High Blood Pressure

Blood pressure

Blood pressure (strictly speaking: vascular pressure) refers to the force exerted by circulating blood on the walls of blood vessels, and constitutes one of the principal vital signs. The pressure of the circulating blood decreases as blood moves through arteries, arterioles, capillaries, and veins; the term blood pressure generally refers to arterial pressure, i.e., the pressure in the larger arteries, arteries being the blood vessels which take blood away from the heart. Arterial pressure is most commonly measured via a sphygmomanometer, which uses the height of a column of mercury to reflect the circulating pressure (see Non-invasive measurement). Although many modern vascular pressure devices no longer use mercury, vascular pressure values are still universally reported in millimetres of mercury (mmHg).The systolic arterial pressure is defined as the peak pressure in the arteries, which occurs near the beginning of the cardiac cycle; the diastolic arterial pressure is the lowest pressure (at the resting phase of the cardiac cycle). The average pressure throughout the cardiac cycle is reported as mean arterial pressure; the pulse pressure reflects the difference between the maximum and minimum pressures measured.Typical values for a resting, healthy adult human are approximately 120 mmHg (16 kPa) systolic and 80 mmHg (11 kPa) diastolic (written as 120/80 mmHg, and spoken as “one twenty over eighty”) with large individual variations. These measures of arterial pressure are not static, but undergo natural variations from one heartbeat to another and throughout the day (in a circadian rhythm); they also change in response to stress, nutritional factors, drugs, or disease. Hypertension refers to arterial pressure being abnormally high, as opposed to hypotension, when it is abnormally low. Along with body temperature, blood pressure measurements are the most commonly measured physiological parameters.For more information visit: http://www.hypercet.com/?aid=207200

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CASSAVA: GOOD SOURCE FOR STARCH

Cassava is under the family of Dioscoreaceae. It grows to 8 feet. It has rough skin difficult to peel. It can only be done easily by heating to soften the skin. Has a different color of dark brown or light pink.

Cassava is a perennial woody shrub. It has an edible root. It is mostly grown in tropical areas. Its other name is yuca or manioc. It can be grown even in an infertile land. It can withstand a dry season. Inadequate processing of cassava causes chronic toxicity. Various processing method used by grating, sun-drying and fermenting to reduce cyanide toxicity. Generally, it is used as food. Can be consumed freshly boiled. The leaves used as green vegetables full of vitamin B and A. Roots can be harvested after 6 months. It can be grown by using stem cuttings.

Properties: cyanogenic glucosides, oxalate crystal (skin), dehydroepiandrosterone, saponin, diosgenin, dioscin, alkaloid, tannin

It provides daily requirements of dietary energy. High in vitamin C, dietary fiber, vitamin B6, potassium, manganese. Low in saturated fat. It has the ability to protect against osteoporosis and heart disease due to its potassium-sodium content.

It gives better protection against obesity and diabetes. Due to chemical content of dehydroepiandrosterone, it acts as an aid to hormonal deficiency (progesterone, estrogen). Its plant extracts can treat painful menstruation, hot flashes and headache due to menopause.

Can reduce the absorption of cholesterol from the gut. It lowers total cholesterol level in the blood. It is an effective remedy in colic and other gastro-intestinal problem. It has anti-spasmodic chemical for relieving spasm. It soothes diverticulitis. Good in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis because of its antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory properties. For women, it eases dysmenorrhea, ovarian and uterine pain. It supply nutrients for glandular function. It has the capacity to give good nutrition that will benefit the respiratory, nervous and urinary system. Considered as nutritional support for fibroid and breast cancer.

Good for fluid retention, control of weight gain. It has benefit on controlling stress. It has anti-inflammatory benefits. It normalizes the production of the adrenal cortex hormones. It eases indigestion by dilating the vessels.  Useful in the treatment of muscle cramps and muscular pain.

It has benefits in the treatment of digestive disorders and gallbladder problem. It has diuretic capacity for urinary tract infection. It can protect cardiovascular disease due to its vitamin B6 content. It breakdown homocysteine, a threat to the blood vessel walls. It was associated in the incidence of stroke and heart attack. Vitamin B6 can prevent these things to happen. Good source of potassium that reduces blood pressure to safety level.

Used as folk remedy for the treatment of impotence due to vitamin E content. It increases the level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Has anti-oxidant properties believed to reduce the risk of breast cancer and cardiovascular diseases in postmenopausal women. It has anti-fungal, anti-viral content. It serves as a carminative that prevent gas. Decrease perspiration, good expectorant for cough. Good in liver protection, or any pelvic cramp and uterus contraction.

Uses: As food ( baked, boiled, fried). Made into granules, paste, flour, binding agent, materials in the production of paper and textiles. Served as monosodium glutaminate, a flavoring agent. It can be made into pounded yam and vegetable soups because of its starch. Manufactured into yam chips and paste.

