It’s so easy to forget about the heart during happy times. It’s just beating away, doing its thing. But when we are scared or nervous or even must climb up a couple flights of stairs this guy lets us know, “hey- you are alive, and I am working hard to keep it that way”
In the last blog we talked about how chronic stress and even a single traumatic event can negatively impact that heart. But there are so many things we can do to support the heart.

1. Diet – The heart relies on a network of veins and arteries to pump blood through. Keeping these “pipes” clear helps to reduce the demand on the heart. Diet is a main factor in keeping the plaque out of your arteries. Here are some things you can do:

• Increase fiber intake – Soluble fiber collects the free cholesterol in the body, and disposes of it. Soluble fiber when mixed with water creates a gel, but insoluble fiber is also good as it keeps things moving within the digestive track which helps reduce blood sugar levels.  Aiming to get around 30 g of fiber from your diet each day. This can be accomplished by eating whole- grains, fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds
• Reduce “Bad cholesterol” – Cholesterol gets a bad rap, but there are two types of cholesterol. High Density Cholesterol (HDL) and Low-density Cholesterol (LDL). LDL is considered “bad cholesterol” because it is what can lead to fatty deposits on the arteries. HDL are considered “Good Cholesterol” because they help remove LDL from the body. Like mentioned above soluble fiber can reduce free cholesterol in the body. Choosing health fats that contain Omega -3 such as fish, nuts and seeds, or omega 3 fortified products can help too!
• Floss! My dentist will love me. Gums are very vascularized and the plaque that builds up on the teeth can be absorbed into the blood stream. Flossing helps prevent plaque build up on teeth, and it also prevents cavities…. A health double whammy.

  2. Managing Stress – Stress increases heart rate, and blood pressure, both make the heart work in over-drive. I recently did a blog about stress, which you can find here and if you feel stressed out try this video!  
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3. Stay Active- It is recommended by the heart and stroke foundation that you accumulate 150 minutes of activity a week. This can be done in as little as 10-minute intervals. Exercise will keep your heart happy and strong. Today’s blog video is ANOTHER 15 min cardio workout. This time we take it up a bit so get ready to sweat. 

It can seem overwhelming to fit all this into your regular routine. An area I really struggle with is proper nutrition. So, I have also included some heart healthy recipes below to help with that respect. Burrito Bowls and Chili are great because you can make a huge batch and have leftovers for ever! Bonne Appetit. 

​February is Heart Month. So let’s send some love to the muscle with the most endurance. Yes glutes are cool and having killer abdominals is neat… but the hearts got… well heart.  
I can totally nerd out on the function of the heart, but I will *try* to keep it chill. I also want to dive into why love and emotions are connected to the heart. I have totally experience chest wrenching heart break but why does this happen… on that later.
Your heart pumps blood to the muscles of the body, bringing oxygenated blood to the muscles and back to the lungs to get re-oxygenated again. The anatomy of the heart is what accomplishes this oxidization of the blood. The heart has 4 chambers and these chambers contracting at different times pushing the blood to the lungs and then back out the body. The thump thump you hear is the valves in these chambers opening and closing. The heart has 2 nodes made up of both muscle and nervous tissue that regulate the heartbeat, yes it’s own pacemaker (Thought Co, 2019).  The heart decides what the demand for oxygen is an adjusts the heart rate accordingly. The heart beats about 100 thousand times a day!  
But why is the heart linked to emotion?
I remember watching this Greys anatomy episode about a woman who had a heart attack every year because it was linked to a traumatic event she experienced (Season 2 Episode 5). She was ultimately diagnosed with “Stress Induced Cardio Myopathy”. This is actually documented by the medical community and is also known as "Broken Heart Syndrome. The coronary arteries go into spasm causing the heart to not contract normally and a decreased blood supply to the heart.  (Abbott 2017). Chronic depression can cause “Sad Heart Syndrome” due stressors like high blood pressure and increase stress hormones like cortisol. This stress can actually put patients are a greater risk of heart disease (American Heart Association, 2021). These syndromes explain why the heart is often linked to emotion and why the heart has been connected to emotions even before we had the science to support it.
 
Although we can’t control when our lives get turned upside down, we can support the heart with lifestyle, diet, and exercise.  This week’s video is part of the 15 minutes for… series. And you guess it today we are focusing on cardio. This workout is great on its own, but you can also use it to warm up the body to prepare for a workout.