The Best Ways to Protect Your ReBelle Heart
How’s your heart? It’s a simple-sounding question, but one that has layers of complexity built around it. It’s likely a question you haven’t given much time to consider.
February is American Heart Month. If you didn’t know, about 80% of women ages 40-60 have one or more risk factors for coronary heart disease, and it is in fact the leading cause of death for women today. While we generally get heart disease about 10 years later than our male counterparts, it’s still our #1 killer (likely due to our changing hormones), so I think it’s worth taking a few moments to unravel a couple of these layers.
THE BASICS
Let’s start with the most obvious: your physical heart. Frankly, I don’t think our poor heart gets enough press for all that it does to literally keep us alive every moment of the day. It’s no secret that the primary job of the heart is to keep our blood circulating throughout our bodies so all our cells have the oxygen they need to function. Did you know that our hearts beat approximately 100,000x a day & pump around 2,000 gallons of blood through our bodies 24/7? Talk about a hard worker!! All this often without a single thanks from us. Seriously, just take a second, place your hand over your steady heart, and say thanks.
Great. Now that we’ve given our hearts their moment of well-deserved appreciation, let’s talk about how we can lend them a bit more practical support. Don’t worry, we’ll keep it real simple here. Similar to how the heart has four quadrants to it, studies show that there are at least four primary pillars to cultivating a healthy heart.
A Balanced Diet
When it comes to diet & nutrition, it’s really easy to get deep in the weeds, but let’s not overcomplicate this. The primary goal here when it comes to diet for heart health is that we provide our heart with the nutrients it needs to function optimally. So what does that mean? Eat more fiber & more healthy fats. Focus on fruits & veggies and foods high in Omega-3 fatty acids such as fish. In my experience it’s easier & more sustainable to focus on the healthy ingredients to add-in vs. the unhealthy ingredients you’re trying to avoid. Start there.Regular Physical Exercise
The heart is simply a muscle at the end of the day. An amazing, ultra-important one-but a muscle all the same. The way muscles get stronger (& therefore healthier) is by intermittently challenging them. It’s how we all grow, right? When it comes to our physical bodies, this is done through exercise. There’s an endless array of options for this, but general recommendations are around 150 minutes of moderately-intense cardio exercise a week. This is about 30 minutes of exercise 5 days a week. Just find something that works for you & get on it!Proper Sleep
The importance of proper sleep simply cannot be overstated. This could be an entire blog in & of itself (another topic for another day), but suffice it to say that it impacts virtually every function in the human body-including the heart. Make it a priority to get 7-9 hours of good sleep a night as much as possible. Your health (and probably your family) will thank you for it.Stress Management
We know our fellow ReBelles are out there kicking butt & taking names, and all of that means juggling all the things at all times, right? You’re probably saying “I don’t have time to manage my stress!” We get it. Life is a lot, and things can be stressful. Over time though, all that stress can take a serious toll on your heart (in more ways than one-we’ll get to that in a second). Just like we need to prioritize our sleep, it’s important to make time to de-stress. Try working practices like meditation, deep breathing exercises, or yoga into your daily routine. What exactly it is that you choose to do is less important than that you find activities that bring you joy and relaxation to counterbalance the demands of daily life.
A few more quick notes before we move on (because we’d be negligent not to mention them): According to the American Heart Association, smoking is a major cause of cardiovascular diseases, and increases the risk of coronary heart disease by 2-4x. If you’re in that camp, we highly recommend putting your heart into letting go of that habit. Secondly, we’d be remiss not to point out that there are of course genetic factors to heart health. Those of us with heart disease in our family history are undeniably at greater risk. Rather than letting that scare us, it should propel us to take ownership of the factors we can control even more!
THE NON-PHYSICAL
Heart health is not merely the absence of heart diseases; it encompasses a holistic approach to well-being that includes physical, mental, and emotional aspects. We’ve talked about the physical. Let’s discuss the mental & emotional side next.
A recent study published in the journal Health Psychology shows evidence that self-compassion plays a major role in the health of our heart. Researchers tested women aged 45-67 on a self-compassion scale and found that those who ranked higher on the scale also showed less plaque & thinner walls surrounding their arteries, a substantial correlation to a lower risk for heart disease. This is no small thing-and was true even after accounting for other factors such as genetics and lifestyle.
“A lot of research has been focused on studying how stress and other negative factors may impact cardiovascular health, but the impact of positive psychological factors, such as self-compassion, is far less known,” said Rebecca Thurston, Ph.D., the professor of psychiatry, clinical & translational science, epidemiology & psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. “These findings underscore the importance of practicing kindness & compassion, particularly toward yourself. We are all living through extraordinarily stressful times, and our research suggests that self-compassion is essential for both our mental & our physical health.”
With all this information in mind, let’s revisit our original question: How’s your heart? Are you taking care of it? Are you taking care of you?
Yes, it’s important to prioritize your health by making the right lifestyle choices to eat well, get regular exercise & sleep, and reduce stress. But don’t beat yourself up about it. Friends don’t let friends talk to themselves that way! You are an amazing & incredible being, and you are doing the best you can. Where there are places for improvement, we will get better together. We’re right here cheering you on, friend!