4 Ways to Improve Your Heart Health
- Published in Cardiovascular Disease
The heart is one of the most vital organs responsible for our survival. Our hearts are constantly working 24/7, beating approximately 2.5 billion times in an average lifetime. With that said, heart disease is also the number one cause of death, claiming about 1 million lives a year. Heart disease is often caused by buildup of plaque, calcium, cholesterol, and other substances inside the coronary arteries that are responsible for supplying oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscles. Too much buildup restricts blood flow to the heart, which can result in a heart attack, stroke, or death. Knowing this, we must do what we can to ensure our hearts are functioning properly and optimally. Thankfully, there are some relatively simple lifestyle changes you can adopt to help you avoid or slow down, or drastically improve heart-related issues. Keep reading to learn more about how to work towards a healthier heart!
Primary Prevention as an Anti-Aging Strategy - the importance of starting down the right path
- Published in Primary Prevention & Lifestyle
Fish oil supplementation - benefits for young healthy adults
- Published in Diet, Nutrition & Supplements
Fish oil is well known for protecting against development and progression of cardiovascular disease in high risk individuals, mostly middle-age and older.[1-4] A notable recent study shows that fish oil supplementation also confers health benefits in young healthy adults.[5]
Young healthy males, aged 21-24 years, were given a fish oil supplement providing 2 g EPA and 1 g DHA per day for 3 months. It was found that the fish oil supplementation significantly reduced fasting blood triglycerides (i.e. blood fats) by a whopping 38% (from 86 mg/dL to 54 mg/dL) and also improved the total cholesterol/HDL ratio, by reducing it from 3.25 to 3.05.
Relevance of blood triglycerides and the total cholesterol/HDL ratio for cardiovascular disease