Mainstream medicine is doing a huge disservice to those who want to prevent or reverse heart disease. For years, they’ve been advising Americans to shun dairy, eggs, and meat, exercise each day to the point of exhaustion, and take a cholesterol-lowering statin drug.
But the science shows that none of those are sound strategies. If you truly want to prevent America’s No. 1 killer disease, you need to eradicate the No. 1 underlying cause: stress.
In fact, a new study found that middle-aged and older adults with psychological distress are far more likely to suffer from heart attack and stroke than people who are free of these problems.
Stress and cardiovascular disease: a deadly combo
For this new study, researchers followed about 200,000 people ages 45 and older with no history of heart attack or stroke. At the study’s outset, the participants answered questions about how often they felt depressed, worthless, or tired for no good reason. Then, researchers rated the participants’ degree of psychological distress as low, medium, and high/very high.
Over the next five years, nearly 4,600 people suffered heart attacks and about 2,400 suffered strokes. And the probability of heart attack and stroke increased with a rise in psychological distress level.
Specifically, men with “high/very high” psychological distress were 30 percent more likely to suffer a heart attack compared to men with “low” distress. And the highly distressed men were 44 percent more likely to suffer a stroke.
Women with “high/very high” psychological distress were 18 percent more likely to suffer heart attacks than women with “low” distress. And they were 24 percent more likely to suffer a stroke.
Is stress more harmful to men?
As you can see, being highly distressed took a greater toll on men’s health than on women’s. And the researchers theorized that this is because women are more likely to seek primary care for mental and physical problems compared to men.
But that theory assumes the medical care, which likely involved taking a cholesterol-lowering statin drug, did them any good. And previous studies show that taking these drugs does nothing to prevent heart attacks and stroke. (Science shows they may actually cause heart disease.)
Plus, most men and women who suffer from heart attacks and strokes have NORMAL cholesterol.
So, I have another theory…
Many of the women in this study were pre-menopausal, which means they probably had higher levels of estrogen. And there’s a known protective effect of natural estrogens against heart disease.
Of course, as this study shows, estrogen can only help so much.
And, ultimately, stress is the silent killer. But your doctor won’t talk about it. Instead, they continue to hand out prescriptions for useless and dangerous statin drugs.
In the end, here are four simple suggestions for lowering stress and cardiovascular disease risk…
1.) Supplement daily with 10,000 IU of vitamin D3.
As I explained in the February 2018 issue of my Insiders’ Cures newsletter (“Why your heart attack risk skyrockets in the winter”), low vitamin D plays a big part in increased heart attack risk.
2.) Supplement daily with a high-quality B complex.
Look for a supplement that contains at least 55 mg of B6. Again, research links optimal intake of B vitamins with lower levels of homocysteine and inflammation.
3.) Relax (seriously).
Incorporate some mind-body relaxation approaches into your daily routine. You can take this short quiz to determine which approaches will work best for you to lower your daily stress.
4.) Try other natural approaches to protect cardiovascular health.
If you have anxiety or depression, make sure you’re taking steps to safeguard your cardiovascular health. Because the psychiatrists and psychologists who attempt to treat your mood disorder probably won’t consider your heart or blood vessels.
To learn all about how diet, supplementation, and other lifestyle habits can protect your heart, refer to my online learning tool, the Heart Attack Prevention and Repair Protocol. Click here to learn more, or sign up today.
Source:
“Psychological Distress and Risk of Myocardial Infarction and Stroke in the 45 and Up Study.” Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality Outcomes 2018; 11(9). doi.org/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.117.004500