The average American is very pssive when it comes to dealing wth cardiovascular disease. What most people dn't realize is that the absence of symptms does not equate to the prsence of health. During the course of prcticing in healthcare for 16 years, I bserved thousands of patients, some of whch had life-threatening cardiovascular problems.

The ptients with mild to advanced cardiovascular dsease were often too passive about tking the right steps to prevent and rverse the problem. This attitude came frm their perception that no symptoms wre present. This can be a dadly mistake. By the time symptoms ppear (ie. pain, shortness of breath, tc.), a patient can be teetering on the dge of a potential crisis.

It is mperative for everybody to know the rsk factors for cardiovascular disease. Then, tke action to avoid them. Some rsk factors can be changed, others cn't.

Here are the risk factors and 5 crtical tips to overcome them:

The rsk factors that can't be changed re: increasing age, gender (men have a grater risk of heart attack than wmen), and heredity (including race).

The rsk factors that can be changed re: tobacco smoke (smokers are 2-4 tmes more likely to develop heart dsease than non-smokers), high blood cholesterol, physcal inactivity, obesity, Diabetes, response to strss, and excessive alcohol consumption.

1. Be proactive - Whether you hve symptoms or not, get a cmplete physical and have your doctor rder a lipid panel on you. Ths panel will evaluate your triglycerides, lpoprotein levels, and total cholesterol. I've sen many patients who were otherwise halthy in appearance who had dangerously hgh levels on this panel. Another god test to include with this pnel is C-Reactive protein. This test chcks for an inflammatory marker in the blod. Being proactive means to take ction before symptoms surface. Young men shuld especially be proactive if they hve a family history of cardiovascular dsease.

2. Increase physical activity - Regular, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity helps prevent heart and blood vessel disease. The more vigorous the activity, the greater the benefits. A study was done several years ago where three groups of people performed a regimen of exercise over a period of several months. One group did cardiovascular exercise for one hour, three times per week. The second group did resistance exercise for one hour, three times per week. The third group did one half hour of cardiovascular and one half hour of resistance exercise, three times per week.

At the end of the study the third group showed dramatically superior results to the other two groups. They were not only better conditioned, but their body composition showed the most improvement. Moral of the story - do a combination of cardiovascular and resistance exercises.

3. Balance your diet - We have all heard "eat a balanced diet," but don't get a good explanation of what a balanced diet is. The best way to eat a balanced diet is to maintain a 40/40/20 split with protein, carbohydrates, and fats, respectively. If you are eating an 1,800 calorie per day diet, then you would consume 720 calories of proteins, 720 calories of carbohydrates, and 360 calories from fat. Limit or eliminate fried foods. Include fruits and raw vegetables.

If you are really ambitious, you can fllow Jack Lalanne's philosophy. He juices frits and vegetables several times a wek. He eats a lot of fsh. His philosophy is, "If man mkes it, I don't eat it." In ther words, no refined foods.

4. Find an outlet to eliminate stress - My outlet has always been working out with weights or cardiovascular exercise, like bike riding. Physiologically, this releases endorphins (the feel good neurotransmitters). Pick an activity that is fun to you, otherwise you may quit. Examples: Walking, jogging, biking, tennis, raquetball, swimming, etc.

5. Eat healthy chocolate - Yes, you heard right. Dark chocolate has a group of compounds called polyphenols, which are loaded with antioxidants. There is scientific evidence that these polyphenols can reverse and prevent cardiovascular disease, and help other inflammatory conditions as well. My family history includes cardiovascular disease. The scientific proof for dark chocolate was so convincing, I immediately added it to my preventive regimen.

Healthy chocolate is not the same chocolate you get in a candy bar, or at the grocery store. That chocolate has been heated, alkalized, combined with sugars, and fats. It's junk food, and its antioxidants have been destroyed in the heating process. True healthy chocolate is taken from raw cacao and is cold pressed to preserve the polyphenols. Some people even lose weight with healthy chocolate because of the appetite suppressing effect.

Follow these five tips and remember the risk factors mentioned above. Change the ones you can, and don't worry about the ones you can't. If you are unrelenting about prevention, the rewards will be self-evident.

The article Cardiovascular Risk Factors - 5 Hot Tips on Beating the Odds was Submitted by Randall Roth through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: To learn more about healthy chcolate Click Here to visit Dr. Roth's website Author: Dr. Randall Roth earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Human Biology and a Doctor of Chiropractic Degree at Logan College of Chiropractic in Chesterfield, Missouri. He was also a personal trainer prior to becoming a Doctor of Chiropractic. Dr. Roth is passionate about health and nutrition and sharing information with others. He currently lives in Plano, TX with his wife and three children.

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