Congestive Heart Failure – The Truth and How You Can Reverse It

Find out the REAL cause of Congestive Heart Failure and other cardiovascular problems. Throw away what you’ve heard and thought about heart disease and true health before. The Renegade Pharmacist will be sharing the truth with you: the history, the true causes, and what you can do about it.

This article includes:

• The definition of congestive heart failure and other cardiovascular issues
• What we’ve been told to believe about the the causes of congestive heart failure and heart disease
• What’s been discovered about the true causes of congestive heart failure
• The explanation of these causes
• What you can do about it, preventative medicine

What Is Congestive Heart Failure?

Congestive heart failure, is also called heart failure. It is a chronic condition that is the result of multiple issues all coming to a head, and it could occur after a long period of time of having these issues.

Because of outside factors which cause cardiovascular problems, the arteries become dangerously thin. In some cases, the arteries become blocked with cholesterol. Then, the heart cannot pump blood efficiently, so the other parts of the body begin to suffer because they are losing oxygen. It has become increasingly common in people over 65. Check it out here.

The American Heart Association (AHA) classifies “Diseases of the Heart” as follows:

• Acute Rheumatic Fever/Chronic Rheumatic Heart Diseases (I00-I09)
• Hypertensive Heart Disease (I11) and Hypertensive Heart and Renal Disease (I13)
• Coronary Heart Disease (I20-I25)
• Other Heart Diseases (I26-I51) – includes heart failure (which concludes congestive heart failure)

What We Have Always Been Told About Congestive Heart Failure

Think about what you’ve been taught growing up with regards to keeping a healthy heart: stay active, eat whole grains, cut out the fats and high-cholesterol foods, etc. Think: Atkins Diet. For around 60 years, the AHA told us that this was true. Following a low-fat, low–cholesterol diet would save us from congestive heart failure.

Since we have made a collective transition to a fear of fat and cholesterol mindset, the occurrence of heart disease has not decreased.

Dr. Gundry, in his book The Plant Paradox, explains his experience with his patients who had been on this kind of diet, “Do people lose weight on low-fat, whole-grain diets…? Indeed they do. I’ve seen a lot of them as patients because although they did lose weight, these diets failed to halt the progression of their coronary artery disease” (a cause of congestive heart failure) (154).

The intake of processed foods has also increased in some part due to the fact that we were creating “diet” foods with lower saturated fats and cholesterol to be “healthier”. Cholesterol was turned into the enemy, and now the public has been told to keep away from it, despite the fact that it’s natural part of our body and extremely useful (if not necessary) to many of its functions.

A report published recently states that now, almost half of the adults in the U.S. have some form of cardiovascular disease. And it is predicted that in around 15 years, the number of adults with cardiovascular disease will increase by 13.5 million people! Clearly, our conventional method hasn’t been working.

What has been discovered about the true causes of congestive heart failure:

So, what’s the problem? Of course, early in the 20th century, due to lack of antibiotics and other important medicines we take for granted, other diseases such as tuberculosis took the lead as the number one killers.

With the growing modernity in the medical world, congestive heart disease and other problems have taken the place of infectious diseases as high killers. Despite advances in medicine and technology, heart disease still “remains a leading cause of disability and death” (cdc.gov).  But, in some other areas of the world, heart disease is a non-issue, and in some cases, life expectancy is even higher.

For example, French people eat a lot of grains, smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, and eat foods high in saturated fat. But, they have the lowest heart disease occurrence in the EU. According to myheartsisters.org, “This is the notorious “French Paradox“, which epidemiologists have puzzled over for decades.”

Also, in The Plant Paradox, Dr. Gundry explains  the conundrum of the Kitavans, a tribe in the South Pacific who smoke, eat a lot of fat, and a lot of calories (all claimed to be big no-nos by the pharmaceutical industry!) But, heart disease and congestive heart failure occurrences are remarkably low and they are relatively free of other diseases that plague the western world.

The real cause has finally come to light. Along with other factors, chronic inflammation is the key cause of congestive heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases,  NOT high cholesterol. The myth of cholesterol as being the enemy has finally been broken, and now we can work on activities and foods that can actually help prevent and reduce occurrences of heart disease.

At first it was a hypothesis, but now it has been confirmed by this study from 2017. Cholesterol is NOT the link to heart attacks – it is inflammation.

What Is Inflammation?

Inflammation is a hot topic in the health movement these days. You might have heard of foods or supplements that work to “reduce inflammation”, but what is it actually? Dr. Axe explains inflammation:

“Inflammation is part of the body’s inherent immune response, and it isn’t always bad. What is inflammation? When it’s acute and not dangerous, it’s the body’s natural defense against damaged cells, viruses, bacteria, etc. It aims to remove these harmful or foreign invaders and heal itself. Without inflammation, wounds would just fester and infections could be deadly” (“Chronic Inflammation at the Root of Most Diseases + How to Prevent!”).

You’ve seen inflammation in action before such as when a part of your body gets red and swollen after a fall. Obviously inflammation is a natural part of the body’s systems. It’s like a warning call letting us know that something isn’t quite right.

But, it turns into a problem when inflammation becomes a chronic condition. And often, inflammation isn’t visible on the outside. It could be going on inside our bodies, and we might see it play out with chronic headaches, migraines, soreness, constipation, and eventually could end up as more serious and/or fatal problems such as congestive heart failure, according to this study.

