It is Strawberry season and I love eating Strawberries a lot. I have just run across some great info on just how good strawberries are as a health food.

Strawberries are one of nature’s healthiest “packages” of power nutrients. There is strong evidence that strawberries are a heart-protective fruit, an anti-cancer fruit, and an anti-inflammatory fruit all rolled into one ripe treat.

A serving of strawberries will provide you with 210 mg of potassium, a mineral that will help regulate the electrolytes in your body, lowering your risk of heart attack and stroke. Strawberries are also high in folate, a key ingredient in the manufacture of red blood cells, and a possible aid in delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

Strawberries are Packed with Vitamins and Minerals

Rounding out the roster of beneficial vitamins and minerals of note are B2, B5, B6, vitamin K, copper, and magnesium. Strawberries also contain omega fatty acids. All of this goodness is available to you at a cost of 45 calories for about seven medium strawberries. And not only that, but the fiber in strawberries, about 12% of your RDA per serving, helps your body absorb nutrients, inhibits the production of cholesterol in your liver, and helps stabilize your blood glucose.

Do you want to learn more about all of these strawberry affects and more? Go to the Health Assist Blog.

Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

Tags: Alzheimer's disease, cancer, health food, heart attack, stroke, Vitamin K

We have all beleived that aspirin use will lower the risk of heart attack, mostly becuase it thins the blood. The problem I have always foudn though is that too much aspirin will stop the blood from clotting quickly and this in itslef almost led to a quick trip to the hospital for my wife last year.

This new study below though seems to show that it is not so obvious as to wether Aspirin really helps to prevent heart attacks but in itslef it is a good read with lots of findings

Long-term, low-dose aspirin provides no clear net value for primary prevention of cardiovascular events in apparently healthy adults, according to a meta-analysis of patient-level data.

In people not known to have cardiovascular disease, aspirin reduced composite MI, stroke, and vascular death rates to 0.51% per year compared with 0.57% among controls for a relative 12% reduction, according to Colin Baigent, B.M.B.Ch., of the University of Oxford, England, and colleagues in the Antithrombotic Trialists’ Collaboration. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease, Colin Baigent, coronary heart disease, diabetes, heart attack, heart attacks, heart disease, high blood pressure, Michigan, stroke, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, United Kingdom, University of Oxford

Margaret Tye has this interesting article about the value of Omega 3 fatty acids. I have written before about how I do take this supplement and my wife actually calls them heart pills because Omegas are supposed to be good for your heart and circulation.

In recent years research has highlighted the benefits of omega 3 fish oil, whether it is taken naturally by eating oily fish, or by taking daily supplements. Fish oil has been shown to help keep the cardiovascular system healthy, reducing the risk of heart disease and eventual heart attack.

Many people take fish oil to help joint movement. Arthritic patients can suffer a great deal of pain and omega 3 fatty acid may reduce wear and tear on the joints and reduce the pain of inflammation. You should always tell your doctor if you are taking fish oil supplements, particularly if you are on any prescribed medication.

In the UK, research showed dramatic improvements in reading skills in children given omega 3 over a period of three months. Both over and under-achievers were seen to improve. Sixteen year old students given omega 3 in the period before taking exams achieved better results than those not taking supplements. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: adhd, Author, blended fish oil supplements, cod liver oil, depression, fish oil, fish-oil supplements, Greenfield Community Arts College, heart attack, heart disease, inflammation, Japan, Margaret Tye, pain, United Kingdom

High blood pressure remedies can be useful for people suffering from this dangerous condition. High blood pressure or hypertension is usually diagnosed when the blood pressure is consistently 140/90 or more (including being over one of those measurements but not the other).

Normal pressure is defined as between 90/60 and 120/80. Between 120/80 and 140/90 there is a gray area where you have a slightly increased risk of the complications associated with hypertension (including stroke, heart attack and kidney failure) but not so much that hypertension would be diagnosed. If you are in this band you should have your blood pressure checked regularly and take steps to lower it.

There are many things that you can do to help control your high blood pressure. The best is to combine them all.

Reduce Weight

There is a strong link between obesity and hypertension. If you are overweight your doctor will already have suggested that you try to lose some weight. However, it is best to lose weight slowly and you probably want to deal with your hypertension fast. So it is good news that there are other high blood pressure remedies that you can try too.

Reduce Stress

Stress is well known to lead to high blood pressure. There are many stress busting techniques that you can learn but one of the best for lowering the blood pressure consistently is meditation. A few minutes of deeply relaxing meditation morning and evening can have a big effect on your stress levels throughout the day.

You can learn meditation with a local class or on your own from a CD. Most Buddhist groups teach meditation but it is not only a Buddhist practice. Many yoga teachers include meditation in their classes or you may find relaxation classes which will be based around meditation.

Avoid Salt

Salt can cause or contribute to high blood pressure when the levels of salt in the diet are too high for the kidneys to process quickly. How much difference salt makes to blood pressure depends on the individual and how efficiently their kidneys deal with salt. Some people are salt sensitive and even a diet that is moderate in salt will contribute to hypertension. But most of us eat high levels of salt and a reduction will help almost anybody who has high blood pressure.

