The precursor to Heart Disease and Stroke
Porkie’s favorite meat was fried pork so that is how she earned the nickname Porkie. Her mother not realizing the danger of too much fried pork gave into Porkie’s passion. There was nothing to Porkie like eating a plate of fried pork belly, fried sweet potatoes and a glass of sweet ice tea, but what she didn’t know was that these food choices would be a detriment to her health later in life. Porkie’s also starting gaining weight because of her unhealthy food choices.
Porkie had just celebrated her 40th birthday when one Saturday as she sat at home and dipped her fork into a luscious plate of ribs she felt a crushing pain in her chest. At first she thought it was indigestion so she drank some mint tea trying to ease what she thought was gas bubbles, but the pain got worse going up into her teeth and neck and now the sweating was pouring from her face; she began to feel daizzy. She groped for the phone, dialed 911 and then she slumped over the chair and darkness enveloped her.
Days later Porkie woke up in Intensive Care Unit to see all her family members around her. She stared at them strangely, not knowing where she was, they cried with relief and said “thank God, you are awake, you nearly died, you had a heart attack”
The Making of Bad Cholesterol Heart Disease
Cardiovascular Disease is the no 1 cause of death in America. A high fat diet has been recognized as a major contributor of heart disease. So in a nutshell this is a simple explanation of a how high fat diet affects your body
- Fatty foods are high in cholesterol and what is called free radicals. These fats eventually cause inflammation to the blood vessels, they starts clinging unto the wall of the blood vessel and keep building up on top of each other. It builds up so much that it clogs the blood vessel so no blood can go through or that build up can break off and go and lodge anywhere in the body. Wherever it lodges it is going to cut off the blood supply in that area. In the brain, it will lead to stroke, in the heart, a heart attack, in the lungs pulmonary embolus etc.
They say “Prevention is better than cure” that’s a true saying for sure
· Start eating less animal fat, butter etc- this type contains the bad cholesterol that clings to your blood vessels.
· Start exercising – the experts recommend 50 minutes at least 5 days weekly
· Eat more of a plant based diet, veggie, fruits, nuts etc
· Lose weight
· Keep down the stress
Second Chances/ Changes
So Pam no longer uses the name Porkie, because she has now changed the ways she eats; she got her wake-up call! Now she no longer eats fat-based meals, especially animal fat, she can be found with her fruit, nuts and veggie meals. She walks a mile a day and is thanking God for second chances.
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Smoking, Alcohol and the Body
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