How healthy is your heart? People are having open heart surgeries, taking cholesterol lowering drugs, blood pressure lowering drugs, eating aspirin like candy to thin the blood, getting stents, pace makers, and so on. Fast foods and processed foods have become a popular substitute for a home -cooked meal. The statistics for obesity and diabetes in Americans show an alarming increase in children and adults alike. Heart disease is the number one cause of death – an early, pre-mature death for most Americans. The latest studies predict today’s children will be the first generation to have a shorter life span than ours.
What is wrong with this picture? High cholesterol has been the assumed cause of heart disease but that is not the real killer. Sugar is the real, silent killer. Sugar damages the arteries, increases blood pressure, causes inflammation, constipation, sticky platelets, and ages your organs. Sugar can cause depression, diabetes, cancer, migraines, Alzheimer’s, tooth decay, Candida, allergies, eczema, asthma, cataracts, and more. Sugar can also suppress the immune system. Having a “sweet tooth” is not so sweet if you want to have a healthy heart. It is not just white sugar but also the many alternative names of sugar creatively marketed that are still sugar. Sugar is an addictive substance. In the book Suicide by Sugar by Nancy Appleton, PhD, sugar is considered the #1 national addiction.
So, how do you satisfy the desire for sugary treats without damaging your heart? First, you need to ask yourself what you are really craving. Often a sugar craving is the body’s way of asking for more energy. It can also stem from a lack of certain nutrients or other imbalances in the body. If you persevere, you will discover needs beyond the physical such as a need for more love or intimacy in your life. Perhaps there is a damaged relationship that is calling out for healing or a job that is uninspiring and stressful. Your heart knows the truth if you take time to listen to it.
The heart is best known for its ability to pump blood, which carries oxygen and nutrients, to all the tissues in the body through a network of blood vessels. It is also intimately connected with our emotional nature. The energetic strength of our heart comes from our ability to love, forgive, hope, trust, be inspired, show compassion, and heal. Emotional stress can be very toxic to the emotional heart which in turn affects the physical health of the heart. Fear, anger, and lack of forgiveness will weaken the heart. Sugar, which has been the drug of choice, is not the antidote.
There are steps you can take to restore your heart health. First and foremost, add more fruits and vegetables to your diet. An extensive Harvard study concluded that 8 servings of fruits and vegetables a day reduce your chances of having a heart attack or stroke by 30%. Next, increase your intake of Omega 3 fatty acids along with whole grains, beans, nuts, and leafy greens. Omega 3 fatty acids help reduce inflammation.
Learn how to change your reaction to stress. Stressful events are a part of life and probably won’t go away any time soon. However, you have total control over how you RESPOND to stress. Exercise, meditation, and deep breathing will start to change your stress response. Take steps to repair emotional injuries and damaged relationships. Love, in its purest form, has an endless capacity to heal and transform. First and foremost, expand your capacity to love yourself unconditionally. Then you can extend that love to others. Our hearts are meant to experience and express beauty, compassion, forgiveness, and love. It is detrimental to our health and against our innate nature to act otherwise.
The most common block in the heart center, or 4th chakra, is the absence of self-love. How can we have a healthy, intimate relationship with others if we do not have a relationship with our self? How can we reach out to others if we are drowning in our own criticism? How can we maintain balance in our relationships if we do not have balance within? How can we treat others with respect if we do not respect ourselves? To love ourselves is to act respectfully and responsibly toward ourselves, to honor our limits, and to speak our truths. Self-love is an act of treating ourselves the way we would treat anyone else we love – compassionately, respectfully, honestly, with tolerance, patience, and understanding. It is the foundation for loving others.
Some other ways to improve your heart health is to engage in heart healthy exercise 5 days a week for 20-30 minutes a day. This can be in the form of walking, cycling, swimming, running, or aerobic gym classes. The goal is to elevate your heart rate and increase circulation. Adding certain heart healthy foods to your diet and eliminating other foods also help to keep your heart healthy and the arteries clear. The Mediterranean Diet and the DASH diet are two diets that claim to greatly improve heart health and lower the risk for heart disease.
Heart disease is at least 80 % preventable with proper diet and proper lifestyle habits. If you are concerned about your heart health and would like support in making some changes to keep your heart healthy, reach to me. I would be happy to assist you in reaching your goals for a stronger heart and a healthier life. Remember,the health of your heart is in your hands.
