Category Archives: Heart Health

Is High Blood Pressure Messing with Your Brain?

high blood pressure and dementia, hypertension and Alzheimer’s, how to lower blood pressure, nitric oxide and blood pressure, beetroot juice and blood pressure, beetroot juice for hypertension, does high blood pressure increase my chances of dementia, what does high blood pressure do to my brain
Leave a reply

By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

August 10, 2018

  • Hypertension damages more than your heart
  • Is high blood pressure messing with your brain?
  • 3 simple ways to lower your blood pressure

You already know that uncontrolled high blood pressure is bad for your heart.

It creates microscopic tears in the walls of your arteries. These tears eventually turn into rough scar tissue where sticky fats, plaques and cholesterol tend to accumulate. This, in turn, leads to blockages, narrowing of the arteries and arterial stiffness.

Once this occurs blood flow is reduced even further. And your heart has to pump harder and harder to get blood to all of your organs.

This means high blood pressure doesn’t just place your heart at risk. Continue reading →

Scary Reason You May Not Be Flexible

what causes stiff arteries, how to find out if you have stiff arteries, what is arterial stiffness, how to improve elasticity of arteries, nitric oxide and arterial stiffness, does exercise make arteries more elastic, what is pulse wave velocity
Leave a reply

By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

July 11, 2018

  • Do you have stiff arteries?
  • Weird test may reveal arterial stiffness
  • 4 ways to improve elasticity of your arteries

As we grow older, a strange thing happens to our arteries. They start stiffening up. The older we get, the stiffer they seem to become.

And oddly enough, age – in and of itself – is by far the major force behind this phenomena. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t other contributing factors.

Continue reading →

Is it Time to put Eggs Back on Your Menu?

do eggs increase cholesterol, are eggs bad for my heart, health benefits of eggs, are eggs good for my brain, is it okay to eat eggs, how many eggs can I eat each day, are eggs good or bad, are eggs healthy, best ways to cook eggs
Leave a reply

By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

July 9, 2018

  • It’s time to put eggs back on the menu
  • 3 more reasons you should eat more eggs
  • Cooking up the perfect egg

Are you still avoiding eggs because you’re afraid they might be bad for you? If so, you’re likely suffering from the lingering effect of what I often refer to as “the great cholesterol hoax.”

So let me be very clear on this.

There is absolutely no scientific evidence showing that eating eggs increase blood levels of LDL cholesterol. There is also nothing that links eating eggs to a greater risk of stroke or heart disease. Continue reading →

3 Foods that Raise Your Blood Pressure

grilled meat and blood pressure, charred meat and blood pressure, foods that cause high blood pressure, what causes hypertension, does sugar make your blood pressure go up, do energy drinks cause high blood pressure, beetroot juice and blood pressure, garlic and hypertension, how to balance magnesium and potassium
Leave a reply

By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

April 18, 2018

  • Are you grilling your way to high blood pressure?
  • The “other” white crystals that contribute to hypertension
  • 4 nutrients to improve your blood pressure readings

If you are trying to maintain a healthy blood pressure, you probably analyze labels very carefully for salt content. But did you know that there are other foods and beverages – ones that aren’t high in salt – that can affect your blood pressure too?

For example, most folks don’t realize that something as simple as the way you cook your meat can raise your chances of high blood pressure by as much as 17%.

You see, when you cook meat, poultry and fish at high temperatures, they create cancer-causing chemicals called heterocyclic aromatic amines. The more charred the meat, the more of these compounds are produced. A similar unintended consequence occurs forming acrylamides (a DNA mutagen) while cooking high starch content foods in high temperature, think  French fries or potato chips.

Well, here’s the thing. Continue reading →

64% Increased Heart Attack Risk With This Deficiency

vitamin D deficiency and heart, vitamin D deficiency in US, how to test vitamin D levels, vitamin D and heart attack risk, link between vitamin D and heart, how to prevent heart disease,
Leave a reply

By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

February 26, 2018

  • You must screen for this to protect your heart
  • Deficiency increases heart attack risk by 64%
  • Getting tested is as easy as this

When you go to the doctor, certain testing generally happens without fail. Most doctors will automatically do a CBC to measure things like your red and white blood cell count.

They also test for lipid counts (cholesterol, triglycerides) and blood sugar. These days a lot of docs are even testing for homocysteine and C-reactive protein. These are both inflammatory markers for heart disease and other degenerative diseases.