This study from Standford presents the idea that some people are more genetically predisposed to inflammation.

What Causes Inflammation?

Inflammation can occur as a result of many different things: smoking, stress, diet, and so much more. One of the biggest inflammation causes which can lead to congestive heart failure is the food we consume. We eat more processed foods than ever before, chock full of extra sugar/fake sugar, omega-6 fatty acids, MSG, and other products that our body cannot naturally process or could be allergic to.

And so inflammation begins, letting us know that something’s not working. As mentioned above, we might see it play out in chronic pain such as muscle/joint soreness, headaches/migraines, or even fatigue.

Cholesterol Is Not The Bad Guy Anymore!

Cholesterol is similar to inflammation in that it shows up to help the situation or create a warning sign that something needs to be changed. The body will use cholesterol to help repair the artery wall that’s been damaged by inflammation. And, in this study, it explains how patients who have had heart attacks in the past were treated with anti-inflammatory drugs which didn’t reduce cholesterol. There was a 15 percent decrease in re-occurrence of congestive heart failure! Finally, cholesterol has been exonerated!

How to Reverse Congestive Heart Failure

It can feel pretty uprooting when a commonly held truth turns out to have been misguided. It can be scary too since it has to do with your health and could be the difference between life and death!

Of course, many of the old standbys still ring true: exercise regularly, avoid smoking, reduce life stress, get enough sleep, etc. All of these things help promote overall well-being as well as keep harmful inflammation at bay! But focusing on consuming healthy foods that reduce inflammation is also incredibly important.

If inflammation is at a chronic and late stage, you can turn to anti-inflammatory drugs, or you can start with the basics.

Consume fruits, vegetables, good oils such as coconut and olive oil, grass-fed meats, beans, and more. Think antioxidants: green tea, bright colors in your fruits and vegetables, and herbs and spices such as turmeric. Stay away from processed food which contain harmful oils and other toxins.

Other natural options include breathing exercises and meditation to help relax the body and mind, proven to reduce inflammation.

Citations and References

Axe, J. (2018, December 12). #Inflammation at the Root of Most Diseases. Retrieved from https://draxe.com/inflammation-at-the-root-of-most-diseases/

Brind, K. (2018, June 17). Coronary Artery Disease 6 Natural Ways to Help Relieve CAD Symptoms. Retrieved from https://draxe.com/coronary-artery-disease/

Cardiovascular diseases affect nearly half of American adults, statistics show. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.heart.org/en/news/2019/01/31/cardiovascular-diseases-affect-nearly-half-of-american-adults-statistics-show

Carnegie Mellon University. (n.d.). News. Retrieved from https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2016/february/meditation-changes-brain.html

Cholesterol Isn’t the Problem in Heart Disease; This Is. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/09/13/inflammation-linked-to-cardiac-disease.aspx

Failure.”, “. H. (2019). Congestive Heart Failure. Retrieved from https://www.encyclopedia.com/caregiving/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/congestive-heart-failure

Gundry, S. R., & Buehl, O. B. (2017). The plant paradox: The hidden dangers in “healthy” foods that cause disease and weight gain. New York, NY: Harper Wave, an imprint of HarperCollins.

Heart and Stroke Association Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.heart.org/en/about-us/heart-and-stroke-association-statistics

Heart Disease Facts & Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm

Heart failure. (2017, December 23). Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-failure/symptoms-causes/syc-20373142

Hunter P. (2012). The inflammation theory of disease. The growing realization that chronic inflammation is crucial in many diseases opens new avenues for treatment. EMBO reports, 13(11), 968-70.

Inflammatory Hypothesis Confirmed: Reducing Inflammation Without Lowering Cholesterol Cuts Risk of Cardiovascular Events. (2017, August 27). Retrieved from https://www.healthcanal.com/blood-heart-circulation/heart-disease/240113-inflammatory-hypothesis-confirmed-reducing-inflammation-without-lowering-cholesterol-cuts-risk-cardiovascular-events.html

Mortality and Cause of Death, 1900 v. 2010. (2014, September 03). Retrieved from https://demography.cpc.unc.edu/2014/06/16/mortality-and-cause-of-death-1900-v-2010/

News Center. (n.d.). International study points to inflammation as cause of plaque buildup in heart vessels, researchers say. Retrieved from http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2012/12/international-study-points-to-inflammation-as-cause-of-plaque-buildup-in-heart-vessels-researchers-say.html

NIH Fact Sheets – Heart Disease. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://report.nih.gov/nihfactsheets/ViewFactSheet.aspx?csid=96

Putting The Myth To Rest: There Is No Such Thing As Bad Cholesterol. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.preventdisease.com/home/tips87.shtml

Wirtz, P. H., & Von, R. (2017, September 20). Psychological Stress, Inflammation, and Coronary Heart Disease. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28932967

World Renown Heart Surgeon Speaks Out On What Really Causes Heart Disease. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://preventdisease.com/news/12/030112_World-Renown-Heart-Surgeon-Speaks-Out-On-What-Really-Causes-Heart-Disease.shtml

Gundry, S. R., & Buehl, O. B. (2017). The plant paradox: The hidden dangers in “healthy” foods that cause disease and weight gain. New York, NY: Harper Wave, an imprint of HarperCollins.