Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
FEBRUARY~LOVE AND HEARTS…THE RECIPES By: Allie Might, FMC, INHC, ATT February is an interesting month. Not only is it Valentine’s Day which is always full of love but it’s also heart health awareness month….quite fitting if you ask me. Let’s spend this month together …
Greens Hx part 2 Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND In our last blog we were talking about how one of our most popular supplements can be beneficial for our heart. This supplement was Greens Hx and we will be continuing this exciting topic today! So …
Greens Hx….for our heart?
Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND
Greens Hx is probably one of the most popular products at Invite! Everyone knows how amazing Greens Hx is for our liver, immune system, detox and even energy! What most people may not know is that Greens Hx is full of heart healthy nutrients. And when I say full I don’t mean just 1 or 2 of the ingredients. There are literally 12 different components of Greens Hx that are good for our heart health. So let’s take a look at these ingredients!
Let’s start with ginger. Studies have found that ginger has several benefits to our heart health. Ginger has been found to help with lowering high blood pressure, high cholesterol and it can even help to lower the risk of blood clots. (1) Ginger has also been found to have triglyceride lowering benefits. (2) Additionally studies have found that ginger can help to increase our HDL levels. (3) Overall Ginger is an amazing supplement for our heart!
Moving on from ginger let’s talking about grape seed. The first benefit of grape seed is its effects on blood pressure. Studies have found that grape seed can “significantly modulate blood pressure after grape seed extract is used for 16 weeks”. (4) This is important considering that high blood pressure is a risk factor for so many heart complications. In fact 1 study found that grape seed extract lowered systolic blood pressure by 5.6% and diastolic by 4.7% after only 6 weeks of use. (5) Studies have also found that grape seed can help to improve circulation. In one study after 8 weeks grape seed was found to help with blood thinning thus potentially decrease risk of blood clots. (6) Studies have also found that grape seed extract can help lower leg swelling and edema that occurs after sitting for 6 hours. (7) This is important for those with poor circulation where the pain is often worse with sitting or standing. Studies have also found that grape seed extract may be helpful with lowering the risk of atherosclerosis. (8) As you can see grape seed extract is a powerful nutrient when it comes to heart health.
The next item in Greens Hx is Flax seed. According to the Mayo Clinic studies have found that using flaxseed daily can help to lower the total cholesterol. Additionally according to the Mayo Clinic other studies have found that flax seed can help lower blood pressure. (9) Studies have found that ALA, a component of flax seed is associated with a decreased risk of recurrent heart attacks. Atherosclerosis was found to be significantly reduced by using flax seed. As I stated previously studies have found that high cholesterol is also passively affected by flax seed. (10) Flax seed has also been found to help reduce the incidence of arrhythmias. Lastly flaxseed is considered to be an alternative plant source of omega 3s. (11)
Our next item is one of my favorites! BEETS! In fact beets is such an amazing supplement for heart health that I wrote an entire blog on just Beets Hx! Now because I did a very complete blog on using beets for heart health I will just do a quick summary here. A number of studies have found that beets, a natural nitric oxide booster are helpful for reducing both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Beetroot has also been found to help with what is known as reperfusion injury. There has also been found to be decreased arterial stiffness after using beetroot. Beetroot has also been found to help relax smooth muscles just like the ones in the blood vessels. Remember the more relaxed the muscles the larger the opening in the vessel and thus the lower the pressure! (12) The Cleveland Clinic has found numerous benefits for beets. In fact the Cleveland Clinic has found that beets can help increase heart performance after exercise. They have also found that beets help with our blood pressure. (13) But as I said I have a whole exciting blog on just beets. So for more details on beets check out my blog!
Turmeric, or curcumin is one item that might surprise you. Curcumin has been found to help with vascular dysfunction. Curcumin has also been found to improve vasodilation (or how big the opening in the blood vessels is). Curcumin can also help with arterial stiffness which as we know in the long run can help with blood pressure. Lastly studies have found that turmeric can help as a treatment for age related cardiovascular disease. (14)
There are quite a few more items in Greens Hx that can help our heart. So this blog will be split into 2 parts. This way every component can have an in-depth description of how it helps the heart. In our next blog Greens Hx part 2 we will review the following ingredients in Greens Hx: Citrus bioflavonoids, Blueberry, Parsley, Alfalfa, Bilberry, Rosemary and Stevia!