But one of the most important tests you can get is one that many health experts say is unnecessary: Continue reading →

How Much Meat Should You Eat?

: is it okay to eat meat, how much meat should I eat, how to cut back on meat, is meat bad for me, meatless Monday, how to get more veggies in my diet, why should I eat less meat, what kind of meat is healthiest
Leave a reply

By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

January 29, 2018

  • There’s nothing wrong with including meat in your diet
  • How much meat should you eat?
  • 6 ways to slash meat intake without sacrifice

There is no doubt that fruits and vegetables are good for you. I just wrote about all of the great health benefits they offer in the January 26th issue of Advanced Natural Wellness.

But that has left a few meat-lovers grumbling at me. “Doc! What do you have against meat!” they exclaim. Most people who don’t eat animal protein do so because of personal issues surrounding the ethics of it as well personal health issues, for example their cardiovascular health a la the Ornish diet.

The truth is (and despite popular belief) I don’t actually have a problem with meat. I’m just as likely to enjoy a sensible sized portion of juicy steak as the next guy. However, I do have an issue with meat that comes from 

Continue reading →

Can a “Roll in the Hay” Stop Your Heart?

sex and heart attack, does sex increase or decrease risk of heart attack?, bad or good to have sex with bad heart condition?, active sex life effects, does sex extend or shorten life?
Leave a reply

By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

December 18, 2017

  • Can a “roll in the hay” stop your heart?
  • Get romantic for a dose of mild physical activity
  • Lower stress, boost your cardiovascular health and live longer

The topics my patients ask me about run the gamut.

But the one that always surprises me the most is when patients ask if it’s still okay to have sex? This question mostly comes from men who think they’re “too old” for bedroom activity or have a heart condition. (That doesn’t mean that a fair share of women don’t ask this question, too!)

For some reason, maybe due to television dramas, they imagine they’ll experience sudden cardiac arrest during these activities and die in the arms of their lover.

While this is certainly not the worst way to go, it’s an extremely unlikely outcome. Continue reading →

Is Your Newly Diagnosed High Blood Pressure Real?

natural ways to lower blood pressure, what is good healthy blood pressure?, what is considered high blood pressure?, new guidelines for blood pressure, nitric oxide
Leave a reply

By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

December 13, 2017

  • New guidelines might say you have high blood pressure
  • Which blood pressure medication is best for you?
  • Natural ways to lower your blood pressure

You may be shocked. You may think your doctor has given you an incorrect diagnosis. And you may go home with an entirely new prescription that you never expected to see in your health arsenal: blood pressure medication.

I’ll tell you right now. You are not alone. The guidelines for high blood pressure have changed.

Until last month, high blood pressure was defined as having a top number of 140 (systolic) and 90 on the bottom (diastolic). But the new parameters presented by numerous agencies, including the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology and other organizations changes all of that. Continue reading →

The Bone Nutrient That Keeps Your Heart Beating Strong

heart health, bone health, bone nutrient that helps heart, how to prevent heart disease, how to avoid cardiac arrest
Leave a reply

By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

November 8, 2017

  • The bone nutrient that keeps your heart beating strong
  • Sudden cardiac death linked to calcium deficiency
  • Do your heart a favor with these natural sources of calcium

Calcium. You’ve heard it can strengthen your bones.

And as many physicians like my self know, most folks don’t become concerned about their calcium intake until osteoporosis, bone fractures or loss of physical function sets in. It simply isn’t a concern unless you’re the one dealing with these issues.

But what if calcium isn’t “just about the bones”? Continue reading →

Stop Feeding the Flames of Inflammation

inflammation caused by excessive sodium intake, effects of sodium intake, salty diet
1 Reply

By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

October 16, 2017

  • Are salty foods giving you diabetes?
  • Here’s how easy it is to blow your daily sodium intake
  • It’s time to change your salty ways

One thing food makers are notorious for is adding copious amounts of salt to their products. In fact, the majority of salt in your diet – about 77% of it – doesn’t come from your salt shaker. It comes from processed, packaged and restaurant foods.

All of this hidden salt makes it very easy to greatly surpass the recommended 2,300 mg of daily sodium. And that amount is recommended only for the healthiest of people.

If you’re over 50, diabetic or have high blood pressure, current guidelines suggest sticking below 1,500 mg of sodium daily. This is the same amount I recommend for all of my patients, healthy or not. Continue reading →