Side Effects:

-Stomach discomfort or rashes to those having allergic reaction (food allergy).

-It lowers blood sugar or with diabetes.

-Not advisable for pregnant women or breastfeeding mothers due to toxicity content.

-Not recommended for those person with the bout of strokes and blood clot.

-Not to be taken by women under birth control pills medication.

-Causes uterine contraction.

-Tincture of wild yam contain alcohol that will lead to vomiting if taken with the medication called metronidazole.

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Some important news about high fats in your Supermarket

Fat Shockers: Surprisingly High-Fat Foods

 

This is an interesting article I recently read online. If you like the prepared meals because they save you time, well guess what. The time you save in preparing these quick meals is costing you your Health!

Check out this list of fatty foods lurking in your grocery store. By Elaine Magee, MPH, RD

WebMD Expert Column

Thirty-eight grams of fat and 14 grams of saturated per serving —  now, that’s a high-fat food! I’ve been reading food labels and writing about health for at least two decades, but even I am sometimes shocked to discover how much fat, saturated fat, or trans fat a food actually contains.

One of the first things I look for when eyeing the nutrition information label on a food is how many grams of fat the item has. Right under that, I find the grams of saturated fat and, for some products, trans fat. I also check out the serving size. That’s important because some companies — often the ones selling especially high-fat foods — list a serving size as half of a muffin, half a chicken pot pie, or half a candy bar. So if you’re eating the whole muffin, pot pie, or candy bar, you’ll need to double the numbers.

Case in point: Claim Jumper’s Chicken Pot Pie. The serving size on the box is 1/2 of a pot pie. So if you eat the entire pie, you’re getting 74 grams of fat (not 37) and 18 grams of saturated fat (not 9). Even the numbers for half the pot pie are quite shocking, as far as I’m concerned.

Why should you be concerned about high-fat foods? It’s true that there are health benefits to consuming “smart fats” like monounsaturated fat and omega-3s. And certain higher-fat foods, like nuts, avocado, salmon, and olive oil, do contribute to health. But the total amount of fat is important because it can be a red flag for foods high in potentially health-damaging fats — saturated fat and trans fat. Also, compared to carbohydrate and protein, each gram of fat has twice as many calories.

Of course, you need to be aware of saturated fat and trans fat in foods. Saturated fats are known to raise cholesterol levels, increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke. They may also increase the risk of certain cancers. Trans fats hit you with a double whammy; in addition to raising levels of LDL “bad” cholesterol, they also decrease your HDL “good” cholesterol. Many researchers also suspect that trans fats increase the risk not only for heart disease, but also for type 2 diabetes, colon cancer, and breast cancer.

How Much Is Too Much?

So just how much saturated and trans fat is OK to eat? Here’s what the experts say:

• Saturated fat: Experts with the National Cholesterol Education Program recommend that less than 7% of total calories come from saturated fat. That’s 16 grams per day for a person eating 2,000 calories. Some of these products listed below get you most of the way there with one serving.
• Trans fat: Experts advise consuming as few trans fats as possible. The American Heart Association advises Americans to limit trans fats to less than 1% of total daily calories. If you need 2,000 calories a day, this computes to less than 2 daily grams of trans fats. Some of the products listed below get you past this daily recommendation with one serving.
• For more info and some of the worst food items you can read the entire article here:http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/fat-schockers-surprisingly-high-fat-foods?ecd=wnl_din_022210

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When stents are needed

When plaque builds up inside artery walls, the body’s natural response to injury can become its worst enemy. I attended a lecture this week to hear Dr. James Park, an interventional cardiologist with Cardiology and Interventional Vascular Associates in Dallas, explain how plaque build up in arteries can lead to a heart attack and the need for stents.

Perils of plaque:

Like me, many people attending the lecture assumed the only threat from plaque build-up was the gradual narrowing of arteries until, one day, the blockage was simply too great. Dr. Park explained that pieces of plaque inside artery walls breaks away, the body’s natural response to injury kicks in. Blood begins to clot over the site where plaque broke loose in an attempt to repair the injured area. The clot either further narrows the artery or completely blocks the flow of blood through the artery and causes a heart attack.

Dr. Park presented visuals to demonstrate procedures used to locate and repair blocked arteries:

• Angiogram: a procedure that inserts dye into arteries so an image can be taken to determine where the blockage has occurred.
• Angioplasty: a procedure that inserts a balloon into the area where to clot has formed to expand the artery so the clot can be broken into smaller pieces and removed by suction.
• Stent: A support inserted into the artery so it will remain open to allow blood to flow through.

The procedures in action:

Video produced by Nucleus Medical Art from The Baltimore Sun’s Web site demonstrates these procedures.

