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Tuesday, April 13, 2021
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Keep Your Heart Healthy With These Foods

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"Keep Your Heart Healthy With These Foods"

Keep in mind that you can help your ticker with a healthy and balanced diet.

BEACON TRANSCRIPT – Heart-related conditions are one of the major causes of death in women in the United States. But doctors are trying to raise awareness on the subject and educate the citizens on the benefits of a healthy diet. You don’t have to eat grass and seeds in order to have a healthy ticker, but you can keep your heart healthy with these foods.

So clean your fridge and cupboards and get ready to get healthy, because we are about to show some foods that won’t only give you an edge against diseases, but will also keep you fit.

Before we show you the list, we should take a few moment to talk about how this list was created in the first place. We all know for a fact that cardiovascular disease is at the top of the list when it comes to risks. Unhealthy food packed with the bad kind of fat and a sedentary lifestyle are two major factors involved in various heart diseases.

Now, regarding cardiovascular disease, most of them can be attributed to an unbalanced meal, packed with high-cholesterol foods. The excess cholesterol from meals ends up building up on the walls of your arteries. This can lead to all sorts of complications, from embolisms, heart and brain strokes to sudden cardiac arrest.

So it’s no wonder that we should tread carefully when it comes selecting our meals. With this in mind, we are now going to discuss the most popular foods that can improve your heart’s health.

Note that this list was put together by analysts from HealthGrove. The analysts identified 25 different foods that are good for your heart and scored them according to the Heart Health Index. In order calculate each food’s score, the analysts divided each meal into two categories: those who contain good nutrients such as selenium, B3, magnesium and calcium and those who contain the so-called bad-nutrients like fat, cholesterol and saturated fat.

After grading each meal according to this index, the analysts divided the good against the bad score and the result is the foods overall Heart Health Index.

Now, according to this list, it would seem that tofu received the highest score. With 80 calories per serving and 2.2 grams of carbs, this is exactly what to need in order to wash down a hefty Sunday dinner.

Moreover, there are other foods which received a good mark. Sunflower seeds, for instance, are a good source of selenium and B3, followed by Agar seaweeds, brown rice and quinoa.

More on the meaty side, the yellowfin tuna received a good mark, follow by blue mussels, Atlantic cod, Pacific Halibut and Sockeye Salmon.

Keep your heart healthy with these foods, fresh air and plenty of physical exercises.

Photo credits:www.pixabay.com

Cardiovascular Diseases are on the Rise among Children

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"Cardiovascular Diseases are on the Rise among Children "

Obesity and lack of physical exercises are contributing to the development of cardiovascular issues in children.

BEACON TRANSCRIPT – A new study reveals that even children are at risk of developing heart issues. As most of us believe that this age group cannot develop a heart-related condition, it would seem that the new evidence says otherwise. Cardiovascular diseases are on the rise among children and the main culprits are obesity, lack of physical exercise and high sugar intake.

Well, it’s of little wonder that obesity is, in fact, the disease of the century. Many of us choose to ignore the signs of it or consoling ourselves with the thought that it either runs in the family or that our thyroid gland is backfiring. Whatever the reasons, it would seem that one of the most serious condition associated with obesity (heart disease) has begun to surface at younger and younger ages.

According to another study concerning heart disease, it would seem that this condition has been detected even in 3-year olds. Mind you that this is an extreme case indeed, but obesity among older children is not.

Unfortunately, there are many children out there who have high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Moreover, most of them even have a family history of heart disease. As usual, the main culprit for their condition is a lack of physical exercises associated with a higher sugar intake.

It’s ok to indulge once in a while in sugary treats if you exercise and eat healthy meals. Unfortunately, this is not the case of many children from the US, who choose sugary treats over a well-balanced meal.

But the overall situation isn’t quite as tragic as it would seem because many health centers have begun to identify those children who are overweight and at risk of developing a heart condition.

In light of this development, the American Academy of Pediatrics has updated its guidelines regarding the testing for high cholesterol. Moreover, the prestigious institutions recommend that all children with ages between 9 and 11 should get tested for high cholesterol.

Cardiovascular diseases are on the rise among children, and it would seem that the most common factors involved are a lack of physical activity, high sugar intake and obesity.

Furthermore, another study performed by the Emory University proved that even teenagers are at risk of developing a heart condition in later life. By studying the dietary habits of over 2000 teenage patients, the medical researchers have discovered that the daily average sugar intake of a teenager was 30 teaspoons of sugar (20 percent more than the daily recommended dose of sugar).

