Decreasing Cardiovascular Risk of Heart Disease and Stroke

What we can learn from Finland, Jonathan V. Wright, MD, and Beth Shirley, RPh, CCN.

Dr. Jonathan Wright pointed out a Finnish study of 20 years where there was a 60% decrease incidence of death in stroke and heart disease among 30-59 year old men and women from 1972-1992.

This happened despite a marked increase in obesity, alcohol consumption and tobacco smoking!

How did they do this?

The population of Finland simply changed their salt from high levels of sodium chloride (table salt) to magnesium chloride and potassium chloride with a small amount of sodium chloride and the amino acid lysine. 1)

Anecdotally, Linus Pauling used Lysine to lower cardiovascular disease. Research found that a lower sodium diet with a higher potassium rich diet significantly reduced systolic blood pressure. 2)

This is a heart healthy salt. So, switch the salt in your shaker. You can obtain this salt from Doctor’s Supplement Store. Just ask for, ”Wright Salt”.

He was smart enough to copy the formulation from the Finnish study.

The second thing Dr. Wright discussed is to lower the amount of saturated fats in food. If you are going to eat beef, obtain the grass-fed (and finished) type. This has more omega three fatty acids in it. In general, it’s all about the balance of fatty acids, and omega three fatty acids are good for you.

If you are concerned about lipid peroxidation in the fish oil (omega 3 fatty acid) products, just take some Vitamin E with them to prevent lipid peroxidation (unless it is included in the product).

Thirdly, Dr. Wright suggests blood donation at least once or twice a year. Regular blood donors have an 88% reduced risk of heart attack compared to non-blood donors. 3)

By donating blood, you make new (and more easily deformable red blood cells, meaning they are easier to change shape to accommodate a small capillary to feed nutrient oxygen to downstream tissues), and your blood becomes less viscous.

I would add one more item. Obtain nitric oxide test strips and capsules from Doctor’s Supplement Store (manufactured by Berkeley Life), to check your nitric oxide levels.

If the nitric oxide levels are low or depleted as know by the color change on the package, supplement with nitric oxide capsules. I lowered my systolic blood pressure (the top number) by 15 points.

As we get older (after age 60), the amount of nitric oxide we manufacture in our bodies plummets to about 15% from what we made in childhood.4)

In review:

1. Change your salt to a magnesium/potassium enriched salt (Wright Salt).

2. Decrease saturated fat in your diet.

3. Donate blood at least once or twice a year.

4. Supplement with nitric oxide capsules, if after testing you are low or depleted.

References:

1. H Karppanen 1, E Mervaala. Adherence to and population impact of non-pharmacological and pharmacological antihypertensive therapy. J Hum Hypertens 1996 Feb;10 Suppl 1:S57-61.

2. Caryl A Nowson 1, Trefor O Morgan, Carl Gibbons. Decreasing dietary sodium while following a self-selected potassium-rich diet reduces blood pressure. J Nutr. 2003 Dec;133(12):4118-23.

3. J T Salonen 1, T P Tuomainen, R Salonen, T A Lakka, K Nyyssönen. Donation of blood is associated with reduced risk of myocardial infarction. The Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study. Am J Epidemiol. 1998 Sep 1;148(5):445-51.

4. Over 35,000 articles listed on Pub Med regarding Nitric Oxide and cardiovascular disease, and nearly 6,000 articles on Nitric Oxide and cardiovascular health.