In the month that represents celebrations of the heart let’s put some focus and attention back on self.  Self-love.  Self-care.  Self-help.

February is national Heart Health month.  Why do we pick this organ to be the center of attention is February?  Valentine’s Day is represented with a heart and the focus is around romantic love.   During the Valentine holiday. which some consider a Hallmark Holiday, let’s use this month as a reminder to focus the emphasis on nurturing our own healthy hearts.

The statistics are staggering.  121.5 million Americans are currently living with heart disease.  That’s half the population.  1 million a year have heart attacks.  Every 33 seconds someone in the US dies from heart disease.  That’s a whopping 610 000 deaths!  Heart disease is the #1 cause of death of both men and women.  The highest incidence of heart attacks occur over Christmas and New Year’s.

It’s amazing how many lives heart disease touches.  When my dad had a heart attack 2 years ago and I would tell friends and acquaintances what had happened and how lucky we were that my dad was alive, I was shocked by the number of people who had a story to tell me of someone in their lives they lost or were so grateful to continue to have in their lives.

Have you heard the expression “it’s not so much what you do between Thanksgiving and New Year’s…as what you do between New Year’s and Thanksgiving?   Here’s another expression you may not be so familiar with “Cortisol…it’s a real punch in the gut!”

In my practice, teaching in the health and wellness field, and coaching high performers in the business world, high cortisol levels are a very real concern.  Chronically elevated cortisol levels occur from: 1. limited exercise and leading a sedentary life, 2. Chronic stress, 3. Lack of proper sleep, 4. Vertebral subluxation.

Our cortisol is elevated during our fight or flight response.  Back in prehistoric times when we had to freeze, fight, or run from that saber-toothed tiger our cortisol levels elevate to turn on our bodies into overdrive.  This system works perfectly when we can get away from our perceived threat after a short period of time.  But if the threat is a job that we’re not in alignment with, a rocky relationship at home, financial worries, then this chronic long-term stress causes the elevated cortisol levels to continue and not to dissipate the way they are designed to when the threat is over.

Now this increase in cortisol leads to high blood pressure.  High levels of blood sugar from a poor diet, toxins, high cholesterol, plaques, and clots all snowball the effect of the perfect…well really not so perfect…storm.

What risk factors lead to heart disease?  Nicotine, caffeine, toxins, insulin sensitivity, inflammation, high C-reactive protein, high blood pressure, homocysteine levels, high cholesterol levels, belly fat, dehydration and of course uncontrolled stress depression, anger, poor diet and alcohol use.  Risk factors are 90% lifestyle habits!  You can take cholesterol lowering drugs but the side effects of statin drugs (Lipitor, Crestor, Zocor) can also be dangerous to your health.  These are actually meant as a last resort AFTER lifestyle changes.  Exercise and an improved diet have better outcomes.  It just depends on how badly we want to change and how much effort we want to put into our own self-care.

Here’s the bottom line on supplementation for your heart health.

• DHA/ EPA Essential fats (Omega3)
• Antioxidants (multi- A, C, D, E)
• Plant sterols and stanols
• CoQ10
• Niacin
• Folate & B12

Speak to your health care coordinator about healthy heart prevention with supplements.  Check your blood pressure regularly.  Get out and walk! Remember, meditation is a free and natural way to reduce stress that causes the increase in cortisol levels.