Cardiovascular Disease Update — The Real Cause

For years we’ve heard doctors tell us to quit smoking, get up off our asses, cut down on red meat and fats, and keep our cholesterol down. Well, we called bullshit on most of that in the past, except smoking. It does a number on your arteries not to mention your lungs. Exercise is always good, and Hippocrates felt the best exercise in the world was walking, but a huge study out of Europe published in January of 2019 give us the real low down on CVD, so pay attention.

Poor Nutrition

That’s right folks. Look at it this way, if what we eat doesn’t kill us, what we don’t eat will.

We’ve already pointed out that the root cause of heart attacks is inflammation. And the root cause of inflammation is found on the end of your fork, or being slurped up in that straw, because sugary drinks will kill you.

At one time, soda pop was a luxury in most homes. Many families had soda pop only when the went out. But now, soda pop is a staple, and kids drink it like . . . like . . . like pop! And since we mentioned “sugary drinks,” most will say, “Oh, but I drink diet pop.”

1. There is no such thing as diet soda pop.
2. Diet soda pop puts on weight.
3. Diet soda pop is just as inflammatory as sugar. [Ref]

The study did not find a connection between fats and CVD, except for one fat, trans fats. Trans fats were not meant to be consumed by anyone. The should be labeled poison, or at least “slow poison.”

In Sweden and Norway, CVD was associated with the “underconsumption of nuts and seeds,” while throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia, CVD was associated with low intake of whole grains (or a high intake of low-fiber white flour). [Ref]

They also found that men die younger than women from CVD, though the greatest number of deaths due to improper diet came from Central Asia.

Keep in mind that this study was looking specifically at deaths from CVD that were caused by improper diets, although, you could say that if you had a heart attack at all, there were dietary causes somewhere because the patient lived an inflammatory and highly coagulable life (which points again to diet).

The study did point out that in Israel and Spain, just “one in three premature cardiovascular deaths was diet-related.” [Ref]

Proper Nutrition

This study confirms everything we’ve talked about at this site concerning CVD. The Standard American Diet (SAD) is deadly. We need less processing and more fiber. We need fruits and vegetables and greens. We need food with color. Our meats should be as unprocessed and uncured.

Another note about the study was that the countries involved were European and Asian. They did not take into consideration countries where the coconut is a staple, although, even in those countries, their diets have been influenced by the huge processed food conglomerates. There are few places left on this planet, where you can’t get burger, fries, and a large Coke.

So keep your inflammation low (Chronic Inflammation), increase your fresh fruits and veggies, increase your fiber, consume good oils (omega-3s and omega-7s), keep sugary sweet drinks to a minimum, supplement with anti-inflammatories, get out for a walk, and fall in love.