Have A Heart For Your Heart

If February had a symbol, it would be a red heart. While it is beneficial to raise awareness of heart health, I believe it’s an area of health that should be consistently reviewed. Heart disease is the #1 killer in the US. Do you have a heart for your heart?

Have A Heart For Your Heart

As a Functional Medicine practitioner, I look at root causes. The standard American diet and a sedentary lifestyle are key players in heart disease because they lead to the physiological issues that put us at risk. Knowing about these and making choices to correct them will put you on a better path.

Chronic Inflammation – this plays a role in almost every chronic disease people have today. Inflammation is caused by excessive oxidative stress on our cells (think rust) which hinders the function of our mitochondria (energy factories). The heart has one of the highest concentrations of mitochondria of our organs, so it suffers the effects of inflammation more quickly.

Poor Calcium Metabolism – many women my age take a hefty dose of calcium daily to protect from bone loss. But it may not be going where we want it to go. Calcium needs good levels of magnesium, Vitamin D, and Vitamin K2 to ensure that it goes into our bones. Without these, calcium circulates in the body looking for a place to land, which is often in the soft tissue of our arteries or heart where it causes hardening or plaques.

Blood Sugar Imbalance – we often think of blood sugar level as it relates to Diabetes, but there is a reason that many with Diabetes also have heart disease. While dietary fats and cholesterol have been painted as the enemy in heart disease, it is far more likely to be blood sugar. Erratic swings or sustained high levels of glucose in the bloodstream causes inflammation which makes arteries sticky. The body uses cholesterol to patch the sticky areas, which can lead to further inflammation and blockage.

Chronic Stress – is a big factor in determining the risk of heart disease. We can’t escape stress in our lives, but paying attention to how we are handling it is vital. If it is stuffed down and allowed to continue, hormone balance is disrupted and we tend to try to cope through poor eating habits, alcohol, and less sleep.

Micronutrient Deficiencies – you knew I would mention this too. Besides Magnesium, Vitamin D, and Vitamin K, there is a wide range of nutrients that can support the proper function of your heart and your body. There’s no magic pill to give you all of them. What’s the secret? Eating whole foods in a variety of colors, as close to the way they grew in nature as possible.

Good News

The prominence of heart disease is a sobering reality of our time. The CDC has some alarming statistics.  But there is good news! Our bodies – yes, even yours – are designed to recover, to heal, when provided the right building blocks and environment. We can’t control the internal process, but we can look at the clues that our bodies are giving us – symptoms, lab markers, general feeling – and make choices.

You can continue as you have up to now and take your chances, or you can choose to be proactive. The choice, and the future it leads to, is yours.