Or, in other words, why is there so much heart disease? After all, we have lots of Cardiologists, and plenty of drugs, and people are taking blood thinners and cutting their cholesterol.
If you know my practice, you know I don’t treat disease, but I treat the function of the body, which is real prevention. So, I want to help my patients to avoid heart disease. The emotional heartbreaks are bad enough, but usually they don’t kill us!
Natural doctors consider much of heart disease to be deficiency disease. Beriberi is a disease that is said to hardly exist in the U.S. But what if there is hidden Beriberi deficiency? Bread products are enriched with synthetic Thiamine (Vitamin B1), so isn’t that enough? Take a look at the symptoms of Beriberi. The heart stops beating regularly, burning sensations and tingling develops in the extremities, as well as loss of sensation and numbness. Heart failure follows, and autopsies reveal degeneration of nerve fibers and muscle. That is what a nutritional deficiency can dol
The other thing that can go wrong with a heart is if there is insufficient nerve conductivity. The heartbeat is basically caused by an electrical impulse. What helps the heart nerve (called the Bundle of Hiss) to work well? B vitamins.
When I have treated heart arrhythmias, I don’t treat the disease, I improve the function of the nerve flow to the heart, using natural B vitamins. Hawthorn, on the herbal side, is also excellent for healthy heart function.
If enough muscle cells in the heart are strong enough to contract, and the nerve messages are flowing to the heart, the heart is going to be healthy.
The other key factor is the blood flow to the heart. Arteries flow away from the heart and veins flow back to the heart. Keeping the arteries clear is not a matter of lowering cholesterol. Cholesterol is the bandage. Inflammation is the wound. The body puts cholesterol over inflammation to protect the arterial wall. Treat the wound (inflammation) and a thick bandage is not needed.
Sugar, white flour, chemicals and toxins cause inflammation. So, a whole food diet is heart-protective. And other B vitamins, like Folic Acid and B12, may be protective against heart disease, based on their ability to reduce C-reactive protein levels. CRP is a marker for inflammation in the body. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19736473
This tells us that heart disease is far more preventable than current medical practice leads us to believe. If heart disease runs in your family, you don’t have to be victim, but you have life-style choices to make.
Don’t turn to grains for B vitamins, unless you are grinding fresh grains yourself. B vitamins are quickly lost when flour is milled, and the synthetic B’s used to enrich flour products will not protect you. You need the food source B’s found in wheat germ, Brewers yeast, brown rice, molasses, liver and other muscle meat. Supplementation is possible, but you must find food source B’s to get any real benefit for your heart, adrenals, nervous system and liver.
Yes, B’s are vital for so many functions in the body, and that is one reason why so many hearts are getting broken since we started eating processed foods. Our standard food supply will not sustain a level of health that ensures long and disease-free lives.
If you have any concern about your heart, or you have fatigue, insomnia, high-stress levels, anxiety, or other symptoms of B vitamin deficiency, email or call us and get some help. Living the life you want may mean finding out what your body needs, just to keep up with you. Staying strong is not just about exercise. It is also about getting the vital nutrients to their destination in the cells, pushed along with every mighty beat of your heart.