5 Ways to Take Care of Your Heart Health

Here are five areas to focus on to take care of your heart. No matter where you are on your journey, it is never too late to make healthy changes. So if you are a teenager thinking, “This will never be me,” take steps now so that it isn’t. If you are a grandparent thinking, “It’s too late, this is already me,” be encouraged to take steps toward better health. It is never too late and our bodies have an amazing capacity to heal when we take care of them.

1.     Nutrition and supplementation

80-90% of your weight is due to nutrition. Give your body the fuel it needs, in the right amounts. If there is one single thing to work on, it is cutting sugar. Eating too much sugar causes inflammation, and inflammation is the root of disease. When you eat sugar, your blood sugar increases and your body responds by releasing insulin to restore the balance. Insulin is actually an anti-inflammatory hormone, because it works to reduce and balance your blood sugar levels. If you are bombarding your system with sugar, those insulin receptors wear out and you develop insulin resistance, which leads to metabolic disorder, and leaves you in a permanent state of inflammation. Watch your sugar intake, in every form: fruit, syrup, honey, baked goods, sauces, candy, crackers, juices, iced teas, dressings, marinades. Sugar sneaks into so many things. Read those labels and make good choices.

There is a lot of talk about cholesterol when it comes to heart health, and about “good” cholesterol and “bad” cholesterol. In truth, our bodies use both kinds of cholesterol. The ratio of LDL and HDL can be a clue as to what is happening in your body. To heal your arteries if you are experiencing inflammation, your body will use LDL, as the “grout” to heal damage. Then your body uses HDL to clean up the LDL, so that blood flow is unobstructed. If you have so much inflammation that the HDL can’t keep up with the LDL, you get scar tissue and a buildup in your arteries, which puts more pressure on your heart. So if you get your cholesterol checked, your ratio of LDL and HDL should be less than 3. If it is more than 3, that’s a sign that you’re dealing with inflammation. Your triglyceride ratios should be below 2, or ideally 1 to 1. Both of these ratios are affected by what you eat. Cut sugar, cut refined carbohydrates, and focus on fueling your body with good fat, healthy protein, and vegetables.

There are two supplements that will help support your heart as well. Omega 3 helps reduce inflammation. Omega 3 is found in fish such as salmon, herring, sardines, and mackerel, and in nuts and sees like flaxseeds, chia seeds, and walnuts. It is very difficult to get the omega 3 you need every day to keep your ratios balanced, however,  so this is a good supplement to take. The other supplement is vitamin D3, 5000 IUs per day. Unless you are spending 30 minutes with 60% of your skin exposed without sunscreen in the sun, every single day, you aren’t getting enough vitamin D. A vitamin D test measures how much 25-hydroxy vitamin D is circulating in your blood. It is measured in nanograms/milliliter.  A normal range is between 30 and 100, with 70-90 being better for patients concerned about heart health, diabetes, or autoimmune diseases.

2.     Sleep

Getting high quality and consistent sleep is one of the most important things you can do for your health. During deep sleep, your heart rate decreases to your resting heart rate, which allows your heart time to rest and heal. If you aren’t sure if you reach deep sleep every night, you may want to try using a sleep tracker, such as a Fitbit or a smartwatch. You should be getting 1-2 hours of deep sleep in an eight hour period. If you aren’t, you will still feel tired when you wake up. Make it a priority to get good sleep. Have a consistent bedtime, including a wind-down routine, and sleep in a dark, cool room.

3.     Movement

If 80-90% of your weight is due to nutrition, you may wonder why it’s still important to exercise. Only 9% of people are able to maintain their weight without regular exercise. If those two statements seem contradictory, consider this: while you cannot exercise your way into weight loss without addressing your nutrition, exercise is necessary to improve your metabolic efficiency, to maintain muscle mass and flexibility, and to keep your lungs, brain, and heart healthy. This doesn’t have to be hours at the gym, though. Taking an hour long brisk walk, bike ride, or swim once or twice a week, and making sure you get 10-20 minutes of vigorous exercise 2-3 times a week, with a little weight training thrown in there, will do it. You can do pushups against a wall, or sit in a chair and pump your arms vigorously for a few minutes. If you aim for 30 minutes of movement a day, you will gain the benefits for your metabolism, brain, and heart. It doesn’t have to be consecutive. A five minute session of pushups and marching in place when you wake up, a fifteen minute walk over your lunch break, and a ten minute walk after work all count toward your 30 minutes. Find joyful and energizing ways to move your body, and commit to moving every day.

4.     Manage your stress

Stress is a leading contributor to heart disease, and here’s the thing: there are many stressors we simply don’t have any control over. Stress is a part of life. We experience physical stress, emotional stress, and chemical stress, and while we should be taking steps to reduce outward forms of stress (for example, eating too much sugar causes considerable chemical stress on our bodies) we also need to practice responding to stress in a healthy way. Instead of allowing our emotions to run away with us and our thoughts to fixate on things, here are two very simple breathing exercises that help calm your body’s flight-or-fight response to stress. If you find yourself getting wound up about something, try this instead.

First, take the time to notice your response. Tune into the emotion you are feeling, and give it a name. Recognize you need to take a minute to care for yourself. Identify the negative voice in your head, and release old patterns, old stories, and old thoughts with this mediation. Sit quietly for two minutes, and focus on breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth while repeating the word, RELEASE. This will calm your physical stress response and give you a space to respond thoughtfully and intentionally to your situation rather than to just react according to old patterns.

If you find you need to focus and you are looking for a little energy kick, try this. Stand up and bounce just a bit on the balls of your feet (this is a good exercise to do in the bathroom!). Take three short, quick breaths in through your nose, and then exhale in three short bursts out of your mouth. Repeat this three times (if you do it too long you may feel a little light-headed). This exercise brings fresh oxygen to your brain and releases stress from your body.        

5.     Minimize your toxic load.

Our bodies are exposed to many chemicals on a daily basis. Most of us will apply 7-8 things to our bodies before we even leave our homes in the morning. To minimize this type of stress on our bodies, it’s important to start reading labels. Read the labels on the food you are consuming, read the labels on the products you use to clean your home, and read labels on the products you use on your body. Make conscious and intentional choices about how to care for yourself, and this will minimize the toxic load on your body.

These five things may seem too simple to make much of an impact, but good health is not complicated. Good health is not based on luck, or genes, or knowing the secrets. Good health is built on the daily habits that form the foundation of your day. Eat real food. Sleep. Move. Breathe. Pay attention. Take the one thing from this article that most grabbed your attention, and implement it today. You CAN take care of your heart for life, and you CAN take action to improve your health.