Combatting Atherosclerosis With Good Nutrition (Part 1)

| Tuesday, September 6, 2011
By Owen Jones

The first thing to do in this piece is to make certain that we all understand the same thing by the word 'atherosclerosis'. atherosclerosis means 'in the Greek' athero='gruel' and sclerosis='hardening'; individuals call it 'furring' or hardening' of the arteries, which gives it its other appellation: arteriosclerosis.

What this all comes to mean is that the arteries become clogged up, slowing the flow of blood about your body. These cloggings put pressure on the heart and can, or almost invariably will, lead to strokes or / and heart attacks.

So, what brings about atherosclerosis? The foremost reason given by most, but not all, medical professionals is the build up on the arterial walls of fat and other substances. This sludge makes a plaque, similar to the manner the food on your teeth forms plaque, if you do not brush them frequently enough. The plaque builds up over time, layer on layer until it has a serious effect on blood flow.

However, your body is still signalling to your brain that, say, your legs need more energy, because you are running for a bus. Your brain tells your heart to get some more blood to your legs immediately, so your heart pumps harder, but the blood is not getting through in adequate quantities because of the atherosclerosis, so the heart has to pump even harder.

This means that the heart of a sufferer from arteriosclerosis has to work a lot harder than that of those who do not have arteriosclerosis. This additional stress on the heart can lead to a heart attack. Not just that, but bits of plaque break off under this higher pressure and they zoom about the blood stream. If they become lodged in the brain and cause a blockage to a crucial process, you may undergo a stroke.

The three reasons that exacerbate the condition the most are smoking, diabetes and a family history of arteriosclerosis. Men are more at danger than women and those with a sedentary lifestyle and career are more at danger than active people or those who have a physically demanding job.

Diet and exercise are the main agents in combatting arteriosclerosis without the use of drugs. However, it is not that simple. Everybody agrees that exercise is useful, and everybody agrees that diet is important, but the diet argument is contended by two groups.

Standard wisdom says that the problem is LDL cholesterol resulting from saturated fat, hydrogenated and trans fats. However another faction says that the over consumption of omega 6 is to blame; or rather that the ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 in our bodies is to blame. They say that we acquire too much omega 6 (which is responsible for inflammation) in polyunsaturated vegetable oils.

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