Give your Heart Some Love

Since heart disease is the top killer of both men and women over 50, everyone should know the risks and how to minimize the likelihood of a life-ending event like a heart attack or stroke.

If you have one or more of these risk factors, you owe it to yourself and your loved ones to heed the advice of experts on how to lower your chances of heart disease - and by heart disease, I mean atherosclerosis (plaque build-up in your blood vessels), which causes heart attacks.

Atherosclerosis develops slowly over time. Protecting your heart means addressing risk factors early and consistently.

Top Risk Factors for Heart Disease:

• Smoking

• Diabetes

• High blood pressure - Hypertension

• High cholesterol - especially LDL cholesterol small particles

• Obesity

• Sedentary lifestyle (lack of exercise)
  

Also important: insulin resistance and inflammation (particularly if your hsCRP, or highly sensitive C-reactive protein, is elevated).

Diet, Inflammation & Endothelial Health

Amazingly, some of our major medical institutions don't say much about diet and how it relates to reducing incidence of heart disease but there are indications that the right nutrients, including polyphenols, antioxidants and anthocyanins, can help lower inflammation and improve cellular function - including endothelial cell function.

When your endothelial cells are healthy, your blood vessels are healthy. For an amazing documentary on why some medical authorities don't advise on dietary changes to improve health, watch 'What the Health ' on Netflix, YouTube, or Amazon Prime. I don't agree with everything that is said in this film but it does reveal what the food industry's impact on large health organizations has been.

You may also want to check out the documentary 'Fed Up' for some enlightenment on how the Federal Government aided the Fast Food industry to indoctrinate children with packaged and convenience foods by placing those foods in schools.

A whole foods, Mediterranean-style approach emphasizes fresh vegetables, healthy fats, fish, nuts, and antioxidant-rich fruits to support endothelial health and reduce inflammation.

A Mediterranean Approach to Prevention

That said, a whole foods, mostly plant based diet is definitely helpful in reducing the likelihood of arterial damage. When followed with a low glycemic focus, to prevent elevations in blood sugar and keep your average blood sugar less than 100, a mediterranean type diet can be the best diet for most people trying to prevent heart disease.

There are multiple other diets that may be better for your particular situation so consult with your provider to get the best fit for you.

The traditional Mediterranean diet allowed for liberal use of healthy fats like olive oil and nuts (almonds and walnuts mostly) and seeds, lots of fresh fish, locally grown seasonal vegetables and fresh fruit when available. When you get lots of colorful vegetables and fruits and healthy fats (like nuts, avocadoes and olive oil) in your daily diet you will likely get lots of potassium, magnesium and healthy omega fatty acids - all of which are important for heart health. The Mediterranean diet, tailored for someone with blood sugar issues, should limit starchy vegetables to one or zero servings a day and fruit servings to one or none daily. If you are going to consume grains make sure they are organic whole grains, sprouted if possible.

Consult with a nutritionist to make sure your food combinations are low glycemic - we know that high blood sugar is undesirable for heart health.

For meat eaters, pastured poultry can be consumed 4 times a week, grass-fed red meat rarely and pastured eggs up to 4 times a week or less. Pastured animals that have not been fed pesticide laden grains are much less inflammatory to our bodies so try to only consume these and avoid factory raised meats.

Watch the documentary Food, Inc on Amazon for a taste of how inconvenient fast foods and agribusiness grown meat products really are for our health.

Recipe from Dr. Miller: Heart Healthy Quinoa Kale Salad

Dressing:

Mix together in a one cup glass measuring cup

• Organic balsamic vinegar - about 3 T

• Organic pomegranate balsamic vinegar (or juice if you don't have the vinegar) 1-2 tsp

• Dijon mustard 1/4 tsp or dry mustard 1/8 tsp

• Water 1 T

• Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil - to double the volume in the cup. (so if there is 1/4 cup liquid then add oil to reach 1/2 cup)

For the salad:

In a large stainless steel or glass bowl, add

• Organic unsalted toasted walnuts - about 1/2 cup (I roasted mine with a chorizo seasoning recipe I found online but plain will also work nicely)

• 2 cups cooked regular or rainbow quinoa

• Shredded organic kale (I used baby kale, curly leaf - but you can add several kinds for variety) - about 6-8 cups shredded

• Organic dried cranberries (without sulfites) - 1/4 c.

• 1 organic Honeycrisp or similar apple, chopped

Whisk the dressing together and pour over salad and toss. Let sit for about 15-20 minutes to let flavors saturate and kale to soften. Serve topped with pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds (organic, naturally).