This does not necessarily mean you have to stop using salt completely. A pinch of salt in a pan of vegetables will not give you much sodium. However, you should not add salt at the table or eat foods that are high in salt – including most packaged foods.

So throw out the TV dinners and start cooking from fresh. A diet based around fresh vegetables, fruits and grains with some beans and low fat dairy products will be best for your hypertension. Check the sodium content on any frozen, canned or packaged foods. Cut down on meat, fats and sugar as well as salt.

If your diet has not included many fruits and vegetables until now, it may also help to increase your potassium consumption to balance out some of the sodium. High potassium foods include bananas, cantaloupe, spinach and yogurt.

Other Substances To Avoid

Alcohol can make hypertension worse. Subject to what your doctor says about your individual condition, you can probably have the occasional alcoholic drink but you should avoid drinking a lot at one time or drinking regularly. Some people find it easier to quit completely.

Liquorice raises the blood pressure so you should always avoid liquorice if you suffer from hypertension. This may sound easy but liquorice can be found as an ingredient where you might not expect it. It is often used in medications, e.g. for coughs, sore throats and peptic ulcers, so always check labels.

You should also avoid non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as Motrin and Ibuprofen.

Consult with your doctor to have your blood pressure checked and ask about high blood pressure remedies for your individual case.

Tags: anti inflammatory, coughs, fat dairy products, heart attack, high blood pressure, hypertension, kidney failure, meditation, obesity, peptic ulcers, relaxation, sore throats, stroke

There are many people out there who are somewhat addicted to salt, just as others love sugar. These people would insist on eating only salty foods all the time. If you think that salt is better than sugar because it doesn’t cause weight gain, you are plain wrong.

I would suggest that you not only decrease your own salt intake but also that of your kids. It would help in more than one way. In this article I will tell you how harmful salt can be for your health as well as that of your kids’.

a) Salt causes weight gain and stomach bloating: Ever wondered why so many people fail to lose real fat with the help of fad diets, even though their manufactures make tall promises? These fad diets are unable to help you burn fat, and the weight you lose with their help is nothing but water weight.

Now guess what caused this water weight in the first place? Some of it is caused by water (which is okay since it is a temporary situation), but the rest is caused by salt. Salt increases your body weight by making it bloated. Consequently you would often suffer from IBS and acidity. If you simply reduce your intake of sodium, I believe it would be easier for you to maintain a healthy digestive system.

b) Too much of salt intake can also cause heart attack and high blood pressure. You know how harmful these diseases could be for your kids, don’t you?

So by how much should you reduce your kids’ salt intake?

You shouldn’t necessarily follow the government’s recommendations; not only do they vary from country to country, they are also prepared in a way that it doesn’t make a negative impact on the country’s economy. For example, the UK government recommends a maximum daily intake of 1.6 gram of salt for an adult, whereas in US it is much higher: 2.4 grams.

While there is no recommendation for daily salt intake limit of kids, I think it is very important for them to form the habit of avoiding salty foods; if they get accustomed to excessive salt intake right from their childhood, they would find it difficult to kick off this habit later in life. I think you are better off doing your own maths. Basically, you should try to restrict your kids’ salt intake to as low level as possible.

So how would you know which foods are high on salt?

1. Well, if you buy packaged foods, you would notice that almost all food packages come with decent information about the food ingredients; this is where you would find stats about the sodium content of those foods.

2. You should also keep the salt jar away from your reach as well as that of your kids. It is equally tempting for you and your kids to add several pints of salt in the food dishes when the salt jar is right on the dinner table. However, if you keep it at a safe distance, you or your kids would be less motivated to use it.

3. Very often we habitually pour extra salt not only on our plates but also those of our kids. As an adult, it is your responsibility to get rid of this habit. Once you get rid of your ’salt’ addiction, your kids would too.

4. Reduce the amount of salt you use when cooking foods at home; try to make up for the deficit with other spices.

5. Try to avoid eating at fast food restaurants. This applies both to you and your kids. Apart from being high on oil and other spices, fast foods often tend to be rich in salt as well.

Tags: food, food ingredients, food packages, food restaurants, heart attack, high blood pressure, oil, UK government, United Kingdom, United States

Here is more info from my local pharmacy about Cholesterol, its types and preventing high levels of bad cholesterol.

Cholesterol is bad. Right? No!

A high total cholesterol level is bad. A high level of LDL cholesterol is bad. Cholesterol itself is necessary for good health. And HDL cholesterol is actually good for us.

