Today, the AHA is making a few needed improvements by encouraging people to make some important behavioral changes. They still tell people to quit smoking, which is obviously sound advice since cigarette smoking is one of the most toxic, disease-promoting activities in which you can engage. It wasn't too many years ago, however, that doctors and dentists were actually spokepeople for cigarette companies. Cigarettes were good for you, they claimed! Hundreds of doctors endorsed cigarettes and appeared in nationally broadcast television ads. Most of those doctors were also members of the highly corrupt American Medical Association (AMA).
Getting back to the point here, the AHA offers good advice about exercise, and this article contains a rather surprising -- yet accurate -- quote from one doctor who says, "There's no pill that's anywhere near as effective as exercise." Shhhh! Don't tell the pharmaceutical companies. They're still trying to hook people on the myth that drugs and drugs alone can control your cholesterol, prevent heart attacks, and keep you healthy for life... as long as you keep taking their drugs, that is.
Yet the AHA falls short when it comes to nutritional advice. Their advice on foods and beverages sounds like a carbon copy of the politically correct food statements found in USDA materials: none of it says you should stop eating anything in particular. You can eat anything you want, including foods high in fat and salt, as long as you "balance it out" with some fresh fruits and vegetables, says the AHA.
This line of thinking is a nutritional myth. You don't balance out three slices of pizza with a salad. You don't balance out a six pack of soda with a glass of water. Eating any junk food, soft drinks or foods containing metabolic disruptors takes you out of balance and moves your body toward a state of disease. Even one piece of pizza puts your body out of balance, thanks to the fact that it contains white flour, high sodium, saturated fat, sodium nitrite and dairy products all in a single slice! (That adds up to five ingredients that promote the following diseases: diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, colon cancer, and asthma.) But you won't hear that from the AHA. Apparently, they still think it's okay for heart patients to eat cheese-stuffed mushrooms with Italian sausage.
As you can see, the AHA is not the best source of advice if you or someone you love suffers from heart disease or any sort of cardiovascular disorder. The AHA's information is too watered down to be much good. To improve your education and expand your options, visit a naturopath or N.D. and get some straight answers on nutrition and physical exercise. Or you can start by reading Take Back Your Health Power and then deciding where to go from there.