Contrary to popular belief amongst many that genes are the greatest determinants of your health, diet and lifestyle factors are actually the most influential. Therefore, two of the easiest ways to look after your heart are through a nutritious diet and good lifestyle practices.
Recognising the control you have is extremely important when we know that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide and has remained so for the past 15 years. Cardiovascular disease includes heart disease, heart attacks, strokes and high blood pressure amongst other conditions.
Heart disease and stroke remain the No.1 killer in Ireland. 10,000 people a year in this country die from cardiovascular disease and with Ireland on its way to becoming Europe’s most obese nation by 2020, this is a very worrying trend. Thankfully, we can do something about that but it means taking decisive action by changing our current diet and lifestyle!
Heart Protective Foods
Fortunately, incorporating healthy foods into your regular diet can help to protect your heart. Just some of the many excellent heart boosting foods are berries, nuts, oats and flaxseed (due to their high lignan content), extra virgin olive oil and also oily fish for Omega 3 EPA and DHA. Vegetarians and vegans can get Omega 3 from flaxseed and chia seeds (this ALA form needs to be converted to EPA and DHA in the body). It can also be found in seaweed - luckily we live on an island! Omega 3 in fish or algae oil supplement form is generally safe but can be contraindicated for some so you should seek advice from a health professional before supplementing.
Eat Healthy Fats!
The standard advice over the past 40 years or more has been to eat "low fat" to keep cholesterol levels down. Given that the rate of heart disease has continued to increase since then (as well as diabetes and obesity), it may come as no surprise that research has since shown this advice to be "misleading" - that's putting it mildly!
If you've been avoiding high cholesterol foods or saturated fats because of previous advice about them increasing "bad" cholesterol, now is a good time to consider reintroducing them. Your body makes and uses cholesterol for good reason. In addition to being necessary to support the correct functioning of your heart, cholesterol is required for making hormones and used by your brain to build fatty tissue. In fact, it's so critical for optimal brain function that the brain makes its own supply on site, whether you eat cholesterol rich foods or not. This tells us we need cholesterol!
Reduce Your Sugar Intake
When we cut down on our fat intake as advised, what happened instead is our sugar intake increased through added table sugar, as well as being an ingredient in many processed foods like ready meals. Quite a lot of sugar is even hidden in many of the less natural yoghurts which people might think are healthy. Something had to be added to make the lower fat products taste better! Less obvious sources are refined carbohydrates from white bread, white pasta, white rice, etc. which break down quickly into sugar which is stored in your body in the form of visceral fat (a deep, often hidden, form of fat), particularly around your vital organs such as your heart, pancreas and liver. This form of fat causes inflammation and can also interfere with hormonal balance and brain function.
Vegetable Oils Are Trans Fats!
A blog on heart health would not be complete without covering the damage caused by sunflower and vegetable oils which are highly refined and inflammatory. Unfortunately, these oils are still widely believed to be the healthier option having been marketed in this way for decades. When these oils are heated or exposed to light, whether during the manufacturing process or through storage at the warehouse or supermarket, they form the dreaded "trans fats" which are very damaging to the body, especially to your heart and brain. If you would like to learn more about these oils, cholesterol, trans fats and healthy fats, check out this video clip.
Get Moving!
Getting regular exercise (even if it just brisk walking for 15 minutes a day) can reduce stress and help to improve blood flow to the heart and brain. Whatever gets your heart pumping and blood circulating is working in your favour so get together with your friends (then you're less likely to give it a miss!) and go for that walk, work out at the gym, have a swim, a game of tennis, etc. Whichever form of exercise you find enjoyable, whatever's not an endurance, is the best one for you!
Keep Stress In Check
Try to keep stress to a minimum. Where it cannot be kept low for reasons outside of your control, make an effort to actively invest in stress management practices. Try meditation and practice mindfulness. You can search online for breathing exercises or check out this article for one you can try. A gentle form of exercise such as walking, swimming or yoga is best if you're stressed. Attempting to "burn it off" is counterproductive and leads to more stress. Getting out in nature, whether by the sea, to a park or the mountains reduces stress and increases well-being as does being around like-minded people. In "finding your tribe" you will reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation which has been found to be bad for your heart.
Get Help to Get Started!
All of the measures outlined above work towards building a healthy heart but despite people getting off to a great start in making changes, most will quickly lose motivation. That is why the assistance of a qualified health coach can make all the difference! If you would like me to create a personalised nutrition and lifestyle programme just for you, please visit my website to learn more.