Whether you eat it steamed, cooked, canned or raw, spinach nutrition can provide a foundation in your 
battle to slow down the aging process and prevent degenerative diseases. This leafy green vegetable is one of the most nutritious foods you can consume. Because of its high ORAC value and nutritional density, I use spinach as the base for my ORAC Shake and Salad. Here’s a brief overview of its health benefits and why spinach is important to include it in your diet:
In part 1 of The Acid Alkaline Balance we discussed the health crisis in America. To put this in perspective America is first in having access to clean water and sanitation facilities. We spend more money per person on health care and a greater percentage of our GDP that any other country.
Yet, we are 34th in infant death rate, 29th in maternal death rate, and 48th overall in life expectancy. Where we used to be #1 in life expectancy for women age 65 we are now 20th.
Many feel the source of the problem lies in our calorie consumption. Americans consume more calories per capita than any other nation and we show it by the prevalence of overweight and obesity health issues.
What Does This Have To Do With The Acid Alkaline Balance?
Everything! The vast majority of the American diet centers on foods that create an acidic environment in your body. This then allows other acid producing pathways to take hold having a negative impact on your health and wellness. The body’s acid alkaline balance moves to the acidic range as a result of the following three things:
Your acid alkaline balance is a critical factor for both disease prevention and how well you age. This means understanding your body’s pH and its effect on your health is a critical component for a successful health strategy.
Some would even consider your body’s pH the single most important item to pay attention to for both optimal health and disease prevention.
Because of the scope of this issue, I have divided the acid alkaline balance into two parts. To set the stage for Part 1 we need to discuss the following topic.
Life Expectancy!
In the early 1900s the life expectancy in the United States was under 50 years of age. Over the last 100 years our life expectancy has increased to approximately 80 years of age, a 60% increase. Most experts in this area would attribute this increase to lower infant mortality, better diet, and improved hygiene. However, an interesting trend is occurring. With all the medicine and prescription drugs available to us today, especially here in the United States, we are continuing to move down on the life expectancy charts when compared to other countries. We are currently 48th in life expectancy.
In our previous post on fiber and cholesterol reduction I shared with you how fiber can naturally help most 
people experience cholesterol reduction. In this post I’ll help you discover some farily simple ways to increase your fiber intake.
3 Simple Steps to Increasing Your Fiber Intake!
When most people hear the concept of increasing their fiber intake they immediately think about eating multigrain breads and a lot of lettuce. This is not what their culinary taste buds are going to get excited about. Plus, it’s not the most effective way to implement this change in lifestyle.
The following 3 steps are realistic so that everyone can achieve the goal of increased fiber intake and be able to do it long term. These steps will help improve your overall health and be an effective strategy for cholesterol reduction.
Cholesterol reduction through the use of statin drugs has become a big and profitable
business for the pharmaceutical industry. As more and more people have opted for a pill to help control their cholesterol levels fewer people are using fiber as their first line of defense.
So why has the use of fiber declined? For most people compliance is the issue!
In this post we’ll examine how increasing your fiber intake helps in cholesterol reduction. In part 2 I’ll share with you 3 steps to increase your fiber intake.
There is a published study that sheds additional light on carbohydrates and heart disease risk in men and 
women. At least in Italian men and women. It’s entitled “Dietary Glycemic Load and Index and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in a Large Italian Cohort.” The study was published in the 4/12/2010 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. Dr. Sabina Sieri was the study leader, and she made the following statement:
“High consumption of carbohydrate from high-glycemic foods, rather than overall quantity of carbohydrate consumed, appears to influence the risk of developing heart disease in women.”
If you click on the study title you can read the full text but here is a quick overview of this study.
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Women who ate the most “high-glycemic” carbohydrates had twice the heart disease risk then those who ate the least.
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The type of carbohydrate consumed showed no significant differences for cardiovascular disease in men.
Learning how to properly use a Glycemic Index Chart can have several positive benefits for your overall
health and wellness. Unfortunately, most people have never heard of the Glycemic Index let alone know how to use the information found in the chart. Before I explain this information let me share a real life story.
When I was growing up my favorite breakfast cereal was Rice Krispies. I loved the taste and when you poured on the milk they made that neat “Snap, Crackle, Pop” sound. But one thing I noticed, even as a child, was that within two hours or less I was hungry again. As a kid I thought it was because of all the air holes in the cereal. The Glycemic Index hadn’t been developed so there was no chart to tell me that Rice Krispies has an index value of 82. This value makes it a high glycemic food, which causes your blood sugar to spike followed by a crash and extreme hunger.
This stroke risk assessment tool will help you quantify your risk for a stroke. Please remember that 
everyone is at risk for a stroke. This assessment tool will help you determine how great your risk is and what areas you could work at to reduce your risk.
Instructions:
There are eight categories with three to four answers in each category. Each answer has a numerical value. Please circle or write down the numerical value that relates to your answer. Add up all the circled or written numbers for a final risk score.
Stroke Risk Assessment Tool
Learning how to address two key factors could make a big difference in stroke prevention. Since stroke is the number one cause of adult disability and the third leading cause of death in the United States, addressing this issue of stroke prevention could be the difference between life or death and permanent disability or significant recovery.
The health of your cardiovascular system is just as important to brain health as it is to heart health. If you have a blockage in one of the arteries of the heart we call it a heart attack. If that same blockage occurs in the brain it’s a stroke.
In reviewing both the uncontrollable and controllable risk factors for a stroke, it’s quiet clear that the health of your endothelium and its ability to properly produce nitric oxide can play a critical role in stroke prevention.
Why?
The nitric oxide cholesterol connection can have a significant impact on your overall cardiovascular health. Nitric Oxide is the master signaling molecule of the cardiovascular system and plays a critical role in blood
pressure and other cardiovascular functions. Cholesterol is the “glue” that holds your body together. Sometimes this “glue” and more specifically LDL or low-density lipoproteins can accumulate on the arteriole walls causing damage to the endothelial cells which leads to the cardiovascular disease called atherosclerosis. (For a clear understanding of cholesterol please see my post Cholesterol Good and Bad?)
While there are several natural and pharmaceutical treatments available to help reduce cholesterol levels, the most popular method today is the use of statin drugs. While statin drugs can positively affect cholesterol levels to reduce your risk for atherosclerosis they can also increase your risk for other wellness issues like muscle pain, muscle weakness, loss of memory and cognitive function, and a potential link to increased congestive heart failure. It’s this increased risk for several very significant health concerns that have some doctors moving away from statin drugs.