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PROTEIN (POWDER): THE IMPORTANT NUTRIENT WE ALL KNOW By: Allie Might, FMC, INHC, ATT Protein is that nutrient that everyone knows and everyone loves. But how well do we know all the proteins available? Let’s navigate through one of our favorite foods and discuss …
Nattokinase! Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND What the heck is Nattokinase? Where does it come from? What exactly does it do? Is it just for heart health or does it do anything else for us? These are just some of the questions that people have about …
What is Angina?
Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND
Angina or heart/chest pain is one of the first signs that many experience when they have heart disease. However there are other conditions that mimic angina. One of these is anxiety. Angina and anxiety share many symptoms including a feeling of chest pain, nausea, rapid heartbeat, breathlessness and a feeling that the heart is being squeezed. Because the two are so similar it is important to see a doctor to confirm what is causing the chest pain. As I always say it’s better to be safe than sorry. (1)
Now let’s do a quick review of symptoms. The general symptoms of angina include chest pain that may feel like its burning, squeezing or even just feels very full. There may be a feeling of pressure in the chest area. The pain may also radiate to the arms, neck, jaw, shoulder or back. There may be a feeling of dizziness, nausea, shortness of breath, and even increased sweating. Now remember how when I wrote about heart attack I mentioned that in some cases women are more likely to have atypical symptoms? Well that is also true with angina. Some women may have the typical symptoms or may present with more severe stomach pain, nausea, shortness s of breath, stabbing pain or pain in the jaw, neck or back. (2)
Now I know I spoke about how Angina and Anxiety resemble each other and even went over some of the symptoms of angina but what exactly is angina? Angina is a condition where there is chest pain caused by a decrease in the blood flow to the heat. General signs of angina are as I said a feeling of pain, squeezing, pressure and tightness in the chest. Angina is broken down into 4 types. These are stable, unstable, variant and refractory. (2)
Let’s start with the most common form of angina, stable angina. Stable angina is caused by activity or emotional stress. When you have stable angina the symptoms are often predictable because the same amount of activity will trigger angina to occur. The symptoms will improve with rest or medications. (3)
Unstable angina causes unexpected chest pain and occurs while you are resting. Unlike stable angina it is considered to be an emergency situation. Additionally unstable angina unlike stable angina is not relieved by rest or medication. (4)
Variant Angina is also known as Prinzmetal or vasospastic angina. In this case the angina occurs usually while you are asleep and resting. Unlike other forms of angina where coronary artery disease is the common cause of the decreased blood flow in variant angina the decrease in blood flow is caused by spasms of the coronary arteries. These spasms can be caused by medications, recreational drug use, tobacco and stress. This type of angina is considered rare and according to the American Heart Association accounts for only 2 out of every 100 cases of angina. (5)
The last type of angina is refractory angina and is defined as “a chronic condition of angina caused by coronary artery disease which cannot be controlled by a combination of medical therapy, angioplasty or bypass and the damage caused by ischemia is the cause of the symptoms.” (6) Ok I bet you read that and said ok now what does it all mean? It basically means that the treatments no longer help the angina pain because the decreased blood flow has caused damage to the heart and this damage not just the decrease in blood flow is what is now causing the symptoms.
Now that I’ve gone over the types of angina lets go over the most common risk factors for developing angina. Now I just want to point out that angina is a symptom of an underling heart problem. Having one of these will trigger angina. One of the most common is coronary artery disease (CAD). Now I won’t go into too much detail here because I plan on doing a whole blog on CAD. What I will say is that in CAD the coronary arteries become blocked thus blood flow is reduced. Angina is also caused by coronary microvascular disease where the tiny arteries that branch from the larger arteries are damaged. Lastly, spasms of the coronary arteries can cause angina. Now I know these are underlying heart conditions that can lead to angina but what are the risk factors? Well the risk factors include age, family history of angina, exposure to pollution, alcohol use and a poor diet. Having a history of metabolic syndrome, heart failure, heart valve disease, high blood pressure, cardiomyopathy and even anemia can all increase the risk of angina. (7)
One of the most severe concerns when dealing with angina is that it may be sign you are having a heart attack. This is why if you are having chest pain that lasts longer than a few minutes or isn’t relieved with medications it is important to go to the hospital just to be safe. (2)
Now when it comes to angina it is important to concentrate on our circulation:
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