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Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes

These are easy, delicious, and have great texture!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes

Whisk together:

1 1/2 c. soy or almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)

1/2 c. canned pumpkin

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/8 tsp. ground ginger

1 tbsp. canola oil

Stir in:

1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour

3 Tbsp. maple syrup or agave

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Heat griddle or frying pan, spray with cooking spray.  Make pancakes!!!

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Cholesterol and Heart Disease- A phony issue....

“The Soft Science of Dietary Fats,” by Gary Taubes, in the March 30, 2001 issue of Science,1 exposes the shenanigans of the 1970s McGovern Senate Committee staff and the follow-on by various government agencies that gave us the anti-fat, anti-cholesterol dietary goals and guidelines. This exposé adds to the material in “The Oiling of America”2 by Enig and Fallon and The Cholesterol Myths3 by Ravnskov. Taken together, these works provide substantial food for thought.

Blood cholesterol levels between 200 and 240 mg/dl are normal. These levels have always been normal. In older women, serum cholesterol levels greatly above these numbers are also quite normal, and in fact they have been shown to be associated with longevity. Since 1984, however, in the United States and other parts of the western world, these normal numbers have been treated as if they were an indication of a disease in progress or a potential for disease in the future.

As a result of some of this misinformation, which was purposefully planted by the leadership of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) in 1984, many hundreds of thousands of people are treated with expensive medications to prevent the development of a non-existent illness. If the medications were only expensive and not life threatening, their use could no doubt be shrugged off as a harmless snake oil pharmaceutical scam; but, in fact, these are thoroughly dangerous medications for both physical and emotional reasons—for physical reasons because their use can lead to serious untreatable diseases such as liver cancer, and for emotional reasons because their use perpetuates the myth that cholesterol is dangerous and evil.

In his book The Cholesterol Myths, Dr. Uffe Ravnskov tells us what happens to an older woman who has normal high serum cholesterol levels. When her blood is tested in a forced cholesterol checkup, the cholesterol myth is used to justify treatment of her nonexistent disease state and she loses her vibrant state of good health.

The official advice to lower serum cholesterol levels has brought about numerous supplements with the attached claim that consuming them will lower cholesterol. This further supports the myth of cholesterol as an undesirable component of body and diet. In fact, the body uses cholesterol to repair and to protect. When improvement to the health of the body brought about by good changes in lifestyle or diet results in a lowering of serum cholesterol, it can be counted as an example of the body no longer needing the extra circulating cholesterol. The repair has been accomplished.

A month after the exposé in Science, the NHLBI responded by lowering its recommended “at risk” cholesterol level and increasing the number of people it wants to put on cholesterol lowering drugs. But there may be hope that the truth will win. Independent thoughtful researchers have continued to point out that there is a real need for correcting the wrong advice given to the public regarding the consumption of dietary fats. New research continues to show that the saturated fats are not a problem, that the trans fatty acids found in partially hydrogenated vegetable fats and oils really are a problem, and that the lack of appropriate balance in the diet of the polyunsaturated omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids is also a problem. Even the mono-unsaturates have been taken to task by some of the recent research. And lowfat diets are being shown to be counterproductive.

The lesson to be learned from all of this is that the old-fashioned, more saturated fats form the healthy basis of a good quality diet. And a good quality diet can help to produce a state of vibrant good health. Meanwhile, there is no need to worry about your cholesterol levels. This is a phony issue.

References

1. Gary Taubes, “The Soft Science of Dietary Fat,”Science, March 30, 2001.
2. Mary Enig, PhD and Sally Fallon, “The Oiling of America.”
3. Uffe Ravnskov, MD, PhD, The Cholesterol Myths: Exposing the Fallacy that Cholesterol and Saturated Fat Cause Heart Disease, NewTrends Publishing, Washington, DC, 2000. More info online at:www.ravnskov.nu/cholesterol.htm.

This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly magazine of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Summer 2001.

About the Author

Mary G. Enig, PhD is an expert of international renown in the field of lipid biochemistry. She has headed a number of studies on the content and effects oftrans fatty acids in America and Israel, and has successfully challenged government assertions that dietary animal fat causes cancer and heart disease. Recent scientific and media attention on the possible adverse health effects of trans fatty acids has brought increased attention to her work. She is a licensed nutritionist, certified by the Certification Board for Nutrition Specialists, a qualified expert witness, nutrition consultant to individuals, industry and state and federal governments, contributing editor to a number of scientific publications, Fellow of the American College of Nutrition and President of the Maryland Nutritionists Association. She is the author of over 60 technical papers and presentations, as well as a popular lecturer. Dr. Enig is currently working on the exploratory development of an adjunct therapy for AIDS using complete medium chain saturated fatty acids from whole foods. She is Vice-President of the Weston A Price Foundation and Scientific Editor of Wise Traditions as well as the author ofKnow Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol, Bethesda Press, May 2000. She is the mother of three healthy children brought up on whole foods including butter, cream, eggs and meat.

