Issue #6 (Monthly Online Newsletter)

The Heart

Written by Judy Fleming

The heart shape is the symbol of love and courage but in your body it is the symbol of life!

Your heart pumps blood to every part of your body, to your brain so you can think; to your digestive system so you can process food; to your muscles so you can lift a child; to your sex organs so you can create a child.

We can feel our heart beating or feel its pulse in our wrist so we are always aware of it unlike other organs in the body. It is our life because if it stops working we cannot live! So it makes sense that we should be keeping good care of this vital organ. But the statistics show that Coronary Artery Disease is the leading cause of death in every developed country. Every person who lives in North America has a 40% chance of dying of heart disease! Every 7 minutes someone in Canada will die from heart disease (statistics Canada 2011). Heart disease cost Canada’s economy more than $20.9 billion every year (Conference board of Canada 2010)!

The characteristic of the human heart is its constant beating, a rhythmic contraction that serves the very important purpose of circulating blood through our bodies. Each heartbeat pushes blood along a one-way path, through narrow arteries leading away from the heart, across the intricate networks of capillary beds in tissues, and into veins that eventually return the blood to the heart.

If your heart is in good working order it is an awesome efficient machine. The blood vessels leaving the heart shuttle blood throughout the body from one source to another no matter how much blood you need. Your heart is so powerful it pumps five litres of blood per minute when resting and can pump up to twenty litres if needed when you increase your activity. The arteries going to and from the heart need to be in good shape in order for the heart to be able to act as this amazing pumping station.

You can keep these arteries in good working condition allowing the blood to be pumped all through the body by just eating the right food, doing exercise, avoiding environmental stress, and by managing your social stress levels. You have the power to keep the heart strong and young.

The arteries are very important to good heart health. Your arteries have three layers:

1. The inner layer is called the intima – it is in contact with the blood as it flows through and should be smooth like Teflon so the blood can flow easily.
2. The middle layer is called the media which supports the structure of the artery – it is muscular so it can respond in spasms so it will be open when you exercise to allow more blood as needed.
3. The outer layer is called the adventitia and is like a sausage casing holding the artery together from the outside.

The inner lining cells can be injured by subtle abnormalities such as too much sugar or toxic products like nicotine. When these cells are injured they pull away from each other and form a gap or nick – these nicks are the beginning of trouble for your heart.

When these nicks happen in the inner lining they cause the blood to leak though to the middle lining. So the body tries to patch up these nicks – like if we plastered up a hole, but this plaster can actually cause more damage in the form of bad cholesterol. In its zeal to cover up the nicks, more of the bad cholesterol clogs up the artery and then stimulates the immune system to attract white-cell protectors to try to smooth out the bad cholesterol. In turn inflammation is caused and then more cholesterol causing big foamy cells that get so greedy they outgrow the blood supply. When that happens some of these cells starve and die from the lack of blood then causing an electrical charge which attracts more cholesterol.

So the first problem of a nick will lead to the plaster (the bad cholesterol) or too little smoothing action of good cholesterol which in turn causes the third problem of inflammation that then leads to clots on the cholesterol patches.

Platelets are a type of blood cell that looks like a rumples sheet in an unmade bed, these do good work as they clot your blood keeping you from bleeding when you cut yourself. They are nice and calm until they come up against something rough – like the cloggy patches of the bad cholesterol. If the roughness is clinging to electrically charged plaque the platelets form a big clot on top of the irritated, inflamed plaque which brings more clotting protein to the area. The end result can be your whole artery is filled so there is little blood flow and that could eventually cause death.

There are two things that keep your heart working efficiently; a constant blood supply and the impulse that makes it beat steadily at an average 3.3 billion times in the human lifespan. When the arteries have been compromised crowding the passage of blood it will develop electrical problems that affect the heart’s rhythm. This instability or confusion causes fibrillation.

Here is a list of things to do to prevent heart disease:

• It has become clear that food is one of our most powerful tools for keeping the body healthy OR if we eat the wrong food full of bad cholesterol and bad fats and sugars, these will cause major health issues like heart disease. So what foods are good to eat: raw whole foods such as greens, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds.
• You should limit the amount of saturated and trans-fats because they are linked to arterial aging increasing arterial inflammation which promotes plaque buildup which turn on the mechanism that leads to bad cholesterol (LDL).
• You should also avoid simple sugars and syrups (corn, malt, rice & maple) and all white processed foods. These foods disrupt the cells lining of your blood vessels allowing nicks and tears that then lead to plaque buildup and inflammation. As well simple sugars contribute to obesity and ultimately diabetes, which is damaging to your arteries!
• Although we do not fully understand the reason, poor sleep habits can increase your arterial aging and increase your risk of heart attack. So we suggest you start preparing for bed from 9pm so that you will get the best sleep possible – plan your next day, keep a daily journal and do something relaxing before bed so you have less stress.

Referral Program

WHAT IS A MINISTRY? It is an activity carried out by Christians to express or spread their faith or mission statement. Many groups sponsor ministries designed to reach out to others on a local and global scale. Here at Hallelujah Acres our mission is to help people experience health by empowering their self-healing body. So we are asking for your help in our ministry to others about our message of better health.

Tell a friend about HA Canada and we will reward you! If they place an order of at least $75 we will send you a FREE JuiceMax product with your next order of $50. The more friends you share the Hallelujah Diet with, the more healthy friends you will have and the more JuiceMax products you will receive for free.

Thank you in advance for helping us help others!

Kale Chips with Dehydrated Tomatoes

These are really easy to make but you need a Dehydrator to keep them living.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch kale
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast

With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces.

Wash and thoroughly dry the kale pieces with a salad spinner. Put into a large bowl.

Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.

Message the kale until it is well coated.

Put on the fine screen mesh trays for your dehydrator

Bake in the dehydrator for 4-8 hours at 105F

Store in a cool dry place until ready to eat.

To make the dehydrated tomatoes you simply slice the tomatoes to 1cm thickness then season with: sea salt & garlic powder then dehydrate for 4 hours at 105F.

Hallelujah Diet to the MAX

Purchase 2 of any 1 product and receive both products for 10% off!

This offer is valid on all HA Private Labelled JuiceMax products, Supplements and Soaps.

Featured Product: BeetMax

BeetMax is for those times you cannot juice or don’t have time to juice. BeetMax brings your body unbeatable protection from free radical damage. Traditionally, beets have been used to help normalize the pH balance of the body, contribute to the well-being of the liver and gall bladder, stimulate lymph gland activity, flush the kidneys and bladder, and contribute to normal brain functions, reproductive functions, bone structure, and glucose metabolism.