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World heart day

This day & every day

I just came across an item on BBC News online regarding World Heart Day, featuring exhibitions, fund raising walks, and carnivals throughout 90 different countries. And when is World Heart Day? Last Sunday.

Someone threw a world party for the heart and didn’t invite us! Or maybe our invitation got lost in the mail.

In any case, late is better than never, so this e-Alert will be our slightly tardy celebration of World Heart Day. And because I’m a few days late, this will serve as a perfect metaphor: it’s never too late to start doing a few easy things that will benefit your heart enormously. And although some of these healthy habits may seem like simple common sense, I’ve found some recent studies that confirm, reinforce and remind us that these common sense steps are critical to maintaining a sound cardiovascular system.

Crouching Tiger, Exercised Heart

According to the BBC article I mentioned above, actor Chow Yun Fat (one of the stars of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”) exercises five times every week. And while I can’t recommend hand-to-hand combat in the top branches of a 60-foot tree, we all know we should have a regular exercise regimen. And, new research is showing us that there’s more to this subject of exercise than you might think

Last week the World Heart Federation (WHF) issued a statement warning that a lack of physical activity doubles your chances of developing heart disease. So if I’ve got the math right, conversely: physical activity cuts in half your chance of developing heart disease. Add to that: the WHF also warned that lack of exercise increases the risk of high blood pressure and diabetes.

The WHF estimates that as much as 85% of the world’s population fails to get even moderate exercise. So, if you are part of that scant 15%, you are doing the single most important thing you can to increase your exercise capacity, enhance your immune system, and make your heart a little healthier every day.

And now they’re making it even harder for us to find excuses: if you can’t find a half hour every day for light exercise, three 10 minute exercise sessions per day are just as good, according to a new study out of the UK. The study, released this week, concluded that middle-aged men and women who take three 10-minute brisk walks each day showed just as much decrease in risks to their cardiovascular health as subjects who walked for 30 minutes at a stretch each day.

Multi-tasking magnesium

Now that we’re up and exercising, it’s time for some good fuel for the heart.

Writing in a recent issue of the Journal of Hypertension, Dr. Rhian Toyus, an associate professor at the University of Montreal, tells us that magnesium helps heart muscle cells relax. In addition to the fact that magnesium deficiencies have been linked to heart disease, Dr. Toyus reports that recent studies show how diets rich in magnesium may also reduce blood pressure, especially among older people.

Other nutrition studies have indicated that half the adults in North America are not getting enough magnesium in their diets to benefit the heart. One problem may be the high starch levels in many diets. Starch depletes magnesium in the body, as does stress. Put starch and stress together (an all too common combination) and you have the makings of a magnesium deficiency.

Dr. Toyus recommends a daily magnesium intake of at least 600 mg, but fortunately there are a number of good foods that are magnesium rich, including spinach, broccoli, cooked oatmeal, avacados, halibut, shrimp, tuna, and mixed nuts.

Oxidant busters

Last month I sent you an e-Alert (“B&E My Valentine” 9/3/02) with information about two new studies that showed how B vitamins (folic acid, B6 and B12) and vitamin E neutralize oxidative damage that contributes to heart disease. Along somewhat similar lines, researchers at Johns Hopkins University recently studied the effects of vitamins C and E on lipid oxidation, believed to be a primary contributor to atherosclerosis, one of the leading causes of stroke and heart attack.

The researchers designed their study to determine if the combination of C and E together would have a greater effect than either of those supplements on their own. And while they concluded that the antioxidant effects of the two vitamins may be most effective in the early stages of atherosclerosis when lipid oxidation plays an important role (thus providing possible prevention against artery plaque build up), they were not able to show that the vitamins were any more effective when taken together.

The authors of the study noted that adequate daily amounts of vitamin C are available through dietary sources (such as citrus fruits, tomatoes and broccoli). Necessary amounts of vitamin E, however, are almost impossible to come by through food alone. The recommended daily allowance of vitamin E is a shockingly low 15 IU. Supplements containing 400 IU of vitamin E daily were used for this study, while other studies have shown that more than twice that amount is still a safe daily intake.

So take 10 and go for a brisk walk, eat your spinach and citrus, and take your vitamin E. Your heart will repay you with many years of faithful service. And remember: it’s never too late to get started.


To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute

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