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Traditional Diets Prevent You from Cancer, Processed Foods Not.

Once a rare disease, cancer is now widespread, affecting as much as one-third of the population. The rise in cancer in the West and other indrustial countries in East has paralleled the rise in factory farming and the use of processed foods containing vegetable oils and additives. Orthodox methods for treating cancer (radiation and chemotherapy) do not prolong life. The best approach to cancer is prevention. Traditional diets, containing animal and plant foods farmed by nontoxic methods, are rich in factors that protect against cancer. Many of these protective factors are in the animal fats.

In this concern, I see the facts that some people carrying out vegetarian diets have died due to cancer, such as a case of Linda McCartney, Paul McCartney’s wife. Vegetarianism does not protect against cancer. In fact, vegetarians are particularly prone to cancers of the nervous system and reproductive organs.

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Nutrients in Whole Foods that Protect Against Cancer

Vitamin A: Strengthens the immune system. Essential for mineral metabolism and endocrine function. Helps detoxify. True vitamin A is found only in animal foods such as cod liver oil; fish and shellfish; and liver, butter and egg yolks from pasture-fed animals. Traditional diets contained ten times more vitamin A than the typical modern American diet.

Vitamin C: An important antioxidant that prevents damage by free radicals. Found in many fruits and vegetables but also in certain organ meats valued by primitive peoples.

Vitamin B6: Deficiencies are associated with cancer. Contributes to the function of over 100 enzymes. Most available from animal foods. Vitamin B12: Deficiencies are associated with cancer. Found only in animal foods. Vitamin B17: Protects against cancer. Found in a variety of organically grown grains, legumes, nuts and berries.

Vitamin D: Required for mineral absorption. Strongly protective against breast and colon cancer. Found only in animal foods such as cod liver oil, lard, shellfish and butterfat, organ meats and egg yolks from grass-fed animals. Traditional diets contained ten times more vitamin D than the typical modern American diet. Vitamin E: Works as an antioxidant at the cellular level. Found in unprocessed oils as well as in animal fats like butter and egg yolks.

Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA): Strongly protective against breast cancer. Found in the butterfat and meat fat of grass-fed ruminant animals.

Cholesterol: A potent antioxidant that protects against free radicals in cell membranes. Found only in animal foods.

Minerals: The body needs generous amounts of a wide variety of minerals to protect itself against cancer. Minerals like zinc, magnesium and selenium are vital components of enzymes that help the body fight carcinogens. Minerals are more easily absorbed from animal foods.

Lactic Acid and Friendly Bacteria: Contribute to the health of the digestive tract. Found in old fashioned lacto-fermented foods.

Saturated Fats: Strengthen the immune system. Needed for proper use of the essential fatty acids. The lungs cannot function without saturated fats. Found mostly in animal foods.

Long-Chain Fatty Acids: Arachidonic acid (AA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) help fight cancer on the cellular level. They are found mostly in animal foods such as butter, organ meats, cod liver oil and seafood. Co-enzyme Q10: Highly protective against cancer. Found only in animal foods.

Compounds in Processed Foods that Can Cause Cancer

Trans Fatty Acids: Imitation fats in shortenings, margarines and most commercial baked goods and snack foods. Strongly associated with cancer of the lungs and reproductive organs.

Rancid fats: Industrial processing creates rancidity (free radicals) in commercial vegetable oils.

Omega-6 fatty acids: Although needed in small amounts, an excess can contribute to cancer. Dangerously high levels of omega-6 fatty acids are due to the overuse of vegetable oils in modern diets.

MSG: Associated with brain cancer. Found in almost all processed foods, even when “MSG” does not appear on the label. Flavorings, spice mixes and hydrolyzed protein contain MSG.

Aspartame: Imitation sweetener in diet foods and beverages. Associated with brain cancer.

Pesticides: Associated with many types of cancer. Found in most commercial vegetable oils, fruit juices, vegetables and fruits.

Hormones: Found in animals raised in confinement on soy and grains. Plant-based hormones are plentiful in soy foods.

Artificial Flavorings and Colors: Associated with various types of cancers, especially when consumed in large amounts in a diet of junk food.

Refined Carbohydrates: Sugar, high fructose corn syrup and white flour are devoid of nutrients. The body uses up nutrients from other foods to process refined carbohydrates. Tumor growth is associated with sugar consumption.

More deep explanations concerning foods to preventing cancer could be found in great articles in 1001HealthSecret.com as follow:

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• Cancer Inhibitors in Food
• The Right Vitamin A to Prevent Cancer
• Vitamin C and Cancer

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