Movement & Exercise

Besides the above diet, exercise or just daily movement is also very important for maintaining heart health. If you work from home, particularly, set a timer to remind you to get up and move hourly. Do a few squats, walk up and down stairs, jog to the mailbox, jumping jacks, sun salutations (yoga moves) - all movement is medicine for your body.

If possible, do a HIIT circuit 1 or 2 mornings a week. This brief cardio workout can be done at home in your PJs!

HIIT is High Intensity Interval Training. I do a 10-minute routine 2 times a week to protect and improve heart health. You can work up to doing a 30-minute session twice a week as your strength and stamina improve with training. Because HIIT is intense cardio and can produce adrenal dysfunction if overdone, I wouldn't recommend more than 2 sessions a week unless you are an elite athlete.

Along with the HIIT, regular cardiovascular training (walking, jogging, swimming) and strength or resistance training are also beneficial to improving and protecting heart function as you age.

Mindful movement is easy on the adrenals and builds core strength and balance and actually helps heal the adrenals. Try yoga, pilates, tai chi or qigong.

Regular cardiovascular, strength, and interval training improve circulation, insulin sensitivity, and long-term heart function.

Supplements That Support Heart Health

Supplements can also support your heart's cellular function. The following are my top choices for supporting heart health now:

• Quercetin 500mg 2-3 times daily

• Selenium 200mcg daily

• Magnesium 800mg daily (citrate or glycinate)

• Hawthorn 500mg 3 times a day if you have any abnormal heart rhythms

• CoQ10 300-400mg daily

• Vitamin C 2000mg daily

• High EPA fish oil 2000mg a day

• Nattakinase 150mg daily

• Lycopene 15-30 mg a day

• Vitamin K2 100mcg or more a day

• Vitamin D3 5000IU daily

• L-Citrulline 3 gm a day (improves nitric oxide status and blood flow)
  

Check here for my heart health protocol supplement list.

Hawthorn and hibiscus are traditionally used to support healthy blood pressure, circulation, and vascular tone.

Stress & Cortisol

One last thing that most people need to do to prevent heart attacks - manage their stress!

When you are stressed your cortisol goes up along with your blood pressure and puts a strain on your heart function. Regularly taking time to lower the demand on your adrenal glands (where cortisol is produced) can help lower cholesterol and cortisol output and improve blood pressure and endothelial function. Most people don't realize that cholesterol is the parent steroid hormone that is the building block for all of the other steroid hormones, principally cortisol, but also pregnenolone, progesterone, DHEA and testosterone as well. If your stress level rises, your body will naturally make more LDL cholesterol to meet the demand for cortisol so develop a strategy to manage stress. I recommend a daily mindfulness practice. A Simple Breathing Practice The simplest practice to begin with is taking deep belly breaths. Begin by inhaling for a count of 5 slowly then hold a couple of seconds and slowly exhale for a count of 5. Repeat for a total of 5 breaths. It is easier to start a new habit if you link it with another activity so try beginning by doing this practice on waking, each time you eat a meal and just before bedtime. Taking mindful deep breaths helps to diminish the threat mode in which we often find ourselves.

Even a few minutes of mindful breathing can lower cortisol, support endothelial function, and reduce strain on the heart.

Another option is Insight Timer. I use this free app as a meditation timer or for guided mindfulness meditations. There are literally thousands of meditation options from which to choose on this app. If you are short on time, click on the guided meditation icon or select the search icon in the upper left of the page and type in mindfulness or meditation and then select to filter 0-5 minutes for some short stress busting exercises. Just a few minutes a day, done consistently over time, is enough to decrease the demands on the adrenal to make more cortisol (which drives up LDL!).

If you don't have access to mindful movement in your area there are also Live events daily with yoga teachers, pilates teachers, even tai chi and qigong! Smoking & Heart Disease

Last but definitely not least - if you smoke then you are exposing yourself and loved ones to over 50 different carcinogens which are carried around your body on your LDL cholesterol, literally scraping up your blood vessel walls and damaging them. Damaged blood vessels create an environment favorable for plaque formation. If all you do is quit smoking (or avoid smoke exposure), you will reduce your relative risk of mortality from coronary artery disease by 36%. If you observe the season of Lent - it is here! - give up smoking for your Lenten observation. Back in the day, when I was young and foolish, this is how I stopped smoking - I gave it up for Lent then on Easter weekend I smoked two packs of cigarettes in one day. I was so sick after overdoing it with the cigarettes that I never wanted to smoke again.

Take the Next Step

Small, consistent changes in diet, movement, stress management, and daily habits can meaningfully reduce your long-term risk.

Protecting your heart begins with understanding your unique risk factors. Schedule a visit to create a personalized prevention plan.

Be strong, protect your heart - you can do it! Namaste,

Dr. Karen F. Miller