Tag: heart health

FATS~THE SKINNY YOU NEED TO KNOW

FATS~THE SKINNY YOU NEED TO KNOW

FATS~THE SKINNY YOU NEED TO KNOW By: Allie Might, FMC, INHC, ATT   When talking about health, wellness and diet, the subject of fats always seems to scare people. I’ve heard such things as ‘fats are bad’ to ‘I don’t consume any fats because they’ll 

VEGETABLES~GREENS AND BEYOND

VEGETABLES~GREENS AND BEYOND

VEGETABLES~GREENS AND BEYOND By: Allie Might, FMC, INHC, ATT   Vegetables and greens always seem to be the most difficult for people to eat enough of on a daily basis. As I’ve talked to people over the years on this subject, I’ve noticed a few 

Heart Health: The Complete Summary

Heart Health: The Complete Summary

Heart Health: The Complete Summary

Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND

 

I hope this series on heart health has been both informative and interesting! While I took the time in this series to review some rather severe heart conditions I also wanted to do a quick summary on what steps you can take before these concerns develop or to help slow down their progression once you are diagnosed with them.  Let’s start at the beginning shall we? Many of the risk factors for heart disease such as blood pressure, high cholesterol have few if any symptoms. That is why I always recommend going to your doctor and getting routine blood work as a first step to staying healthy.  The next step in getting our heart healthy is to do a life style review. Do you smoke? Drink alcohol to excess? Have a standard American diet? Do you have poor sleep habits? Be honest when you write down the risk factors you may have. Remember we can only help you if you are completely honest with us. As we always say there’s no judgement here! The next step is to talk to family members and find out what may or may not run in your family. Lastly before you visit or call an Invite nutritionist it is a great idea to make a list of any and all supplements as well as medications that you are taking. Once you haves all this information an Invite nutritionist can help get you on a protocol made just for you. For now I’ll just review a few of my personal favorite tips to help heart health.

  • Life style changes! Working on our life style is never easy but it is one of the most important ways to positively affect both our heart health as well as our overall health.  One of the best ways to help our heart is to stop smoking. It is also important to decrease alcohol intake. Reducing stress and increasing the amount/ quality of sleep you are getting can also help our heart.  (1) L-Theanine has been found in studies to help with both stress and anxiety! When used at night it can also help to improve sleep.  (2) Magnesium has also been found in studies to help with both cortisol (stress related hormone) and sleep. (3) Now I know what you are thinking – can I use both these things at the same time? Yes you can! The next life style change that can help our heart is maintaining a healthy weight. (1)  For some amazing tips on this topic please check out Allie Might’s blog Weight loss tips and tricks.
  • Studies have found that a Mediterranean diet is very good for our heart health. In fact the more closely the diet is followed the better the outcome that was experienced. (4) During this series I wrote about Invite Reds and Greens Hx. If you look at my blogs on these 2 items you can easily see how these powders are full of heart health nutrients! In addition to Reds Hx and Greens Hx, we can’t forget my personal favorite, Beets Hx! These powders are chock full of fruits and vegetables which is a large part of the Mediterranean diet that has been studies for so many different health concerns.(5)
  • Resveratrol is one of my number 1 supplement recommendations for heart health. I know when most people think of Resveratrol they think of it for anti-aging. However Resveratrol has been studied and found to have numerous benefits when it comes to heart health. For example Resveratrol has been found to help with the symptoms of heart failure.  Resveratrol has also been found to help with coronary artery disease and even atherosclerosis! According to studies Resveratrol can even help with our cholesterol and our blood pressure. (6)
  • CoQ10 is another amazing nutrient when it comes to our heart. Studies have found numerous benefits for CoQ10 for heart health. These benefits include helping with blood pressure, signs of heart failure, enlarged heart and it can even help with ischemic heart disease or poor circulation to the heart. (7)
  • Omega 3s are one of the first things I recommend for helping with our cholesterol. According to the Mayo Clinic there is strong evidence that Omega 3s can help with lowering triglycerides and even help raise our HDL! There is also strong evidence that Omega 3s can help with our blood pressure. (8)
  • The next item I want to mention is Ribose Complex. Since I already did a product highlight on this amazing supplement I will simply direct you to my blog that highlights all the ways that Ribose complex is a heart healthy supplement.
  • Lastly I want to point out how important it is to monitor your blood work. If you notice any consistent changes such as a slow but consistent increase in cholesterol it is important to start making changes before it becomes “high”. As I always say prevention is best!

I will be moving on from this topic, but I want to remind everyone that Invite nutritionists are always available to help answer any questions you may have.

