Our modern lifestyle is the cause of a serious, epidemic problem that affects our society to-day:
heart disease and stroke.In America half of all death are from coronary heart disease, most of them with advanced atherosclerosis(narrowing of the arteries).

The first report of coronary artery disease in America was published in 1912 in ‘The Journal of the American Medical Association by Dr. James Herrick.

The disease was so rare that famous cardiologist DR. Paul Dudley White, spent the next 10 years searching for it and found only three cases. Today we have thousands of cases in any small city.

In the same medical journal 77 years later, on July 7 1989, a nationwide analysis showed that 60 million American adults aged 20 – 90 now have coronary disease to some degree.

There is no longer any doubt that the wanton destruction of our food, air and water and the inept and corrupt work of our health authorities created this monster and it’s alive and growing in every third one of us.

Humbug physicians will object that cardiovascular disease is declining, because modern medicine has become so wonderful at detecting it early and treating it successfully.
Don’t believe them! Even advanced cardiovascular disease is very difficult to detect.

Dr. Lewis Kuller, for example, analyzed records of 326 people who died of sudden heart attacks,all of whom had received medical examinations within six months before death. Eighty-six of the subjects had received medical examinations within 7 days of their death. Not a single one of the heart attacks had been predicted by their physicians.

If you are fortunate enough to have cardiovascular disease correctly diagnosed before it manifests as a heart attack or stroke, then surely modern treatment can tackle it? No way! Most medial therapies for cardiovascular disease are simply symptomatic relief, that does nothing to reverse or even arrest the disease process.

Has the modern electronic bypass wizardry done a better job than the 100-year- old traditional advice to cut the fat in your diet and go for a daily walk?

The American government Coronary Artery Surgery Study spent 24 million dollars to find out.

Their studies examined records of 16,626 angiogram patients. From these records researchers selected 780 patients with good heart function, but a significant blockage of one or more coronary arteries.

Half the patients were given bypass surgery plus drugs. The other half were treated with nutritional and lifestyle changes plus drugs. Bypass surgery conferred no advantage at all, neither in longevity nor in incidence of future heart attacks.

What if you avoid surgery and just use our wonderful new drugs instead? I wouldn’t.

The Johns Hopkins Medical Letter reports on fatal drug reactions in hospitals, where you would think medical expertise would protect you or at least could save you if a drug reaction occurs Prescribed hospital drugs are so toxic, they kill 130,000 Americans every year!

Outside the hospitals, the death toll from the same prescription drugs is probably a lot higher, but is frequently unreported or listed simply as heart failure. The 1994 Physicians Desk Reference contains hundreds of pages of side-effects of common prescription drugs used for cardiovascular disease.

Side-effects include many kinds of cancer, heart disease, liver disease, brain damage and sudden death.

Research has proven that there are many factors, which determine the change of getting heart disease or stroke. Some of the important factors we can influence by changing our diet and avoid smoking.

It’s not a disease of old age, children at the age of 15 can show symptoms of the disease.

Narrowing of the arteries is the main cause of stroke This can start at an early age, without any warning signs.
This process continue and is very hard to detect till suddenly a stroke occurs.
This happens quite fast in most cases and leaves hardly any time to intervene.

Prevention is the key and this has to start at a youthful age; but it has been proven that by changing one’s lifestyle, the process of narrowing of the arteries can be reversed.

There are a number of factors we have to watch for:
1.to maintain a constant body weight
2. the use of unsaturated oil and fat
3. use of the right type of cholesterol (high density lipoproteins, HDL), that scrubs and vacuums excess cholesterol off the walls of your arteries.Heart disease risk starts at a cholesterol level of 168 mg/dl, NOT the 200 mg/dl now bandied about by the media.
4. moderate intake of alcohol, sugar and sugar containing drinks.
5. avoid smoking
6. eat a healthy diet, plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, according to the guidelines of the department of health.
7. exercise daily for at least 30 minutes.

May the frequent use of this information contribute to the actual fight against heart disease and stroke.
But let us not lose sight of the fact that nutrition is only one of the factors and that smoking, high blood presure and lack of exercise are also important.

Our daily diet has to consist of sufficient carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals to keep us healthy and fit.

The following average quantities are a good daily measure for an adult, who doesn’t need to perform heavy labor:
1/2 ltr fat reduced milk
one decent serving of vegetables
some potatoes
two to three fruits
1 or 2 slices of cheese
+/- 100 gr. meat
+/- 150 gr. fish
250 – 300 gr. beans
+/- 50 gr. diet margarine
4 – 6 slices of wholemeal bread
2 eggs/ week

Don’t be afraid of cholesterol, it belongs to your body,like arms and legs. The body makes the necessary amount of cholesterol, which circulate in the blood through your body.

If a big amount of cholesterol in the food enters our body, the amount of cholesterol in our blood rises and atherosclerosis can develop.

Cholesterol rich foods are: egg york, liver, brains, kidneys and milt and roe from fish.
If you don’t eat more than once in a fortnight liver, kidney and occasionally prawns, milt and roe, you don’t have to be afraid of cholesterol. Plenty of exercise has a favorable influence on the cholesterol content of the blood. Walk or cycle daily to work or when going shopping.

May the frequent use of this information contribute to the actual fight against heart disease and stroke.
But let us not lose sight of the fact that nutrition is only one of the factors and that smoking, high blood pressure and lack of exercise are also important.