How to be Independently Healthy.
Allen came into my office and told me everyone in his family had heart disease.
He didn’t think he would escape it.
He knew he had to go on drugs.
He knew that eventually he would die of it.
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But Allen didn’t know what I knew about heart disease.
He didn’t know I had read this book.
You see, most American medicine focuses on the treatment of heart failure.
We, in the medical field, see you show up in our offices after you are having problems.
What are these heart disease symptoms?
- You’re tired.
- You are short of breath.
- You are overweight.
- Your legs are swelling, and your feet hurt.
- You have to get up to urinate at night.
What if you didn’t have to show up at all?
What if there was a better way?
So let’s get real, shall we?
One out of two men will suffer heart disease.
One out of three women will suffer the same disease.
So as you sit around the family dinner table giving your thanks for your health, think again.
If you are a man, look at the man sitting across from you.
One of you will die of heart failure.
If you are a woman, look at the two women laughing together at the table, one of you will die from heart failure.
Heart disease can occur slowly, called “chronic” or heart disease can occur quickly, like a heart attack.
So as you sit around the family dinner table giving your thanks for your health, think again.
Can you change your odds? Of course.
And the big question is always… are you willing to change your eating habits to live without heart disease?
The answer is simple: Yes or No.
You would feel better.
You would have more energy.
You would get more things done because you would be more focused.
You’d have more free time because you got more things done.
You come home from work and play with your family.
You pick up fun things to do together like pickleball, riding bikes, walking, nature trails, skiing, boating, traveling, and seeing friends and family.
You teach your children by example how to live longer happier healthy lives?
OK, what would your life be like?
- You’re happier.
- You live longer.
- Your health is one less thing to worry about.
- People want to know what you do to stay so healthy. You can tell them you weren’t always like this.
So let’s get back to Allen’s story.
Allen struggled with sugar and processed foods.
It was so easy to grab “on the go” foods.
He’d come home at night and didn’t want to cook so he and his wife ordered out.
He didn’t plan his meals so whatever he “felt like”, he ate.
When he told me about the food he ate, I saw what tastes he was addicted to.
So that day I made heart disease and his the addictions real to Allen.
I painted his future on a dark canvas.
I again asked him, yes or no.
His mind shifted a little that day.
“Enough”, he said, “I’m done.
I don’t want heart failure.
I don’t want to die in the next five years.”
“What do I have to do?”, he asked.
I told him, he wasn’t going to do it alone.
We were going to do it together.
We were going to put a team around him to protect him from American marketing.
We were going to support him.
We started to explore his food.
We realized that sugar was his main addiction.
His poor habits were his second weakness.
Not planning, not reading food labels, and believing organic meant “healthy”.
Ugh!
We also looked at any high risks for heart disease.
These were things like:
- High blood pressure.
- Diabetes.
- Previous heart conditions.
- High cholesterol.
- High triglycerides
- History of alcohol abuse.
- History of rheumatic fever.
- Family history of cardiomyopathy.
- History of taking drugs that can damage your heart muscle, such as some cancer drugs.
- History of smoking.
- Physical activity.
- Eating healthy foods.
- Weight.
- Stress level.
Allen’s wife came in to meet me.
She agreed a simple, doable program for Allen was better than:
- toxic medications he would have to take
- multiple office visits which cost time and money
- labs which rarely showed improvement
- stress tests which told us what we already knew
- hospitalizations when his heart began to fail
- oxygen tanks and wheelchairs to lug around
- only 5 more years with Allen.
She liked Allen and really wanted to keep him around.
She told me she loved their retirement days, but Allen didn’t have the get-up-and-go he used to have.
Even sex had disappeared from their lives.
Fast forward.
Allen’s 98 years old.
His wife is 94 years old.
They live independently.
They are happy, healthy, and energetic. They do not need caregiving help.
They have 3 adult children – all healthy.
10 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren.
Yes, they love the life they live.
So here are your 2 steps to stopping heart disease in its tracks.
1 – Start with this book. It will change your habits and your life. Click here to grab your copy off Amazon today.
2 – Find a doctor who can put a team of professionals together to support you. You will need a functional medicine physician and a traditional physician, preferably a direct primary care physician. (Direct primary care physicians spend time educating and working with you and your functional medicine physician.)
You can do this!
To your health, Suzanne
HEALTH DISCLAIMER
This blog provides general information and discussions about health and related subjects. The information and other content provided in this blog, or in any linked materials, are not intended and should not be construed as medical advice, nor is the information a substitute for professional medical expertise or treatment.
If you or any other person has a medical concern, you should consult with your healthcare provider or seek other professional medical treatment.