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

September 15, 2014

• Diet, exercise and what?
• 5 heart risks nobody told you about
• … and 2 of them will knock your socks off

These days, almost everyone over the age of 30 is worried about their heart health. It’s one of the first things patients ask me about when they visit my office.

They try to do everything right. And you probably do, too.

At the top of the list are keeping your weight down, staying physically active and eating heart-healthy foods. However, there are several little-known risk factors you can address that can greatly reduce your chance of developing heart disease or suffering a heart attack.

For example, Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a compound found in the lining of metal food cans, plastic water bottles and other plastic containers. But it doesn’t stay there. Unfortunately, it leaches into the foods and beverages inside. So, when you eat or drink anything from one of these containers, the BPA gets inside your body.

Well, guess what? People with the highest levels of BPA in their bodies are more likely to experience hardening and narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to the heart. This causes blockages that can trigger a heart attack.

You can reduce this risk by passing up on canned foods and avoiding water that comes in plastic bottles. (Using a home water distiller is much safer than bottled water.) It also helps if you store your foods in glass or stainless steel instead of plastic containers or wraps.

This is just one heart risk your doctor probably never told you about. There are several more, and I’ll bet a few of them will surprise you.

Just take a look at some of the things that might be damaging your heart health…

Watching too much TV doesn’t strain your heart. Spending hours sitting in front of a computer or reading a book doesn’t, either. But too many hours of inactivity does affect your metabolism and levels of inflammation.

All of that sitting makes your body unable to process sugars and fats properly. And it has a profound effect on C-reactive protein (CRP) – a well-established marker of inflammation. Sitting for more than four hours a day can triple CRP levels and increase your risk of a cardiovascular event by about 125%.

Your best bet: Don’t just stare at the television because it’s there. Pick out the programs your really want to watch. Then, stay active while keeping your eyes and ears on the set. Better yet, shut the TV off altogether, put that book down and step away from the computer. Instead, find something to keep you moving – dancing, gardening, bicycling, woodworking… the list is endless.

Staying indoors may have more effect on your heart health than you can imagine. It turns out people with the lowest levels of vitamin D have a highly increased risk of heart failure.

Low levels of vitamin D are associated with arterial constriction and high blood pressure. Both of these are bad for your heart health. When your arteries are constricted, it reduces blood flow to your heart.

Adequate levels of vitamin D can help stop this process by increasing your levels of nitric oxide (NO).

You see, when your NO levels are flagging, your blood vessels can’t relax and expand the way they should. This means your blood has to pump harder. This leads to high blood pressure that can damage your arterial walls. Once these walls become damaged, plaque begins to build and causes your arteries to narrow. This impairs blood flow – which substantially increases your risk of a heart attack or stroke.

Your best bet: Get at least 15 minutes of sunshine every day – minus the sunscreen, which blocks vitamin D production. You can also try a vitamin D supplement. Look for one that contains the most active form of vitamin D – vitamin D3, also known as cholecalciferol. Take 2,000 to 5,000 IU daily.

Here are two more risks to your heart… and they’re so surprising they’ll probably knock your socks off.

Taking statin drugs. The negative side effects of statin drugs are piling up higher than you can see. And while they may lower LDL “cholesterol,” they do more harm to your heart than good.

These drugs increase your risk of diabetes. It’s even on the warning label. But guess what? About a third of diabetics die of heart disease or stroke. That’s somewhere between two and four times higher than people without diabetes. Diabetics are also more likely to have high blood pressure, poor lipid balance and become obese.

None of this is good news for your heart. Neither is the fact that statins can facilitate hardening of your arteries and cause direct damage to your heart muscle.

Your best bet: Take control of your heart health by adopting a Mediterranean-style diet. Eat plenty of omega-3 rich foods, add an abundance of high-antioxidant fruits and veggies, and reduce your intake of processed flours and sugars. You can also supplement with 20 mg. policosanol, 250 mg. of niacin and 100 mg. of the ubiquinol form of CoQ10 daily.

Too much high-intensity exercise is also gaining world-wide attention as a heart threat. This may seem counterintuitive. That’s because it’s common knowledge that increased physical activity is good for the heart, among other things.

However, just like anything else, too much of a good thing can be bad for you.

People who get the most strenuous exercise each day are more than twice as likely to die of heart attack or stroke compared to those who get moderate activity. Even worse, too much high-intensity exercise can increase the risk of irregular heartbeat, known as atrial fibrillation.

Your best bet: There’s no doubt that physical activity is good for you. But there is a fine line between getting too much of it… and not enough. That’s why I suggest a good variety of movement interspersed with short bursts of intensity.

Take a walk, ride your bike, swim, dance or whatever else you enjoy. Just 30 minutes twice a day will protect your heart as long as you add in a few 30- to 60-second bursts of intensity every few minutes.

Sources:
Melzer D, et al. “Urinary bisphenol A concentration and risk of future coronary artery disease in apparently healthy men and women.” Circulation. 2012 Mar 27;125(12):1482-90.

Stamatakis E, et al. “Screen-based entertainment time, all-cause mortality, and cardiovascular events: population-based study with ongoing mortality and hospital events follow-up.” J Am Coll Cardiol. 2011 Jan 18;57(3):292-9.

John A Ford, et al. “Cardiovascular disease and vitamin D supplementation: trial analysis, systematic review, and meta-analysis.” Am J Clin Nutr. Sept 2014.

“Here comes the sun to lower your blood pressure.” Univ of Southampton. News Release, Jan 2014.

Sattar N, et al. “Statins and risk of incident diabetes: a collaborative meta-analysis of randomised statin trials.” Lancet. 2010 Feb 27;375(9716):735-42. Epub 2010 Feb 16.

Nakazato R, et al. “Statins use and coronary artery plaque composition: results from the International Multicenter CONFIRM Registry.” Atherosclerosis. 2012 Nov;225(1):148-53. Epub 2012 Aug 24.

Mons U, et al. “A reverse J-shaped association of leisure time physical activity with prognosis in patients with stable coronary heart disease: evidence from a large cohort with repeated measurements.” Heart. 2014 Jul;100(13):1043-9.

Drca N, et al. “Atrial fibrillation is associated with different levels of physical activity levels at different ages in men.” Heart. 2014 Jul;100(13):1037-42