February, often celebrated for love and Valentine's Day, also marks an important occasion dedicated to a vital aspect of our health: Heart Month.
It's all about reminding ourselves of the little things we can do to keep our hearts happy and healthy. Despite heart disease being a major concern globally, there's a silver lining - it's largely preventable! By tweaking our daily habits just a bit, we can make a big difference in our heart health, cutting down the risk of heart disease and boosting our overall well-being. So, let's dive into simple lifestyle adjustments you can adopt for a healthier heart, and yes, we're talking supplements too!
1. Adopt a Heart-Healthy Diet
Emphasizing whole, minimally processed foods like fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, whole grains, proteins, and healthy fats provides essential nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants, which help fight inflammation and protect your heart and blood vessels.
Opt for complex carbohydrates from whole grains such as oats, quinoa, brown rice, barley, and whole wheat. These carbohydrates are higher in fiber and nutrients compared to refined carbohydrates and can help stabilize blood sugar levels, lower cholesterol levels, promote healthy blood pressure and keep your heart in top shape.
Minimize processed foods and added sugars to help reduce the intake of unhealthy fats, excess sodium, and empty calories that can contribute to weight gain, high blood pressure, and inflammation—risk factors for heart disease.
Strive to create balanced meals that include a variety of nutrients, essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that help protect against heart disease. Also be mindful of portion sizes to help manage calorie intake and maintain a healthy weight, which is crucial for heart health and reducing the risk of obesity-related heart conditions.
2. Regular Physical Activity
Beyond the obvious advantage of maintaining a healthy heart, regular exercise provides several other benefits. It helps control weight by burning calories and improving metabolism. Being overweight or obese is a significant risk factor for heart disease, so managing your weight through exercise can directly contribute to heart health.
Exercise also plays a crucial role in managing blood pressure. Regular physical activity strengthens the heart, enabling it to pump blood more efficiently, which lowers the pressure in your arteries. In addition, exercise can increase the levels of good cholesterol (HDL) in your blood, while reducing bad cholesterol (LDL), further protecting your heart from disease.
The heart, like any muscle, becomes stronger with exercise. A stronger heart can pump more blood with less effort. If your heart can work less to pump, the force on your arteries decreases, lowering your blood pressure. Over time, this strengthening of the heart muscle can help prevent heart failure, a condition where the heart is unable to pump sufficiently to meet the body's needs.
3. Stress Management
Chronic stress is more than just an emotional burden; it's a physical one, especially on the heart. When we're under constant stress, our bodies are in a prolonged state of 'fight or flight,' leading to an increase in heart rate and blood pressure. Over time, this heightened state can wear on the cardiovascular system, contributing to heart disease and other health problems.
Finding healthy ways to manage stress is not just beneficial; it's essential for our heart health. Techniques such as meditation and yoga offer powerful tools for calming the mind and reducing the physical effects of stress on the body. Both practices can help lower stress hormones, reduce inflammation, and decrease blood pressure, all of which benefit heart health.
Spending time in nature, also known as 'forest bathing' or ecotherapy, has been shown to have a profound effect on reducing stress levels and improving overall well-being. Natural settings can help decrease cortisol levels, lower heart rate, and improve mood by providing a peaceful environment away from the stressors of daily life.
Pursuing hobbies that bring joy and a sense of satisfaction is another effective way to combat stress. Whether it's painting, gardening, knitting, playing music, or writing, engaging in activities that you love can help shift your focus away from stress and towards something positive and fulfilling.
4. Incorporating Heart-Healthy Supplements
Supplements can play a role in supporting heart health, especially when used in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle.
Astaxanthin, is touted as one of the most powerful antioxidants available. Astaxanthin provides defense against oxidative cell damage (oxidative stress) and inflammation caused by free radicals.
Both dietary and environmental sources contribute to the body's overall oxidative stress, potentially leading to cellular damage and various health issues if not balanced by adequate antioxidant intake and healthy lifestyle choices.
This study found Astaxanthin to be 6,000 times stronger than Vitamin C, 800 times stronger than CoQ10, 550 times stronger than Green tea Catechins and 75 times stronger than Alpha Lipoic Acid.
Benefits
Helps relieve conditions associated with cell damage such as:
● Free radicals and oxidative stress in the body
● Pain, inflammation, fatigue
● Cardiovascular risks
● Vision, especially when combined with Lutein
Did you know?
Did you know that Astaxanthin is responsible for making flamingos pink? Flamingos are actually born white, they only obtain their pink color once they begin to consume foods in nature that contain high levels of the antioxidant, Astaxanthin.
Provita's Nattokinase
A cardiovascular health must-have, delayed release for maximized absorption
Benefits
● Inhibition of platelet aggregation and formation of clots
● Can dissolve formed thrombi and also prevent their formation
● Excellent for maintaining cardiovascular health
Blood clots can occur inside a vein or artery. Clots can quickly become life-threatening when they travel to different parts of the body (such as heart, lungs, brain) when the body cannot dissolve them fast enough.
Nattokinase (NK) is a potent blood-clot dissolving protein produced by the bacterium Bacillus subtilis during the fermentation of soybeans to produce Natto. Extensively used in Japan, Korea and China to treat cardiovascular disease, it has been recently recognized by Western medicine for its potent fibrinolytic (anti-clotting / anti-thrombotic) capacity.
Did you know?
Nattokinase can be beneficial for improving blood circulation by maintaining healthy blood flow, thus helping with blood pressure, hemorrhoids and varicose veins
Making these lifestyle changes can lead to a healthier heart and a better quality of life. Remember, it's never too late to start taking care of your heart. This February, let's renew our commitment to heart health and take proactive steps towards a healthier future.