Partners for Your Health Blog

Healthy Alternatives to Salt and Sugar For Healthy Diets

When we make the switch to healthier food choices, it can take some getting used to. Let yourself make the shift gradually, cutting down and replacing salty and sugary foods little by little. Here are some tips to make the transition tastier!

Salty and Savory Foods

• Use sea salt instead of refined table salt. Sea salt has more minerals and nutrients.
• Cook with garlic, onions and chilies to add flavor – there are health benefits too! Both garlic and onions are natural antibiotics and may lower blood lipids and blood pressure. Onions are a rich source of flavonoids, substances known to provide protection against cardiovascular disease. Onions are also natural anti-clotting agents since they possess substances with fibrinolytic activity and can suppress platelet-clumping. The capsaicin in chilies stimulate blood flow through the membranes.
• Spice with pepper, oregano, or pre-made spice mixes like Mrs. Dash. Black pepper also has antibiotic and antioxidant properties, plus it aids in digestion and stimulates the breakdown of fat cells. Oregano helps to purify the system.
• Cut back on salty snacks.

Sweet Stuff

• Minimize or avoid products with sugar, high-fructose corn syrup or corn syrup near the top of their ingredient list.
• Use sugar that is less refined and processed like brown sugar, molasses, or muscovado sugar. Honey is natural and sweeter than sugar, so you’re likely to use less. All of them come with added health benefits, like additional minerals and nutrients.
• Erythritol based sweeteners like Z Sweet are natural, and healthier than chemically created sugar substitutes. It’s no calorie and is great for diabetics.
• Stevia is another alternative that is natural, has no calories or carbs, and is good for diabetics. It even comes in a variety of flavors!
• Then there’s Splenda, which may be somewhat healthier than other aspartame based sweeteners. (Here's a great article with good info on sugar and alternatives.)

Why to Buy Organic Foods for Heart Health

The Anti Cancer Diet recommends not only a plant-based diet, but one with an emphasis on organic or locally grown fruits and vegetables. They explain that “Some pesticides found in commercially-grown produce are also suspected carcinogens. Organic foods are free of these pesticides, and locally grown produce is less likely to have been treated with chemicals to prevent spoilage.”

According to beyond pesticides.com, in addition to lacking the toxic residues of conventional foods, organic food is more nutritious with higher total phenolics, important for their anticancer and antioxidant properties.

The American Heart Association recommends a diet high in food sources of antioxidants and other heart healthy nutrients, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts to reduce the risk of Cardiovascular Disease. That’s because allowing oxidation of LDL (or "bad") cholesterol develops fatty buildups in the arteries. This process, called atherosclerosis, can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

Phenolics also help prevent clog formation in vessels, preventing delivery of blood and oxygen to tissues beyond the clog. This is called ‘infarction,’ which can be life threatening if it occurs in your heart or brain.

Children are particularly susceptible to the effects of pesticide exposure because they have developing organ systems that are more vulnerable and less able to detoxify toxic chemicals. Pesticide exposure occurs through exposure to chemically treated lawns and food, so switching to an organic diet is an important step in reducing this exposure.

Some foods tend to have lower pesticide residues either because fewer pesticides are used in their production or because they have thicker skins and, when peeled, contain smaller amounts of pesticides than more thin-skinned products. Others hold on to the pesticides they’re exposed to, so you should make sure you get these organically grown: Spinach, Apples, Potatoes, Cherries, Celery, Imported grapes, Bell peppers, Nectarines, Strawberries, Peaches, Raspberries, and Pears.

For more info on what foods to buy organic, go to Organic.lovetoknow.com .

A Long Life Free of Cardiovascular Disease

It seems that everyone can agree upon this statement: smoking, physical inactivity, and abdominal obesity increase the risks of coronary heart disease (CHD). But is there a way to measure the benefits of not smoking, having good cardiorespiratory fitness (measured by max treadmill test), and a normal waist girth?

The authors of a new study appearing in the December 14-28, 2009 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine say their study may be the first to estimate these "combined health benefits". Their research indicated that men with none of these risk factors had:

• a 59% lower risk of CHD events and
• a 77% lower risk of dying of cardiovascular disease.

The Heart.org tells us that Dr Chong-Do Lee and colleagues followed 23,657 men over the age of 30 for almost 15 years in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study (ACLS). They found that:

• Over this period, 482 men had a fatal or nonfatal Mitochondrial Infarction, and 1,034 died of noncardiac causes.
• Men with a normal waist circumference, who kept physically active, and who didn't smoke were significantly less likely to have a CHD event or die of cardiac causes, as compared with men with none of these low-risk factors.
• Risk of all-cause mortality was also dramatically lower in this group.
• By comparison, men who smoked, were inactive, and who had a waist girth over 94 cm (37 inches) had an overall life expectancy that was 14 years shorter.

Investigators underscore a number of limitations in their study: the study cohort comprised mainly white, middle- to upper-class men and importantly, did not address changes in low-risk factors over the follow-up period. But overall, they say, their findings speak to the importance of adhering to healthy behaviors and a healthy weight over the long term.

H1N1 for patients with Heart Disease, Stroke or Cardiovascular Disease

The H1N1 flu virus causes symptoms like any other flu, including fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people may also experience vomiting and diarrhea, others may have respiratory symptoms without a fever. But the difference between the H1N1 strain and any other flu is that severe illnesses and sometimes death has occurred as a result.

For those with heart disease, stroke, and cardiovascular disease, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (also known as the CDC) recommend the following:

• Maintain at least a two week supply of your medications.
• Do not stop taking your medications without first consulting your health care provider, especially in the event of influenza or a respiratory infection. 
• People with heart failure should be alert to changes in their breathing and should promptly report changes to their health care provider.
  

It is especially important to wash your hands often with soap and water and follow other basic hygiene steps to avoid infection. These would include covering your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze and then throwing the tissue in the trash after you use it. Wash your hands afterward, and if soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.

Additionally, try to avoid close contact with sick people. And if you are sick with flu-like illness, the CDC recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone (without the use of a fever-reducing medicine) except to get medical care or for other necessities. Keep away from others as much as possible to keep from making others sick.

For Further information contact one of our physicians at NOHC.