Diabetes and Heart Disease

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Heart and vascular disease often go hand-in-hand with diabetes. Persons with diabetes are at a much greater risk for heart attacks, strokes, and high blood pressure. Other vascular problems due to diabetes include poor circulation to the legs and feet. Unfortunately, many of the cardiovascular problems can go undetected and can start early in life.

Obesity Basics

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The medical definition of obesity is based on the amount of body fat a person has. A person can weigh more than what is thought to be healthy without being obese. For example:

• A person may weigh too much because his or her body retains too much water, called edema. Though this is not a healthy situation, the person is not obese.
• Some athletes, such as football players and body builders, may weigh more than what is normally considered a healthy weight, but their excess weight is muscle, not fat.

Fats and Cholesterol - The Good, The Bad, and The Healthy Diet

Not only can some fats be healthy, they're an essential part of a balanced diet. Healthy fats, such as olive oil, actually lower the risk of certain diseases. Article Source...

"Eat a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet." Most of us have heard this simple recommendation so often over the past two decades that we can recite it in our sleep. Touted as a way to lose weight and prevent cancer and heart disease, it's no wonder much of the nation - and food producers - hopped on board.

Amino Acids - The Building Blocks of Protein

Primary protein structure is a sequence of a chain of amino acids. Article Source...

Proteins, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and fats are the essential nutrients that make up your body. They are responsible for growth and daily function. When water and fats are eliminated, proteins make up 75% of the body solids that are left. They are essential components of muscle tissue, organs, enzymes, blood, antibodies, and neurotransmitters in the brain. Proteins are made from amino acids, which are referred to as the building blocks of life, and they regulate every biochemical reaction in the body.

How Fats Work

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Between the food commercials you see on TV every day and the many nutrition bulletins and reports you hear about on the news every night, you get a huge amount of information about the fats that you eat. For example, you have probably heard of the following terms:

Functions of Carbohydrates

The majority of carbohydrates in the western diet come from grains. Article Source...

Glucose is the only sugar used by the body to provide energy for its tissues. Therefore, all digestible polysaccharides, disaccharides, and monosaccharides must eventually be converted into glucose or a metabolite of glucose by various liver enzymes. Because of its significant importance to proper cellular function, blood glucose levels must be kept relatively constant.

Essential Nutrients

The human body needs a consistent supply of certain essential nutrients in order to function properly and survive. A lack of just one essential nutrient can lead to malnutrition, a sickness, which can, in severe cases, cause death or do irreversible damage. Essential nutrients are organized in six groups: Carbohydrates, Protein, Fats and Oils, Vitamins, Minerals, and Water.

The Basics Of Heart Disease

Interior view of the heart and its valves. Article Source...

The heart is the human body's hardest working organ. Throughout life it continuously pumps blood enriched with oxygen and vital nutrients through a network of arteries to all parts of the body's tissues. The external structures of the heart include the ventricles, atria, arteries, and veins. Arteries carry blood away from the heart while veins carry blood into the heart.

Type II Diabetes Basics

An overworked pancreas produces insufficient insulin allowing toxic levels of sugar to build up in the blood stream. by Dr. Eva Pietrowski D.O.

One hundred years ago, type II diabetes was the 100th most common disease. Today it is the 3rd most common disease. Diabetes is truly a modern disease, caused by unnaturally refined foods, lack of exercise, a poor understanding of nutrition and some genetic factors. The good news is that diabetes is preventable and manageable through diet and exercise.

Cancer Basics

Photomicrograph of a blood smear showing leukemia cells. Until 1958, cancer was not considered to be a genetic disorder. by Dr. Eva Pietrowski D.O

Cancer is the second leading cause of death among all people in the United States. This year (2007), in the United States roughly 1.4 million people will be diagnosed with cancer, and about 40% of that number, 570,000, will die of cancer. The statistics are disturbing because cancer is indiscriminate. Although there are certain factors, such as smoking, pollution, and genetic predisposition, which increase an individual’s risk of getting caner, everyone, even the healthiest person, is at risk. Much progress has been made in understanding, preventing, and eliminating cancer, but a general "cure" is not in sight.