February is Heart Month. Learn what you can do to protect your heart from a known villain.
Heart Disease and Inflammation – Is There a Connection?
Tip of the Week: Because inflammation has been linked to a number of chronic diseases (including allergies, arthritis, heart disease, and cancer– to name a few) include foods with anti-inflammatory properties in your diet.
How to incorporate this tip into your lifestyle: One of nature’s greatest anti-inflammatory foods is ginger. Its versatility makes it a natural for spicing up a variety of foods ranging from soups to desserts. Whether you prefer the pungency of grated fresh ginger root or opt for the convenience of the powdered form, ginger is truly an example of the “food as medicine” phenomenon. For those with a sweet tooth, ginger is also available in a sweet, crystallized form. Because of its zesty heat–regardless of its form–a little ginger goes a long way!
Breakfast is the perfect meal to start your “ginger day”. If you are a cereal lover, try adding fresh, frozen, or canned peaches mixed with a touch of ginger, brown sugar, and pecans to your breakfast bowl. If whole grain toast is your breakfast choice, peach jam topped with a pinch of ginger is a real breakfast treat! And don’t forget—ginger tea is a great alternative to coffee.
For those who love to cook, many oriental recipes will include ginger in their ingredient lists, but you can come up with some favorites of your own. Salad greens, for example, can be elevated to company status simply by adding mandarin orange slices and crystallized ginger.
Besides having anti-inflammatory properties, ginger is also touted as an anti-nausea agent. Pharmacies sell ginger capsules for this purpose. If you prefer, however, you can use the powder or fresh forms. (Cautionary note: As ginger affects blood viscosity, check with your health care provider before adding significant quantities of ginger to your daily regime. This is especially true for those on blood thinning medications.)
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In many respects our food choices represent a major influence in the war against aging and disease. Whether it’s phytonutrients, fiber, or a host of others, components in food have been shown to help combat a number of disease states, including heart disease.
Recently, inflammation–as a causative factor in heart disease as well as numerous other chronic disease states–has received much attention. Thus, anti-inflammatory foods may provide an effective weapon in the fight against heart disease. Because it (heart disease) is the number one killer of both men and women in America, eradicating it is a priority.
Several studies published of The New England Journal of Medicine reported about the role of inflammation as a predictive factor for determining the likelihood of suffering a heart attack. These studies as well as others reinforce the recommendation by experts such as Peter Libby, chief of cardiovascular medicine at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, that inflammation be kept to a minimum and that this be a primary goal in heart attack prevention.
For those who are at high risk for heart disease, you might want to ask your physician if you are a candidate for a C-reactive protein test. C-reactive protein is a marker of inflammatory activity. High levels have been shown to correlate with an increased risk for heart attack or stroke. While some physicians may not endorse this test, many others are using it in conjunction with lipid panels for assessment purposes.