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THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET AND GARLIC

Curious researchers, noting how much olive oil, red wine, garlic and salads the French (and for that matter the Italians and Spanish) consumed and how low, compared to Britain and USA, was their incidence of heart disease, discovered that all of these foods protected from cardiovascular conditions. Red wine contains certain protective ingredients which promote arterial health, provided it is drunk in moderation (no more than half a bottle a day of good red wine, not a cheap one which will be full of additives).

Garlic-Garlic is now an object of research supported by the British Heart Foundation, which has recently funded a 24,000 trial at the John Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford to study its

anti-cholesterol properties. Its other healing properties suggest that allium sativum is one of the most powerful medicinal herbs known. Researchers in Germany, the USA and Britain have recently confirmed its ability to regulate blood pressure, reduce high cholesterol and lipid levels, improve blood circulation and fight infections.

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Cardio & Blood/ Cholesterol

The heart sends signals that it’s not getting enough oxygen by generating chest pains known as angina pectoris. Episodes of anginal pain are a function of oxygen consumption by the heart muscle. The faster the heart beats, the more oxygen the muscle needs. When the blood coming through the occluded coronary arteries can’t supply that stepped-up oxygen demand, angina strikes, forcing one to slow down so that the oxygen debt can be repaid.

Obviously, if that oxygen supply and demand equation were changed for the better, angina episodes would be reduced. One way, of course, is to take nitroglycerin tablets to open the vessels, allowing a greater flow of oxygen-supplying blood. Longer-acting nitrate drugs accomplish the same goal on a continuing basis. Beta-blocking drugs work by slowing down the rate of heartbeat, thus minimising the demand for oxygen.

But exercise can be a positive factor in this equation. Physical activity can reduce the episodes of angina in a number of ways.

The end result of a continuing, tegular program of physical exercise is a decrease in the episodes of angina. As times goes on, one can do mote and more exercise without the interruption of angina.

Angina is one of the most obvious and painful reminders that one has heart disease. To me, the promise of reduction of such anginal episodes is reason enough to keep to one’s exercise program diligently.

In fact, exercise can be just as effective in treating angina as medication. In a Scottish study, 40 men with chronic stable angina were taken off their beta-blocking medications. Doctors then tested them for physical endurance on a treadmill. The men were next divided into two groups. One group exercised vigorously for one year while the other did not.

After the year’s end, the two groups were retested. The men who had been exercising were given no medication before getting on the treadmill. Those who had not exercised received a beta-blocking agent prescribed to control angina.

Men who had exercised had lower heart rates and a much higher threshold of angina. Those effects equalled those of the beta-blocking drug. The researchers concluded that a program of exercise can replace the drugs for angina sufferers.

A note of caution at this point: if you currently take beta-blockers at your doctor’s prescription, do not stop taking them without first discussing the matter with your doctor. He or she very likely will urge you to begin a program of exercise first, gradually building up the level of intensity, and then slowly cutting back on the dosage of medication. Moreover, there are certain instances in which the medication will have to be continued, although in a lesser dosage.

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Cardio & Blood/ Cholesterol