Being hard up on Heart Health
Good health is often the most prized possession that anyone can have. With this God-given gift, it enables us to live our days to the fullest without feeling a tinge of regret. Often taken for granted, it is not uncommon to see the fittest of folks suffering from an “unforeseen” illness. The invisibility of these illnesses allow them to creep up on us when we have our guard down, and they often strike us hard. The hardest hitting of them all is heart disease, with its lethality often leaving their victims scarred.
Heart disease is a condition that is caused by clogged blood vessels, which may potentially lead to a heart attack. Our blood vessels are a vital part of the body’s circulatory system and they are the supply lines of nutrients and oxygen. The most common cause of the choking of these supply lines is the buildup of cholesterol in the vessels which constrict blood from flowing smoothly. Cholesterol is a type of fat (or technically lipid) which is typically one of the parameters for a health checkup. These fats form around the walls of the bloodstreams and float around in the blood, often derived from a diet that is high in fat.
Many do not realise that cholesterol has a good and bad side; seeing the different types of cholesterol in the medical report but not knowing what they mean is something we will eradicate in this week’s blog post. There are 2 types of cholesterol in our blood: LDL and HDL cholesterol. LDL is often referred to as the bad cholesterol while HDL is the polar opposite. Though both are cholesterol, LDL can cause an increase in blood pressure due to the constriction of blood vessels, while HDL is capable of removing unwanted lipids in the blood to act as a cleanser. We went into detail of how these cholesterols affect us in our previous blog post for you to find out more : https://www.idoori.com/blog/high-blood-cholesterol-how-aronia-berries-can-help
https://www.idoori.com/blog/suppressing-bad-fat-in-our-blood-with-korean-black-raspberries
Knowing that cholesterol can adversely affect our health is just the tip of the iceberg, the real issue at hand is how it can deteriorate the heart’s condition. The increase in blood pressure often causes the heart to work harder when pumping blood around the body. With an increased workload, the aortic muscles may be affected by this change and could lead to spasms which may result in a heart attack. When a chunk of cholesterol floating around in the bloodstream gets stuck in one of the major arteries, it can also lead to heart failure.
Our heart health is inversely proportional to the amount of LDL cholesterol we have in our blood, which is why we make it a point to reduce the cholesterol and fat intake. One method that we recommend is consuming foods that promote the production of good cholesterol while simultaneously removing the bad. Aronia Berries have always been our prime choice for foods that influence cholesterol levels positively. With one of the highest amounts of antioxidants, we often find ourselves feeling reaching out for a pack of Aronia Berry Juice especially after having a high-fat meal.
The information contained in the post is for general purpose only and should not be considered as medical advice.
