Preventing congestive heart failure with extract from hawthorn tree

By Seye Adeniyi - updated: Thursday 12-06-2008

People should be educated on
how to prevent heart failureAS long as we continue to eat diets rich in high fat and cholesterol, we will continue to experience heart disease because fat and cholesterol are the primary and essential causes of coronary heart disease. The fact is that we are all born with clean, flexible arteries, but through what we eat (diet) and by eating excessive fat and cholesterol which we often get from junks/refined foods that have now become the favourite of many people including small school children, what we are doing with knives and forks is gradually inviting heart diseases as well as other diseases of the liver and kidney. In fact, diabetes have been said to be common in the society today basically because of unwholesome diets which we put in our mouth everyday, and refined food has been fingered as one of the major culprit processed foods stuffed with added fat which is dangerous to our health.

Hypertension is another major disease common in the country today. Hypertension is defined as a systolic blood pressure reading (the top number) consistently over 140, and/or a diastolic (lower number) reading of 90 or above. The optimal level is below 120/80. Though high blood pressure has no symptoms and that is why it is called the silent disease/killer, it can still cause progressive changes in the blood vessels until the first sign occurs, which is usually a stroke or a heart attack. Probably many of us don’t know what makes the blood pressure to shoot up. It should also be noted that certain kinds of tumours can also shoot up the blood pressure. Kidney diseases is also another major catalyst, but in 90 per cent of everyday hypertension, there is no specific organic causes that can be determined and that is why such type of high blood pressure is called essential hypertension.

But certain factors can contribute to essential hypertension. These include high salt intake as well as excess weight or obesity. In fact, nearly everyone who is significantly overweight has been said to experience high blood pressure and for those who are obese and not doing anything to control or bring down their weight, experiencing hypertension is just a matter of time. Explaining the reasons why people should reduce their salt intake, Dr. Nurudeen Animasaun said while sodium present in salt is essential for body metabolism, at the same time, too much of it can cause trouble. Excess sodium, he further explained, can stay in body tissues and hold extra water. This then causes swelling, which raises the blood pressure which also in turn increases stress on the heart and that is why such people breath heavily and sweat excessively at little labour. Plaguing the blood arteries by cholesterol (fat) is also known to raise blood pressure. Narrowed and plugged arteries force the body to boost the blood pressure in order to deliver necessary oxygen and food to body cells.

“Other things that can cause high blood pressure include smoking, the use of (o)estrogen, an hormone found in birth control pills which many of our women use to control birth as well as pills which some women use to ease menopausal symptoms. These pills iare also salt retainers that later shoot up blood pressure,” states the naturopath. Birth control pills in some women also increase their body pressure and weight by holding excess fluids in the body. However, unknown to some alcohol lovers, they are gradually increasing their blood pressure with the content of the so called, “green-bottles.” Several scientific studies have shown that moderate use of alcohol may account for 5 to 15 per cent of all hypertension. However, to prevent congestive heart failure and control high blood pressure as well as prevent it in people whose heart is not pumping enough blood effectively and efficiently, there is a natural therapy they can turn benefit from.

The extract of hawthorn tree, according to naturopaths, can be used to guard against heart problems. Extracts of hawthorn tree have been found to be very effective in treating congestive heart failure, especially when the heart cannot pump enough blood around the body. Although regular exercise especially walking, will also help in bringing down the blood pressure, the extract from hawthorn tree produces a remarkable effect in patients with heart problem. For instance, a 900mg daily dose of hawthorn extract, according to natural medicine practitioners, could be very useful. People with heart problems can consult a natural medicine practitioner for further explanation on how to prepare this effective natural therapy Furthermore, other natural preventive measures to reduce blood pressure include:

•Eating a lot of fresh, raw foods — both fruits and vegetables. You do not need to add salt to these fruits and vegetables. Their regular consumption also increases potassium stores, which according to Dr. Animasaun also help to lower blood pressure.

• To eat vegetables, you should under-cook them and even eat them a bit crispy. They also require less salt.

•Regular consumption of food flavoured with lemon juice, parsley, tarragon, garlie and onions instead of salt will also help.

How to use onions to treat urinary tract infections, dry cough, hypertension

By Seye Adeniyi

RAW onions help protect the heart. They also reduce cholesterol levels in the body because they increase level of high-density lipoproteins.

It has been found that, eating raw onions daily helps in preventing coronary heart disease, malfunctioning of heart muscles and guard against irregular blood pressure — both hypertension and hypotension. It is also a good medicine for thrombosis.

Onions also stimulate body immunities that help fights cough. In fact, red small onions can be used as expectorant. Also crushing raw onion and mixing it with warm water containing pure honey and kept for some time can be used to knock out stubborn, dry cough. For example, those experiencing burning sensation while passing urine a condition that can be caused by micro-organisms like streptococcus can boil 100 grammes of onion in 600ml of water. When the volume reduce to half, it can then be taken. Drinking this therapy for at least one week will bring a remarkable relief from this urinary tract infection.

Also, mixing onion and sugar together and taken on empty stomach protect against or gives good relief for retention of urine in the bladder. Sulphur compounds present in onions also help to prevent the growth of cancer cells. Likewise, onions are also useful in the treatment of anaemia, bleeding piles and can be used externally as an antiseptic and for tooth problems.

For those with shortage of blood—anaemia, juice from onion stalk is a good herbal medicine. The juice from onions mixed with sugar or pure honey helps in liquifying phlegm and also help in preventing its recurrence. Onion juice is also a good herbal therapy for sore throat. Your natural medicine doctor will explain to you better how to treat belubelu (infection of the uvula) and tonsilitis with onion juice.