Chia Seed And Heart Disease

The question is how can a dietary supplement, Chia seed, help in managing cardiovascular health? Well, the latest data from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) shows that heart disease is now the number 1 killer of both women and men in the United States and is responsible for 26% of all deaths. Heart disease now kills more Americans than Cancer! Chia is an important tool in reducing the risk of heart disease.

The CDC, as well as many other organizations like the American Heart Association rate considers high cholesterol as one of the most controllable risk factors for heart disease and one of the best ways to control cholesterol is by consuming enough omega-3 fatty acids in your diet.

At this writing probably the best known source of omega-3 fatty acids is fatty fish such as salmon, or through fish oil capsules. Also well known is flax seed and flax oil. Lesser known is ground Chia seed. But Chia has benefits that neither fish oil nor flax can claim.

First, Chia is the most potent botanical source of omega-3 fatty acids, containing more than flax and isn’t limited to capsule form .

Next, Chia contains far more additional nutrition than either fish oil or flax. Consider that two tbs. of ground Chia contains:

213 mg Phosphorus
143 mg Calcium
140 mg Potassium
8 g Dietary Fiber
4 g Protein
-0-Cholesterol
-0-Transfat

Finally, Chia is extremely versatile and can be used in many different ways in many different recipes. Chia has very little taste of its own and can be added to oatmeal, grits, smoothies, salad dressings or even as part of a meat or poultry rub. This flexibility allows you to make Chia a standard part of your meal preparation.

Heart Disease Risk Factors:

For your convenience, listed here are the factors the CDC considers the most dangerous risks for developing heart disease of one type or another:

Blood Cholesterol Levels

If there is too much cholesterol in the body, either because of the rate the cholesterol is being processed, or because too much is being taken in through diet, the excess ends up in the arterial system which often leads to a clogging of the arteries and heart disease.

High Blood Pressure

As the name suggests, this is a condition marked by too high pressure of the blood in the arteries. High blood pressure, or hypertension, is especially dangerous because there are almost no symptoms.

Other Controllable behaviors the CDC identified as potentially leading to heart disease include:

Smoking

Smoking increase blood clotting raises blood pressure and reduces the amount of oxygen in the blood. Even second hand smoke carries risk.

Lack of Exercise

Physical inactivity has been directly related to the possibility of heart disease. Other risks include high blood pressure. A habit of regular physical exercise will reduce these risks.

Diet

Diets with too much saturated fat and salt will raise blood pressure and can lead to atherosclerosis (fatty deposit of plaque on the lining of the arteries).

Obesity

Too much body fat is related to high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and diabetes

Alcohol

Keep it under control. Too much will cause blood pressure problems

All this heart disease puts a tremendous strain on the U.S economy as well. The CDC estimate is that the 2010 bill for heart disease will be more than $316 billion dollars. Their estimate includes health care, medicine, and lost productivity.

In summary, to prevent heart disease we need:

A balanced and healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables and less red meat and carbohydrates
A reasonable and ongoing exercise plan of at least a half an hour daily.
Work on controlling the other risk factors listed above.
Chia seed as a standard dietary supplement.

In the end, no one is more responsible for our health then we are!

Chia Benefits