We couldn’t live without any cholesterol at all, because this waxy material is used to form cells and produce hormones. About 80% of the cholesterol in our bodies is manufactured by our liver. The other 20% comes from the food we eat. As long as we have the right amount of cholesterol in the right balance, we’re okay. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: amputation, angina, bad cholesterol, chest pain, cholesterol, cholesterol level, coronary artery disease, diabetes, exercise, food, food groups, grain products, Heart and Stroke Foundation, heart attack, heart disease, high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, levels of stress, lower-fat dairy products, milk products, natural remedies, pharmacist, stroke, vascular disease

Anyone that does not see scams in the weight loss industry has to be looking the other way all of the time. There are commercials, ads, radio spots and lots of internet based companies selling a dream that can not be possible. I see these everyday and just saw a very complete and well thought out article that exposes Lipozene, a product that makes huge promises and of course only delivers on the TV commercial.

ABC News has an expose type article about how they tested some popular diet pills by themselves to see if they would help people lose weight.

The test was done with a product called Lipozene that costs $81 per month. Lipozene is popular and expensive and according to the commercials it is a miracle that works even when you do not change your diet or get any exercise. This sounds like crap to me already. If this is really true then why wouldn’t somone have found it years ago?

The article is really worth reading, read it now and just skim even through the three pages and see what you think.

The real fact is that no matter what you do to lose weight whether it is diet or exercise or a combination of both the byproduct is that you will become more healthy as a result, if a pill could even lose you the weight it would not make you any healthier which would defeat the purpose of getting in shape in the first place.

OK one more thing. There have been a lot of products in the 90’s and even earlier that would crank up your metabolism and help you lose weight. These products did in fact work but just like in the way that Anabolic steroids will help a bodybuilder gain muscles, a ephedrine based pill will create a substute in your body and in the end will weaken your body by forcing. In the case of Anabolic steroids you pump up the testosterone in your system which will cause your body to stop creating it on it’s own and in the case of Ephedrine it will stop your body from naturally raising it’s own metabolism and also raises the chances of a heart attack.

Stay away from the scam of diet pills

Tags: a lot of products, ABC, diet, health, heart attack, lipozene, lose weight, USD, weight loss pills

Earlier this year there were some stories around about fears that Prilosec and Nexium may not be quite as healthy as they should be for people taking them for dealing with acid reflux disease and that they increased heart attack risk. The FDA is now saying that there are no increased risk of heart attacks with these drugs in the long term

Long-term use of Prilosec (omerprazole) and Nexium (esomeprazole) is not likely to be associated with an increased risk of heart problems.

FDA has completed a comprehensive, scientific review of known safety data for both drugs, which are used to treat the symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and other conditions caused by excess stomach acid. While long-term studies reported to the agency on May 29, 2007, collected safety data, the study protocols did not specify how heart problems, such as heart attacks, were defined or verified. As a result, evaluating the information that was gathered about the safety of both drugs in these studies was challenging. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: acid reflux, fda, gastroesophageal reflux disease, GERD, heart attack, heart attacks, nexium, prilosec, study protocols

As we all know, vitamins are very important when it comes to keeping your heart healthy. You need to eat the right foods of course, although you also need to supplement the food you eat with the necessary vitamins your body needs to stay in shape and keep your heart working healthy for a long time to come. If you don’t consume the right nutrients, you won’t be doing your heart any favors – and may end up having problems later on in life.

The first vitamin that comes to mind for most people is vitamin E, a vitamin that is essential to improving the overall health of your heart. When taken correctly, vitamin E will stop the cholesterol in the body from harming the arteries that surround the heart. Anytime cholesterol oxidizes, it sticks to the sides of the arteries and can lead to blockages which can cause heart attacks or other serious problems with the heart.

To help you keep your heart healthy, most doctors recommend that you take additional supplements that contain vitamin E. They may also suggest that you eat foods that are naturally rich in vitamin E, such as nuts. Nuts have high amounts of vitamin E, and most of them taste great. You can find other foods that contain vitamin E as well, although nuts have the highest amounts. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: antioxidant, C, cholesterol, E, food, heart attack, heart attacks, heart disease, heart healthy, nutrients, vitamin c, vitamin e

A huge review of studies on pain relievers has found that a widely-used medicine may confer cardiovascular risks as serious as those found with Vioxx, an arthritis medicine that was withdrawn from the market two years ago.

Diclofenac, marketedas Voltaren, Cataflam, Solaraze and Arthrotec, an older non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), has been on the market for decades and is one of the most-widely prescribed anti-inflammatories in the world especially in Europe. At commonly prescribed doses, it was found to increase the risk of cardiovascular events primarily heart attack and sudden death by 40%.

The good news from the study is that there are alternatives. “European consumers would be better off switching [from diclofenac] to naproxen,” says David Graham, a safety official at the US Food and Drug Administration, who authored an editorial1 accompanying the published review. Naproxen was found to neither increase nor decrease cardiac risk.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: American Medical Association, arthritis, atherosclerosis, Australia, David Graham, David Henry, Europe, heart attack, heart disease, New South Wales, Newcastle Mater Hospital, pain, Patricia McGettigan, safety official, the Journal of the American Medical Association, University of Newcastle in New South Wales, US Food and Drug Administration, vioxx, Waratah