 

Sources:

  1. https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/heart-attack/life-after-a-heart-attack/lifestyle-changes-for-heart-attack-prevention
  2. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-aids/l-theanine-for-sleep#:~:text=L%2Dtheanine%20is%20also%20sold,for%20high%20quality%2C%20restful%20sleep.
  3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3703169/
  4. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.118.313348
  5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9317652/
  6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6413130/
  7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6131403/
  8. https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements-fish-oil/art-20364810#:~:text=There’s%20strong%20evidence%20that%20omega,%22)%20cholesterol%20also%20was%20observed.

Greens Hx part 2

Greens Hx part 2

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?

Greens Hx….for our heart?

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 

Nattokinase!

Nattokinase!

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 Nattokinase. I get so many questions about Nattokinase that I wanted to take the time to explore this interesting supplement. Let’s start at the beginning.  Nattokinase is an enzyme. It is extracted from a Japanese food called Natto.  The way that Natto is produced is by adding a bacteria called Bacillus Subtilis to boiled soybeans. Now I just want to point out that while other soy foods may have enzymes only Natto contains Nattokinase. (1)

Nattokinase has been found in studies to have numerous benefits for our heart health including reducing the risk of heart attack and even improving overall heart health. (2) Studies have found that Nattokinase can help to reduce both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. (3) In addition to helping lower blood pressure Nattokinase has also been found to help lower LDL, triglycerides and even total cholesterol. (2) Studies have also found that Nattokinase may help with slowing the development of atherosclerosis. This is because Nattokinase has both antiplatelet and anticoagulant effects that may help to clean out the arteries. (4) Nattokinase has been found to be a very potent blood clot dissolving protein. (5) In fact when Nattokinase comes into contact with blood clots it has been found to break them up. (1)

Now I know some people might say but wait does it really work this way in the human body? Doesn’t it get broken down by our digestive juices and not really do anything? Well studies have been conducted and found that Nattokinase is active in the body when used orally. (6)

Due to the fact that Nattokinase helps to break up blood clots it has also been studied in regards to stroke. I know your probably thinking wait stroke? What does that have to do with heart health? Well to be honest the risk factors for many heart conditions and a stroke are very often the same and thus in my clinical experience those who have heart disease are often at risk of a stroke. So I wanted to mention it here. Plus as I hinted in the beginning of this blog Nattokinase isn’t just a “heart supplement”. It is useful for more than just heart health.  Now back to Nattokinase and strokes. In one study in those who have had a stroke after 60 days of Nattokinase the patients had better control over their blood pressure and even cholesterol levels. (7) Nattokinase has also been found to help improve the cognitive function in those who have had a stroke. (8)

Nattokinase has also been found to be helpful in protecting our blood vessels after they are injured. In other studies Nattokinase was found to help reduce the amount of aortic plaque that builds up in those who have high cholesterol.  Nattokinase has been found to be very good at breaking up blood clots. Research has explored using it to help break up other things in the body.  New research has found that Nattokinase may be helpful at degrading amyloid fibrils suggesting it may be helpful for diseases such as Alzheimer disease. (9)

So let’s sum up a few things from all these studies. Overall studies have found that Nattokinase is good for blood clots, atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and overall heart health. Other studies have found that Nattokinase can even help our brain and reduce our stroke risk. It has also been found to help with certain diseases where there is a buildup of amyloid fibrils such as Alzheimer disease. That is just amazing! (10)

Now just a PSA I’d like to point out that Nattokinase can and does interact with certain medications. This is why it is so important to talk to an Invite nutritionist to determine if Nattokinase is right for you!

Our next topic will be something that has cropped up quite a bit over these weeks of talking about heart health – Coronary Artery Disease!

Sources:

  1. Nattokinase – Wikipedia
  2. Nattokinase: A Promising Alternative in Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases – Hongjie Chen, Eileen M McGowan, Nina Ren, Sara Lal, Najah Nassif, Fatima Shad-Kaneez, Xianqin Qu, Yiguang Lin, 2018 (sagepub.com)
  3. Consumption of nattokinase is associated with reduced blood pressure a | IBPC (dovepress.com)
  4. Frontiers | Effective management of atherosclerosis progress and hyperlipidemia with nattokinase: A clinical study with 1,062 participants (frontiersin.org)
  5. IJMS | Free Full-Text | Nattokinase: An Oral Antithrombotic Agent for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease (mdpi.com)
  6. Nattokinase: A Promising Alternative in Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases – PMC (nih.gov)
  7. Nattospes as Effective and Safe Functional Supplements in Management of Stroke | Journal of Medicinal Food (liebertpub.com)
  8. Nattokinase Promotes Post-stroke Neurogenesis and Cognition Recovery via Increasing Circulating Irisin | Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (acs.org)
  9. Nattokinase: A Promising Alternative in Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases – Hongjie Chen, Eileen M McGowan, Nina Ren, Sara Lal, Najah Nassif, Fatima Shad-Kaneez, Xianqin Qu, Yiguang Lin, 2018 (sagepub.com)
  10. Nattokinase: Benefits, Side Effects, and Precautions (verywellhealth.com)