TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR PREVENTING HEART ATTACKS!

John Scharffenberg, MD, MPH

Lifetime coronary heart disease risk in the United States at age 40 years is one in two for men and one in three for women. This is why everyone needs to follow the Ten Commandments for Preventing Heart Attacks.

1. Stop Smoking. You can succeed!
   
2. Keep Your Blood Pressure Down. How?
   • Get your weight under control if overweight.
   • Avoid meat and become a vegetarian.
   • Keep on a low salt diet - best is about ½ t. a day total in everything that you eat.
   • Avoid alcohol.
   • Keep on a good exercise program.
   • Get adequate amounts of the fatty acids called omega 3’s - walnuts, flaxseed meal, soy or canola oil.
   • Learn to cope with stress by turning to God.
     
3. Avoid Eating Most Animal Products
   The purpose is to lower the cholesterol and saturated fat in your diet. 100% of the cholesterol and 68% of the saturated fat comes from animal products. Saturated fats from plant sources are not a problem if there is no cholesterol or animal products in the diet.
   
4. Eat Largely of “Preventive Foods”
   Consumers of large amounts of fruits and vegetables have lower heart disease risk. Harvard researchers state women who eat just one serving of a vegetable or fruit such as carrots, apricots, green leafy vegetables, or spinach have a 40% lower risk of stroke and 22% lower risk of heart attack.

   A new risk factor for heart disease is high blood homocysteine levels. These high levels are due to a deficiency of either folic acid, vitamin B6, or vitamin B12.

   Foods high in folic acid:

   • Dry breakfast cereals (fortified)
   • Beans such as lentils, pinto beans, chick peas
   • Sunflower seeds
   • Some of the greens, such as asparagus
   • Orange juice

   Foods high in B6:

   • Dry breakfast cereals (fortified)
   • Baked potato
   • Bananas
   • Chick peas

   Foods containing B12:

   • Dry breakfast cereals, fortified
   • Red star brewer’s or nutritional yeast
   • Especially for older people with poor absorption, an oral supplement is advised.
   • Also, avoid coffee and consume the right kind of fats:
   • Use nuts five days a week; most have shown they reduce heart attackrisk by about 50%. Studies have been done on walnuts, almonds, pecans, and peanut butter all of which help to lower risk.
   • Whole wheat bread
   • Increase alpha linolenic acid (Omega-3)
     Flaxseed meal, walnuts, soy or canola oil
   • Increase monounsaturated fatty acids
     Olive oil, avocados
   • Avoid the usual coffees but you may use cereal coffees, such as Postum or Roma.
     
5. Exercise
   Walking two or more miles a day vs. walking less than one reduced the risk of dying from heart disease and all causes combined and by about 50%. It also reduces the risk of stroke or diabetes, and helps to keep the extra pounds off. Exercise lowers blood pressure and helps to keep blood lipids under control. It enhances the beneficial effect of a low-saturated fat and low-cholesterol diet on blood lipids.
   
6. Reduce in Weight, if Overweight
   Obesity increases the risk of heart attacks. Your body mass index should be between 20-25. That is your weight in pounds multiplied by 704 and divided by your height in inches, squared. Your waist-to-hip ratio should be no higher than 0.85 for women and 1.0 for men.

   How do I get my weight down?

   • Avoid snacks, reduce use of empty and refined calories such as oils, sugar, refined cereals, and alcohol.
   • Avoid the cholesterol foods, such as meat, eggs, cheese.
   • Try two meals a day, skipping supper but eating a good breakfast and lunch.
   • Use more low-calorie foods such as greens and less of the high calorie foods such as desserts, meats, and foods high in fats.
   • Get on a good exercise program, essential for permanent weight loss.
     
7. Keep Your Blood Sugar Down

   How do I get my blood sugar down?

   • Reduce your weight, get on a good exercise program, reduce fat intake, avoid primarily animal products such as meat, eggs, butter and cheese. Reduce the intake of oils although you may use some of the monounsaturated fats such as olive or canola oil, avocados, peanuts, etc.
   • Use complex carbohydrates like whole grain breads and breakfast cereals which are high in fiber and limit the intake of refined carbohydrates such as sugar.
   • You should know that non-vegetarians compared to vegetarians have 3.8 times greater risk of having diabetes on their death certificates. It appears it is the magnesium in whole grains that is helpful in reducing the risk of getting diabetes. Those same whole grains are giving you all the fiber you need.
   • Reduce sugar intake. Use whole fruit more than fruit juice. Avoid soft drinks.
     
8. Avoid Alcohol - It’s The Wrong Answer
   
9. Have A Healthy Mental Outlook
   "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine." Proverbs 17:22.

   Studies have shown that men having high levels of hopelessness had faster progression of carotid artery atherosclerosis. Men with three or more stressful events in the preceding year had 3.6 times greater mortality rate. A study of 40,000 health professionals showed those having the most phobic stress had 6 times the risk of dying of cardiac arrest. It is important to have a healthy mental outlook on life. Having a trust in God will help you in this respect.
   

10. Keep Your Immunity Upa
    How do I do that? Avoid bad habits: smoking, drinking alcohol, use of other drugs, etc. Keep on good diet. Keep your weight down, avoid high-cholesterol foods. Get on a good exercise program. Get adequate rest - 8-9 hours of sleep, one day in 7 for a Sabbath rest. This was thought so important that God even wrote it into the Ten Commandments.

Conclusion: You need to know that heart attack risk in the U.S. has dropped 56% since it peaked in 1963 and it is possible with what we know now to reduce the risk by 90%. You have been given the primary things that need to be done to reduce your risk. The major thing is to be a vegetarian and cut the cholesterol to as close to zero as possible.