Four FREE health reports for you

Register now for our vital and insightful health updates, and get four free health reports to help you live more healthily.

email to friend Printer friendly

Alternative Treatments

Heart Problems: Alternative treatments

Despite the battalion of drugs and aggressive surgery on offer to anyone with a heart condition, there’s plenty of evidence that suggests a change in lifestyle – including a diet that excludes processed foods, and gentle exercise – can be just as effective if not more so. The virtue of this approach is that you are dealing with the underlying problem, whereas conventional medicine can control only the symptoms.

One of the more radical dietary approaches has been developed by Dr dean Ornish, whose ‘heart diet’ has been used successfully by many thousands of people with a heart condition. A kinder diet is the Montignac diet, which was originally developed for diabetics. This avoids all processed foods, and uses only foods with a low glycaemic count, which, in turn, lowers cholesterol levels.

Other things you can do:

Eat foods containing high levels of beta-sitosterol, found in most plants, especially soybeans, as they can reduce cholesterol by at least 10 per cent
Take omega-3 fatty-acid supplements, preferably with vitamin B6
Eat a high-fibre diet based on vegetables, fruits and nuts (Metabolism, 2001; 50: 494-503); oat bran, apple pectin and psyllium are especially helpful
Take up to 3000 mg/day of niacin, but beware of overdosing
Try blue-green algae supplements; they contain large amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids which may reduce cholesterol
Don’t forget garlic (Allium sativum), which lowers cholesterol

Back to How You Beat Heart Problems

High fibre diet improves blood sugar in diabetes - A high fibre diet can improve glycaemic (blood sugar) control in individuals with type II (adultonset) diabetes. ...

Is vitamin b6 bad for patients with a heart condition? - Re Parkinson’s disease (WDDTY vol 14 no 5), I am puzzled by a statement about vitamin B6 which suggested that patients with heart conditions should no...

The link with processed foods - Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) refers to the slow deterioration of the cells in the macula, a tiny yellowish area near the centre of the retin...

Colon Cancer: Processed foods could be a major cause - A diet of fast and processed foods could be a major cause of colon cancer, researchers have found. The foods are high in trans-fatty acids, and there...

Causes of heart disease - It’s not too controversial to suggest that one of the chief causes of the epidemic of heart disease in the West is the industrialisation of our food s...

Heart Problems: Prevention - Here are some changes you can make to your daily life and diet that will have a positive effect on heart health:

Vitamin b6 made me better - I was very pleased that the government's decision to limit vitamin B6 supplements was mentioned in WDDTY. I am very concerned about whether B6 is bei...

The sunny side of eggs - American heart disease guru Dr Dean Ornish recently wrote: "Say no to the egg" (New York Times, Sept 15, 1997). ...

The British Institute for the Identification & Treatment of Allergic Disorders

How You Beat Asthma
How To Beat Your M.E.
How You Beat ADHD
How You Beat Arthritis
How You Beat Backpain
How You Beat Depression How You Beat Pain
How You Beat The Menopause
How You Beat Heart Problems
WDDTY Health Shop

Register for our health updates and free gifts.
First Name:
Email: