Matters of the Heart

The human heart works hard in pumping 5 liters of blood a minute. Almost everyone knows somebody who has been affected by heart disease as it has been the number one cause of death for more than 100 years now.
By the time the cease-fire agreement between North and South Korea was signed in 1953, 30,000 American Soldiers had given their lives in honor of their country. Shortly after, a landmark study on heart disease was conducted by American Military Medical Investigators and was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Of 300 male soldiers, 77.3% has serious signs of heart disease. These men were is great physical shape, so how could this be? Researchers set out to find the answer.
In the Framingham Study 5,000 male and female residents of Framingham, Massachusetts were chosen to study and write about in over 1,000 scientific articles on the risk factors involved in developing heart disease. It was found that high cholesterol and blood pressure, sedentary lifestyle, cigarette smoking and obesity all play a major role in developing heart disease.
We know that diet is a major risk factor for heart disease. Comparatively, American men die from heart disease at a rate seventeen times that of Chinese men. This evidence sends a strong message for a call to action, a change in the way we think about food.
American men eating the Standard American Diet (SAD) lack enough whole grains, fruits and vegetables and over indulge in fat and animal protein. Eating SAD for a prolonged period of time ultimately weakens the heart and circulation of vital nutrients and oxygen to the body. Meat, dairy, sugar and processed foods fill up much of the standard American’s diet and illicit an immune response in the body, releasing endorphins, neurotransmitters produced by the pituitary gland that give us a happy feelings. We become addicted to these foods because we associate them with being happy.
We may see the value in changing, but, have a hard time getting there because of the addicting nature of these foods. It will be a learning experience that will not be supported by mainstream. You will start shopping at “health food stores” instead of grocery stores, and, because we are a very food centered country, it will mean a cultural and social bow out in many ways. It will be tough, but your life may depend on it. If everyone started buying health food, our food supply would adapt. Its simple supply and demand. “Truly man is the king of beasts, for his brutality exceeds theirs.  We live by the death of others:  we are burial places!  I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look on the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men.  ~Leonardo da Vinci. Statistical information was obtained from “The China Study” by T. Colin Campbell.