Over the past 6 weeks we have been breaking down the causes of cardiovascular disease as explained by the American Heart Association in a Fox News article.1 To summarize, it was stated that the 3 primary drivers of cardiovascular disease are hypertension, diabetes and obesity. With obesity being the primary driver of the other two.
The article went on to explain that the primary causes of obesity were packaged & processed foods; lack of exercise and sleep, and our standard of living and a hectic work life.
I have been breaking all of this down over the past 5 weeks from a wholistic perspective, in order to get to the root cause of each of these, with recommendations on how to overcome them from a natural perspective. The primary focus is how to prevent cardiovascular disease, or reverse it using holistic approaches.Not just masking all of these conditions and their associated symptoms with medications – that have enough common side effects of their own, leading to even more disease.
Hypertension
This week we will address hypertension, the 3rd of the 3 major drivers of cardiovascular disease. To prepare for this blog, I pulled a book off of my shelf by Brenda Watson entitled “Heart of Perfect Health.” Truly, this book is a great resource that addresses a lot, if not all of what we have been discussing over the past weeks. It also confirms what I have been sharing with you. For more in depth study, from a holistic perspective, I highly encourage you to pick up this book.
What I want to do today is show you the connection of each of these 3 primary drivers, as well as the causes of obesity – the topics we have been covering, and also bring it back around to some of what we talked about last week, stress in particular. In a sense we have been looking at the same root causes, only from different angles. Therefore, the solutions will ultimately be quite similar.
A Function of the Adrenals
If you recall, last week I shared that one of the primary functions of the adrenal glands is to release a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol responds to all stresses and inflammation in the body. And not just mental/emotional stresses like a hectic work life, and living above our standard of living; but physical stresses like not sleeping well or enough; and chemical stresses like consistently consuming packaged and processed foods and sugar. When we stress the adrenal glands, it also throws the other functions of this gland out of balance as well. In particular, the role of releasing a hormone called aldosterone, signaling the kidneys to regulate our fluid levels – in particular blood pressure. Of course, consuming a plethora of packaged and processed foods that have tons of table salt and sugar in them is extremely harmful to the kidneys, driving up the blood pressure.
Oxidant/Anti-Oxidant Balance
In Brenda’s book she talks about the amount of oxidative stress to the body, versus the antioxidant levels. When these two are out of balance – more oxidative stress and not enough anti-oxidants, then blood pressure increases.
Very simply put oxidation occurs when there is stress and inflammatory triggers assaulting the body over and over again,chronically. Things like hectic work life, poor sleep and a diet high in packaged and processed foods all cause oxidative stress to the body. The opposite of this, the anti-oxidant factor is to consume real foods – with lots of color to them – yes, your fruits and vegetables! When I give presentation and in my book “Are You Being Deceived About True Wellness” I talk about the 5 foundational pieces to the physical part of the health pie:
- Rest
- Water
- Exercise
- Good Nutrition In/Bad Foods Out
- Good Nerve Supply
I feel it important to put emphasis on the fact that our diet is 2-fold: We have to take the bad foods out– i.e. packaged and processed foods, sugars etc. (foods that cause oxidation in the body) and we have to put the good foods in – fruits & vegetables in particular (the anti-oxidants), the foods that fight off the free radicals created from the oxidative stress to the body. This is the answer to your “why” it’s always recommended to eat our fruits and vegetables. They have extremely valuable nutrients – life giving nutrients actually that are vital to our health.
Inflammation is the root of all chronic and degenerative diseases. And minimizing the causes of inflammation is so in your control.
You control stress and inflammation (these words are interchangeable) and you have control of your health once again, no matter what it is that’s out of balance – cardiovascular health, gut health, hormones, emotional health, immune imbalances – all of it.
Holistic Solutions to Cardiovascular Disease
I am going to keep this blog short, as I feel like I am starting to beat a dead horse – and if I’m feeling it, you probably are too! Hopefully you are starting to see the connections, and the holistic solutions are pretty simple to all of it – they really boil down to a few basic things:
- Uncover the root cause
- Address your health as a whole – mental, emotional, physical and spiritual
- Get adequate rest, water and exercise
- Minimize the inflammatory foods you consume
- Increase your consumption of non-inflammatory foods – real foods
- Minimize the mental stresses to your life – keep work boundaries, don’t live above your means, set goals for yourself and stay within your budget
- Maintain a discipline with your health because…
You are valuable and you are worth it! And… your health, IS in your control!
Next week I want to share a very vital deception with you – I want to share with you the truth about cholesterol. And then the following week we will wrap up this series with more in-depth recommendations on how to stay on track and keep your health in your control, not the drug company’s.
To book Dr. Jackie for speaking engagements go to:
https://jackiemckool.com/schedule-jackie/
Looking for a great beach read this summer? How about digging your toes in the sand, or swinging in the hammock with a copy of “Are You Being Deceived About Truth Wellness?”
(1)To reference the Fox News article go here