Why it is important to have Breakfast?

You must have been told by your dietitian/doctor that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, yet nearly one-fifth of all adults choose to pass on the Wheaties. What is the big deal about breakfast? Can a solid breakfast really make or break your fitness goals? Read on as We answer your most pressing questions on this popular subject.

Let’s dissect the word ‘breakfast’. When you take it apart you find two words with an all-important hidden message. Break – Fast. Breakfast is the meal that breaks the fast that your body goes into each and every night when you sleep.

When breakfast is skipped, your body continues to fast until you eat later in the day.

Two Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Skip Breakfast:

Reason #1: Your brain needs fuel to function at its peak.

This fuel comes in the form of glucose derived from food and is needed to walk, talk and perform all other activities. When you skip breakfast your brain is forced to work extra hard in breaking down stored carbohydrates or to turn fats and proteins into usable forms of glucose. Eating breakfast has been proven to improve concentration, increase your problem solving capabilities, enhance overall mental performance and even boosts your memory and mood.

Reason #2: Your metabolism will go into ‘famine’ mode.

Three to four hours after you eat, your metabolism shuts down and acts as if it needs to store food. This is a great function to have if a famine were to break out, leaving you without food for days. Since this is likely not the case for you, it is pretty annoying when your body starts packing on the pounds in an attempt to protect you from starvation! Eating breakfast communicates with your body the fact that you are healthy, well fed and not in need of extra fat storage.

What about the cut calories?

“Skipping breakfast is how I cut calories out of my diet.” We can’t tell you how often we hear this response when we encourage people to eat breakfast. What these “calorie cutters” don’t realize is that they are the ones who turn to snacking later in the day in an attempt to ward off low energy levels. Allowing your body to become over-hungry leads to distorted satiety signals, and leaves the door wide open for overeating later in the day.

Start your day with breakfast and then continue to eat smaller meals and snacks throughout the day for optimal calorie burning.

Cardiac Ischemia, Symptoms and Prevention

Information Courtesy: American Association of Cardiology

What Is Cardiac Ischemia?

Ischemia is a condition that occurs when blood flow and oxygen are kept from a particular part of the body. Cardiac ischemia is the name for this condition when the heart is the body part targeted. Ischemic heart disease is a term that covers heart issues caused by narrowing of the arteries. With arteries narrowed, less blood and oxygen are able to reach the heart muscle. This is also referred to as coronary artery disease and coronary heart disease and may ultimately lead to heart attack.

Ischemia often causes chest pain or discomfort known as angina pectoris. Estimates indicate that millions may have ischemic episodes and not even know. These people have ischemia without pain or silent ischemia, and they may have a heart attack with no prior warning.
People with angina also may have undiagnosed episodes of silent ischemia. An exercise test or a 24-hour portable monitor of the electrocardiogram (e-lek’ tro-KAR’ de-o-gram) (Holter monitor) are two tests that are often used to diagnose this problem. Some other tests may also be used.

What Are The Symptoms of Cardiac Ischemia?

The American Heart Association has created a table of symptoms and warning signs of which everyone should be aware.

Sign or Symptom	Why It Happens	People with Heart Failure May Experience
Shortness of breath (also called dyspnea)	Blood “backs up” in the pulmonary veins (the vessels that return blood from the lungs to the heart) because the heart can’t keep up with the supply. This causes fluid to leak into the lungs.	. . breathlessness during activity (most commonly), at rest, or while sleeping, which may come on suddenly and wake them up. They often have difficulty breathing while lying flat and may need to prop up the upper body and head on two pillows. They often complain of waking up tired or feeling anxious and restless.
Persistent coughing or wheezing	Fluid builds up in the lungs (see above).	. . . coughing that produces white or pink blood-tinged mucus.
Buildup of excess fluid in body tissues (edema)	As blood flow out of the heart slows, blood returning to the heart through the veins backs up, causing fluid to build up in the tissues. The kidneys are less able to dispose of sodium and water, also causing fluid retention in the tissues.	. . . a tired feeling all the time and difficulty with everyday activities, such as shopping, climbing stairs, carrying groceries or walking.
Lack of appetite, nausea	The digestive system receives less blood, causing problems with digestion.	. . a feeling of being full or sick to their stomach.
Confusion, impaired thinking	Changing levels of certain substances in the blood, such as sodium, can cause confusion.	. . memory loss and feelings of disorientation. A caregiver or relative may notice this first.
Increased heart rate	To “make up for” the loss in pumping capacity, the heart beats faster.	. . heart palpitations, which feel like the heart is racing or throbbing.
Tiredness, fatigue	The heart can’t pump enough blood to meet the needs of body tissues. The body diverts blood away from less vital organs, particularly muscles in the limbs, and sends it to the heart and brain.	. . a tired feeling all the time and difficulty with everyday activities, such as shopping, climbing stairs, carrying groceries or walking.

How Can I Avoid Cardiac Ischemia?

When it comes to avoiding CI, there are things within your control and things that are not. Dealing with the things within your control involves planning, effort and perseverance. Dealing with the issues outside of your control involves investigation and persistence.

Here are a few areas that are greatly affected by the lifestyle choices you make.

Control Your Diet
To maximize a heart-healthy diet choose foods that are typically low in salt, saturated fat and cholesterol. Limiting sodium — which we get through salt, baking powder, baking soda and other substances in foods we eat — is one of the most important things that people with heart failure can do. Sodium makes the body hold on to fluid, which makes the heart work harder to move the extra volume.

Exercise
Moderate physical activity can help the heart get stronger. With daily exercise, most people will find that they don’t feel as tired, they have less stress and their energy level increases. Other advantages include weight control or weight loss, better circulation, and lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. That’s a lot of benefits for a little physical effort.

Avoid Tobacco and Alcohol
Smokers who have heart failure can automatically eliminate a major source of stress on their heart by quitting. Each puff of nicotine from tobacco smoke temporarily increases heart rate and blood pressure, even as less oxygen-rich blood circulates through the body. Smoking also leads to clumping or stickiness in the blood vessels feeding the heart. People who quit smoking are more likely to have their heart failure symptoms improve.

If you drink, do so in moderation. The incidence of heart disease in those who drink moderate amounts of alcohol (no more than two drinks per day for men or one drink per day for women) is lower than in nondrinkers. However, with increased intake of alcohol, there are increased health dangers including high blood pressure, obesity and stroke.

Know Your Family History
Children of parents with heart disease are more likely to develop it themselves. African Americans have more severe hypertension than whites and their risk of heart disease is greater. You should, to the degree you are able, endeavor to learn as much about your family’s heart history as possible. Knowledge is power; in this case, power to save your life.

Supplement Intelligently
The American Heart Association says that epidemiologic and clinical trials have shown that omega-3 fatty acids reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Healthy people, people at high risk of CVD and patients with preexisting CVD all benefit.

The heart becomes oxygen depleted when blood flow to the heart is restricted (ischemia). A consequence of this ischemia is a substantial lowering of tissue energy, as evidenced by decreased myocardial ATP (the main energy transport molecule) levels. These lowered energy levels cause depressed cardiac function, and worse they prevent the cells in the heart from healing themselves.

Because the body must go through many steps to convert food to energy, recent studies suggest that a person may dramatically increase the rate at which the ATP levels are restored at a cellular level by introducing D Ribose, a simple sugar, directly into the body in the form of a dietary supplement. D Ribose is readily converted into ATP, allowing the energy to once again be restored to the heart cells.