The One Heart Risk Factor No One Talks About

Here is a third heart risk your doctor probably isn’t telling you about, and you probably have no idea what it is.
 
Homocysteine
 
Homocysteine is a naturally occurring amino acid found in blood plasma.  High levels of homocysteine in the blood are believed to increase the change of heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, and osteoporosis.
 
A Norwegian study of 587 women and men found that heart-related death risk was eight times greater when homocysteine was elevated.  A 10 percent increase in blood homocysteine levels increases the risk of heart disease by 10 to 15 percent.
 
So what elevates your Homocysteine levels?

• Insufficient folate, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, betaine, vitamin B2, and magnesium.
• Prescription drug use
• High-methionine diet (including high red meat and dairy consumption)
• Smoking
• Coffee
• Alcohol Consumption
• Advancing Age
• Obesity
• Genetic variant that causes an impaired ability to metabolize active folate from folic acid

 
Besides a blood test, how can I tell my Homocysteine levels are high?  Here are some symptoms to look for:

• Are you tired all the time?
• Is your stamina, or ability to keep going, noticeably decreasing?
• Are you having a hard time keeping your weight stable?
• Do you often experience physical pain, be it arthritis, muscle aches or migraines?
• Do you get frequent colds?
• Is your eyesight deteriorating?
• Is your mental clarity or concentration decreasing?
• Are you experiencing more sleeping problems?
• Is your memory on the decline?
• Are you often depressed?
• Do you average two or more alcoholic beverage daily?
• Do you drink more than three cups of coffee daily?
• Do you smoke cigarettes?

 
 
So what can you do to help keep your levels down?
 
Make some Dietary and Lifestyle changes
 
Avoid methionine-rich foods like red meat and dairy products.  Although Methionine is an essential amino acid, it is also suspected to indirectly promote atherosclerotic plaque growth by increasing homocysteine levels.  Also, Exercise is important.  Patients in a cardiac rehabilitation program showed a reduction in homocysteine from exercise alone.  Also decrease or eliminate alcohol and smoking.
 
Take your Multivitamin
 
A poor diet that is high in sugar and carbohydrates can deplete the key B vitamins and magnesium that we need to keep homocysteine levels down.  A multi Vitamin supplying 100 percent of the Daily Value for folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 can cut homocysteine levels by 32 percent, says Harvard researchers
 
Have an Orange at breakfast, and a spinach-and-cherry tomato salad with lunch
 
Citrus fruits, tomatoes, and spinach are all great sources of folic acid, which breaks down homocysteine in the body.
 
Stir-fry peppers and broccoli for dinner tonight
 
In a study of 6,000 people, those who ate the most peppers (red, yellow, green, or hot peppers) and the most cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower had homocysteine levels 16.5 percent lower than people who didn’t eat these healthy vegetables on a regular basis.
 
Do you experience frequent migraines? 
 
There are also recent studies that show that by reducing Homocysteine levels can aid in Migraine relief.  Studies were done where Homocysteine levels were lowered with B-Complex Vitamins regimen.
 
So I hope this blog post has given some value to you today!


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