Vitamin K Helps Prevent Strokes, Alzheimer's, Atherosclerosis

Margaret Durst explains the wonders of Vitamin K.

Vitamin K is much more than a blood clotting agent. Vitamin K improves bone density, aids in preventing hardening of the arteries, and is a stronger antioxidant than vitamin E or coenzyme Q10.

There are 3 known forms of vitamin K. K1 is found in dark green leafy vegetables. K2 is synthesized in the body by the healthy bacteria in the gut and is found in naturally fermented foods. K3 is synthetic and tends to generate excess free radicals and should be avoided. Read more

4 Natural Ways to Prevent a Heart Attack or Stroke

To prevent a heart attack or stroke, go natural and forget the aspirin-a-day business.

K is for klotting – which doesn’t really start with a ‘k’, but it’s what I want to write about. Many people take an aspirin a day to prevent stroke and heart attack based on aspirin’s ability to thin the blood and prevent blood clots.

Most alternative doctors have been against aspirin for a long time because it damages the stomach lining and causes kidney and liver damage. Aspirin is responsible for a significant number of emergency room visits because it causes gastrointestinal bleeding.

New studies are now showing that an aspirin a day actually increases risk of stroke and heart attack in 40 percent of the people who take it. Research is also showing that long term use of aspirin increases your risk of macular degeneration and cataracts by as much as 44 percent. Read more

Unclog Your Arteries

Though it may be discouraging that it's not cheese nachos that unclogs your arteries, it's encouraging that something as simple as eating broccoli may prevent heart attacks and strokes.

This probably still won't encourage children to eat it, but the many healthy properties of broccoli include preventing a heart attack or stroke, say researchers.

A chemical found in the vegetable boosts the body's defence system to keep arteries unclogged.

Cauliflower, sprouts and cabbage can also keep the blood flowing freely.

They all contain sulforaphane, along with rocket, kale and pak choi, but broccoli contains the highest levels. Read more:

Eating a Bit Less Salt Saves Lives

Americans' salt consumption has risen 50% over the past 40 years, mostly as a result of eating more processed foods and more food prepared in restaurants. Most people consume about 9 to 12 g (or 3,600 to 4,800 mg of sodium) per person per day - twice the recommended amount. Eating a bit less salt can have major health benefits.

Some salt is crucial for good health, of course — to regulate blood pressure and assist with muscle and nerve function — but too much (that is, at the levels we currently consume) can lead to hypertension, heart disease and stroke. If Americans halved their salt intake, as many as 150,000 premature deaths could be prevented each year, according to the American Medical Association. And new research presented March 11 by Bibbins-Domingo at the AHA's annual conference shows that even small reductions — as little as 1 g of salt per day — could have dramatic effects, saving 200,000 lives over the course of a decade. Read more

Beta Blockers with Surgery May Be Deadly

A new study shows another reason to avoid medications if you possibly can: beta blocker blood pressure drugs raise the risk of stroke and death during surgery though experts claim doses given in the study were probably too high.

Patients who received the blood pressure-lowering drugs known as beta blockers after having non-cardiac surgery were at higher risk of dying or having a stroke, a new Canadian study found. Read more

Real World Fitness Cuts Stroke Risk

If you can perform ordinary daily activities, such as climbing stairs, carrying groceries, and kneeling and bending, your stroke risk may be 50% of those who can't perform those activities.

... New research shows that men and women over 40 who can climb stairs, carry groceries, kneel, bend, and lift may be 50% less likely to suffer a stroke than those who can't do those things.

That news, published in Neurology, comes from a study of some 13,600 adults in the U.K.

The study started in 1993. Back then, participants were 40-79 years old; none had a history of stroke, heart attack, or cancer.

Participants got their height, weight, and blood pressure checked. They also reported their history of smoking and later rated their ability to climb stairs, carry groceries, bend, kneel, and lift. Read more

What the study doesn't prove is if that there is a cause and effect relationship between strength and lower risk of stroke, but why wait for the study results to come in? The correlation between functional fitness and lower stroke risk has been demonstrated. That ought to motivate you to keep up your strength training, however much or little you do.