The previous posting "Preventing Heart Disease Part I", was a strongly opinionated article on the 21st centuries main cause of death. My goal is not to put fear into the readers rather, it is simply to tell you what our society and health care systems fail to portray to us. The concept of controlling our emotions is paramount to health and wellness and is one that doctors too often dismiss. Instead, they prescribe anti-depressants or anti-anxiety pills to band aid up the emotion. Most non-western doctors such as Naturopaths and Chinese medical doctors, treat the patient primarily from their emotional stance. Unstable emotions cause the "qi" or energy to become trapped in individualized sensitive areas of the body resulting in pain, swelling, rash etc. When we can locate the area of stagnation and open up the constricted area it's like opening a flood gate so the water/energy/emotions can rush through and nourish what is on the other side.
When we engage in heart-mind nourishing activities such as meditation, qi gong, yoga, tai qi, we tap into our hearts and step out of our minds. Circulation improves, mood improves, anxiety and depression decreases. Additionally, parasympathetic tone increases; our parasympathetic nervous system is known as the "rest and digest" system, it slows everything down and allows our bodies to relax. Whereas, the sympathetic nervous system is known as the "fight or flight" system; it is constantly stimulated via the go, go, go mentality that our society has become accustom to. Being in this system on a regular basis increases anxiety, increases heart rate, stops digestion, and severely depletes our kidney/adrenal systems. The kidney/adrenals are like our battery; it is where we pull our energy from and is also where we can replenish our stores via the heart-mind nourishing activities and via proper sleep habits. When we continuously pull energy out of the battery and never restore it, that's when pathology begins to manifest.
Nutritionally, if we want to build and cleanse the arteries we must consider a naturally occurring substance called lecithin. Lecithin is found in the yolk of eggs, all legumes (beans) including yellow and black soy beans. Other beneficial foods for the arteries include: brown rice, radish, horseradish, cabbage, broccoli, asparagus, parsley, flax seeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds, mushrooms, seaweeds, buckwheat, almonds, hazelnuts, raw honey and all of the foods listed in the previous post and in the anti-inflammatory diet. It is important it be cautious of over consuming pungent foods such as radish, horseradish, raw garlic, cayenne pepper etc as these benefit the heart in moderation. A small amount is quite beneficial to the heart yet too much actually depletes the heart and weakens its function. It is also important to note that too much salty foods harm the heart, so it is important to watch one's sodium intake. Additional foods that are detrimental to the heart include coffee, trans-fatty acids such as partially hydrogenated oils, hydrogenated oils, palm oils, high fat diets, high sugar diets, fast food and fried, greasy foods.
Consuming a diet with an emphasis on vegetables, whole grains, omega-3 rich fish, berries and small amounts of meats while participating in heart-mind exercises is very beneficial for heart health and overall health as well. Balanced and unblocked emotions are the key to opening one's heart and preventing disease. The great ancient Chinese physicians always consider the heart in all disease as they believe that "all diseases come from the heart".
"Only a reductionist science would need to "prove" the ridiculously obvious: that our hearts are perceptual organs, crucial to our humanness" -Authors Journal Nov, 2003
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