What scares you the most – a heart attack or a heartbreak? We’re sure that both do. There are a zillion sources out there in the massive cyberspace that talk about heart health and how one should take care of their body in a manner that their heart is healthy enough to carry out all the necessary functions actively. After all, a healthy heart is essential for us to live, right?
These days, everyone is getting extra cautious about taking care of their wellbeing (well, at least most of us are starting to). And the formula to keep our body, especially the heart healthy boils down to just one thing – eat well, exercise often, steer clear of all the junk food and of course, stay away from cigarettes and alcohol.
And we follow this formula not just to avoid heart disease, but also to avoid anything to do with cancer and all those scary ailments which we never wish to suffer from.
But don’t you think our body’s growth, development, actions, and reactions have changed with time? In fact, doctors approve of this and believe that medication is not considered as the first solution anymore. Now is the time wherein the ways of treating patients has to be changed in order to keep up with the changing health conditions and our adaptability towards it. And on the internet, we came across one such world-renowned heart surgeon, Dr. Dwight Lundell. Here’s what he has to say-
The Doctor’s Confession
This is what Dr. Lundell whole-heartedly confessed in his essay, titled “Heart Surgeon Declares What Really Causes Heart Illness”: “We physicians, with all our training, knowledge and authority often acquire a rather large ego that tends to make it difficult to admit that we are wrong. So, here it is. I freely admit to being wrong. As a heart surgeon with 25 years of experience, having performed over 5,000 open-heart surgeries, today is my day to right the wrong with medical and scientific facts” (1).
His essay was published on a website called Tuned Body, in the month of December. And ever since then, it has been making heads turn and forcing people and doctors to rethink the entire notion of how heart problems develop in us.
What Has Been The Norm For Decades?
Every time a patient walks in and the doctors get the slightest hint that the patient might be suffering from a cardiovascular problem, doctors resort to one common drill. That being – prescribing a medication to the patient to lower the cholesterol-statins and along with it, they prescribe a diet which severely restricts any kinds of fat intakes (basically eating just carbs and staying away from all those processed foods).
To this, Dr. Lundell argues by saying, “These recommendations are no longer scientifically or morally defensible. ”
Why Exactly Is There A Need For Change
The answer is simple. High cholesterol isn’t really the factor leading to heart diseases. Rather, it’s a much serious and ignored condition that causes it. What could that be? Well, the answer lies in your heart itself, to be more specific, on the artery walls. The inflammation and swelling of these walls around the heart is what causes the heart problems in us (2). Therefore, the experts think that we need to change the way we treat heart problems. Pure medication won’t reduce the inflammation; it only lowers down the cholesterol levels. And moreover this wrong medication is not just affecting our wallets, its impacting our lives negatively.
This doesn’t mean one can go about shoving pizza and onion rings with their favorite brewed beer. A low-calorie diet is very vital to keep yourself away from diseases like diabetes.
The New Approach
The final verdict: Stop chronic inflammation (it’s the key to reducing the heart disease). We should avoid eating foods that are loaded with sugars, the ones that are processed with omega-6 oils (they are used to increased the shelf life of edibles). These kinds of foods slowly poison our heart (3).
Dr. Lundell goes on to explain this by saying, “Extra sugar molecules attach to a variety of proteins that in turn injure the blood vessel wall. This repeated injury to the blood vessel wall sets off inflammation. When you spike your blood sugar level several times a day, every day, it is exactly like taking sandpaper to the inside of your delicate blood vessels. ”
So what does Dr. Lundell suggest we do? He says, “Returning to foods closer to their natural state. ” This means that we need to eat more natural foods like whole fruits and vegetables. And we need to eat foods that will actually help reduce inflammation – tomatoes, green-leafy vegetables and so on (4). Dr. Lundell says that by doing this, we will eventually reverse the damage we’ve been causing to our arteries. And no, that tomato sauce on the pizza doesn’t count as healthy!
Now we know what to do to keep all the heart ailments at bay. So, will you join us in this new approach to keep our hearts pumping to glory? Do let us know in the comments below.