Heart Healthy Living
We live in a fast paced, convenience-centered society. Technology has advanced to the point where everything is accomplished faster and more efficiently. However, this new standard of living does not seem to be optimal for health or quality of life. Heart disease and several other top causes of death in the United States are preventable through lifestyle modification. Even with the advances in modern medicine, the number of sick people is continually growing, the main culprit being heart disease. Some important factors to consider are:
- Activity level on an average day
- Diet (quality, quantity and balance)
- Waist circumference, BMI or body fat %
- Risk factors such as smoking, diabetes, alcohol consumption, high blood pressure, genetics and stress
Help Your Heart Work More Efficiently
Walking around, standing up, lifting, climbing, moving, bending and twisting used to be a constant part of everyday working life. This regular movement acted as a natural pump for the circulatory and lymphatic systems, using the muscles’ activity to help blood move easily around the body. With this increased efficiency, your body has no trouble regulating cholesterol (fat) and glucose (sugar) in the blood. This made the body better equipped to handle occasional levels of high stress because the system was used to activity.
Compare this to the today’s average day, which consists long hours sitting while commuting, working at a desk and sitting in front of the TV. It becomes increasingly difficult to maintain healthy cholesterol and insulin resistance, especially considering the American diet is very high in trans fats, refined salt, sugar and carbs. On top of that, stress levels for the average person are higher than ever.
However, you don’t have to spend hours in the gym or run miles a day to help your heart. Studies have shown even small amounts of regular activity, 20-30 minutes a day, 4-5 times a week are enough to significantly reduce your blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and overall risk of heart disease. This is also true for general weight loss, often times small amounts of walking, yard work, bike riding, taking the stairs, or other recreational activities on a regular basis are enough to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. The key is to find an activity you enjoy or something you will be able to easily incorporate into your daily schedule.
Eat Heart Smart
Sedentary jobs and stressful schedules are two factors that are hard to change. They are simply a part of modern day life. However, by simply providing your body with good quality food, you can optimize your quality of life. There are certain nutrients your body needs to function. Nutrient deficiency and toxicity are the only true causes of disease. When eating foods that don’t contain essential nutrients, we are more likely to over eat. The body sends signals to keep eating because it is malnourished.
Eating for heart and overall health includes a wide variety of fresh produce. There are many herbs and spices to give food great flavor as well as nutrition. The more food you prepare at home, the more control you have over what goes in your body. Eat plenty of healthy fat found in responsibly raised meat and dairy, avocado, olives coconut and other tree nuts. The carbohydrates in your diet should come from whole grains so it still contains minerals and fiber. Examples of foods and spices that contain “heart health promoting” properties are:
- Bananas
- Avocados
- Spinach
- Sweet Potato
- Grapes
- Citrus
- Nuts and Seeds
- Berries
- Dark Chocolate
- Mango
- Asparagus
- Fish
- Basil
- Cilantro
- Turmeric
- Cayenne
This list is far from complete, but the main thing to remember is to eat a wide variety whole foods. Foods that come prepackaged, or from most restaurants are devoid of nutrition because they used highly processed ingredients that give nothing but taste and empty calories. These chemicals are either toxic or nutritionally deficient; the only two roots causes of disease.
When eating out or buying foods that are prepackaged, look out for the biggest dangers to heart health. Avoid trans fats, which are artificial and contribute to artery blockage. This would include corn, canola or vegetable oil; any oils that are hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated. It has been proven that saturated fats do not cause heart disease and trans fats are the only fat to be avoided. The USDA is currently in the process of completely removing them from our food supply. Unfortunately these are the oils used most commonly in fried foods, cookies, cakes, chips and other snacks. Pan-frying in healthy oils can provide great flavor and benefit your heart.
Also avoid processed sugar, salt and carbs such as table salt, corn syrup, fructose and enriched grains and flours. This would include soda, candy, crackers, baked goods, and many fast food items. These items have been stripped of minerals and fiber, overworking your system and elevating blood pressure and sugars. Better alternatives are mineralized salt, such as sea salt and natural sugars such as fruit, honey, agave and coconut sugar. These should still be used sparingly but are healthier options.
Maintain Healthy Body Composition
Excess body fat around the stomach or obesity can be important, yet preventable risk factors for heart disease. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of symptoms that appear together such as high blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, and body fat. This increases your risk of stroke, heart attack and diabetes. Excess body fat isn’t the main problem, but is a prominent symptom that the body’s systems aren’t functioning properly.
Minimizing Known Risk Factors
There are some factors such as family history or ethnicity that are out of your control. However other factors such as smoking or not controlling your diabetes, blood pressure or stress are within your control to maintain your health.
I have seen many people focus on making gradual, realistic changes to their lifestyle that produced drastic results. Making small dietary improvements and incorporating short periods of activity into the busy week is a guaranteed way to instantly improve your quality of life. You will have more energy, be able to achieve a healthy weight, manage your risk factors and reduce or eliminate the need for medications and their potential side effects.
Stress is not usually directly associated with health but it has a huge impact. When your body is under stress the “fight or flight” branch of the nervous system is over stimulated. The body is unable to activate the rest and healing branch of the nervous system to allow recovery, this puts a great deal of stress on the heart.
Much of the stress in today’s world is unavoidable, however there are healthy ways of balancing our lives and coping with that stress. Small daily practices like deep breathing, mediation and prayer, expressing or feeling gratitude and love are great for your heart and will help when feeling overwhelmed with stress. Having hobbies, volunteering, owning a pet, gardening, spending time with friends and family are other great ways to protect your heart and enrich your life.
Make a commitment to improve your heart health this month; small changes over time lead to a big improvement.
Yours in Health,
Braxton Ehle
