An Exciting Heart Health Story

Before we get started talking about what's good & bad for the heart, I have to tell you this very personal story. In December of 2005 my husband and I went to Conway, Arkansas to check out a technology called Digital Pulsewave Analyzer (DPA). I had my first DPA test there while being trained as a technician. To my shock and utter dismay it revealed that my arteries were in bad condition!

What does a DPA test do? The DPA test gives you a letter grade from A - G that indicates the condition of the arteries. A means your arteries are in great condition and G means find a cardiologist now! It shows how well the blood circulation is, it reveals the biological age of the arteries. It measures the time from the aortic valve opening to the aortic valve closing. It registers the heart rate. It gives a print out of all this information so that you can see for yourself.

My test revealed that my circulation was very low, my letter grade was an F which indicated I had hardening of the arteries and plaque build up, the biological age of my arteries was 80 or older. This was very scary to realize; in fact I wondered if I would even make it back to my home in Houston, Texas without having a heart attack or stroke!

Now, I wasn't an unhealthy person. I was a vegetarian for 10 years, I didn't eat junk, I drank raw veggie juices everyday and I exercised regularly but I was not getting something I needed for healthy arteries; and that was adequate amounts of arginine!

What is arginine? Arginine is simply an amino acid; but the body uses it to make nitric oxide.

What is nitric oxide? The nitric oxide derived from arginine is directly or indirectly implicated in practically every cellular response and health condition imaginable, from the cardiovascular system to the immune system; and hormone function to nerve function. When your body has adequate amounts of arginine, the arginine will be converted to nitric oxide gas in the endothelium of the arteries; allowing the arteries to repair themselves and clear themselves of plaque build up.

I discovered an arginine drink in a base of exotic fruit juices called Cardio Cocktail (CC) made by the ForMor Company. I started drinking an ounce of Cardio Cocktail (CC) but not consistently. My mother had become ill on January 1st of 2006 and passed away after several weeks of hospitalization. Then came the aftermath of bills to be paid, belongings to distribute, etc. So for a year I wasn't drinking the CC like I needed to.

In 2006 another DPA test revealed I had some improvement but I still had 80 year old arteries and low circulation. The next few years brought more family crisis that I let get in the way of my health. But in 2009 I began consistently taking two ounces of CC every day and even increased it to 4 - 6 ounces per day for several weeks that summer; my last DPA test in August of 2009 revealed that my letter grade went from F to B and the biological age of my arteries went from 80 to 50 years old!

For a colorful brochure of 22 reasons you should try this arginine drink, contact Pat Blasingame at pat.blasingame@yahoo.com

Poison in a Can

Here's a little tidbit while I'm working on the heart health post. A friend sent me this info so I thought I'd pass it along.

Sugary Soft Drinks Linked to Pancreatic Cancer

According to Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, Editor of Natural News; A fourteen year old study of 60,000 people in Singapore found that those who consume two or more sweetened soft drinks per week have an 87 percent higher risk of pancreatic cancer. Published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Bio-markers & Prevention, the study was led by Mark Pereira of the University of Minnesota who said, "the high levels of sugar in soft drinks may be increasing the level of insulin in the body, which we think contributes to pancreatic cancer cell growth."

Nearly 38,000 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the United States each year, and over 34,000 die from the disease each year. This research points to what may be the common culprit of all those preventable deaths: Sugary soft drink consumption!

Poison in a Can

Natural News has warned readers for years about the dangers of consuming soft drinks. (so have I, Pat Blasingame) The sweetener used in most beverages......high fructose corn syrup....... is linked to both diabetes and obesity. The phosphoric acid found in soft drinks is highly acidic, stripping minerals from bones and promoting osteoporosis. At the the same time, soft drinks can cause kidney stones.

For those who consume diet sodas, the health risks may be even worse. Aspertame causes neurological side effects that include blindness, headaches, and impaired cognitive function. The beverage industry of course, denies any links between soda consumption and negative health effects. It wants consumers to naively believe that liquid sugar, phosphoric acid and pressurized carbon dioxide are all good for you!

Look Around You

Experience tells us a different story. Look at the people you know who consume the most soft drinks and ask yourself this simple question; "Are they the healthiest people I know?" Probably not! Most likely, if they've been drinking sodas for many years, they're suffering from obesity, diabetes, kidney stones and perhaps even pancreatic cancer.