pesticides had a higher rate of heart disease as well as a higher rate of miscarriages and birth defects. There is also evidence that fetal exposure to pesticides can cause congenital heart disease.
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