Moreover, their blood tests performed on the candidates revealed that the teens were more inclined to have increased levels of LDL cholesterol ad triglycerides.

Photo credits:www.pixabay.com

Eggs are not to be blamed for Heart Attacks

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"Eggs are not to be blamed for Heart Attacks"

Finnish researchers declared that there is no evidence to support the fact that eggs cause cardiovascular issues.

BEACON TRANSCRIPT – Since forever everybody is talking about why are eggs bad for our health. According to a couple of studies, these tiny white wonders, which are the highlight of every decent breakfast can, in time, harden our heart arteries, thus upping the risk of deadly heart attacks. But a new study has emerged, in order to challenge the old beliefs by saying that eggs are not to be blamed for heart attacks.

A brand new study, coming all the way from the frozen North, has managed to prove that eggs, no matter how they are consumed, are in no way contributing to heart diseases. In fact, this study also pointed out that even those carrying the APOE 4 gene (increased sensitivity to cholesterol found in various foods) are not in any danger of developing a heart disease.

But don’t jump out of the wagon yet, before you understand all the factors involved in this brand new study. According to Jyrki Virtanen, the lead author of the novel study, he and his team of researchers noted down the diets of every patient only at the beginning of the study. This means that the team cannot account for any dietary changes which occurred later on.

So, the study in question was performed by Virtanen and his team of medical researchers from the University of Eastern Finland. It involved approximately 1000 middle-aged men from Finland, with ages between 42 and 60. Moreover, the study spanned over a period of 21 years.

As stated, the team was able to write down the participant’s dietary information only at the beginning of the study, meaning that they are unable to determine whether a participant switched to another diet in the meantime.

All of the subjects enrolled in the study consumed one egg per day, and the average daily cholesterol intake was estimated at around 398 milligrams. At the end of the trial, approximately 230 men from the control group suffered heart attacks.

Even though others would look upon this fact as evidence to support the fact that cholesterol found in eggs is capable of increasing the risk of heart diseases, the team of scientists from Finland declared that they haven’t found any palpable link between cholesterol intake and cardiovascular diseases.

So, eggs are not to be blamed for heart attacks, but one cannot account for the side dish. The team declared that their study was not to be construed as irrefutable evidence that eggs have nothing to do with heart attacks. As Virtanen stated, it’s one thing to consume a hard-boiled egg at breakfast, but it’s entirely another when you decide to use fat-enriched butter, a side of bacon or some buttery croissants.

Photo credits:www.flickr.com

Raising the Sugar Tax Might Prevent Obesity

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"Raising the Sugar Tax Might Prevent Obesity "

Many countries have argued that an increased tax on sugar may prevent obesity and many other diseases associated with it.

BEACON TRANSCRIPT – In order to wage war on obesity, many countries have taken ample steps in order to prevent or to minimize the effects of this type of epidemic. Lately, it would seem that more countries have joined the fight against obesity by increasing the tax on sugar. According to a report, raising the sugar tax might prevent obesity although there are voices who suggests that the measures will have no impact on public health.

Lately, more and more countries seem eager to take action on the ever increasing numbers of obesity cases. While some of them choose to warn people through ample health campaigns, there are other who have considered more direct means of dealing with the issue. And so the tax on sugar was born, which basically works the same way as the tax on cigarettes or alcohol. So, if you are in a disposition to puff a cig or gulp down an extra glass of wine, then you will have to pay something extra.

Same thing applies to the soft drinks and other beverages that contain high levels of sugar. Moreover, the tax is not only restricted to drinks, but it also encompasses foods packed with high levels of sugar.

The increased intake of sugar can contribute to the development of obesity, which, in time, makes you susceptible to other afflictions, such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and even cancer.

Many countries out there understood the risks involved and choose to take action. And so, the Scandinavian countries were the first to employ the tax on sugar, followed by France and Hungary in 2012.

Two years later, Mexico decided to join the fight against obesity, by proposing a new health policy which, among other things, included a raised tax on sugary beverages and foods. However, although things went remarkably well in other countries which adopted this law, it would seem that Mexico received this new law with suspicion.

In fact, several beverage manufacturers from Mexico who opposed the new tax used the media in order to demonstrate that a tax increase would not improve public health. Meanwhile, big league players like Pepsi or Coca-Cola did not care to make any comments regarding the taxation project.

Raising the sugar tax might prevent obesity and improve public health. However, there are a couple of voices out there who oppose this project saying that the new project has little to no effect on public health. Meanwhile, more and more countries have begun to discuss the project including India, Great Britain, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Photo credits:www.wikipedia.org

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