Term papers!

Who doesn’t want a healthy heart? Don’t neglect this vital organ. Take these simple do-it-yourself tips to heart:

1) Get your cholesterol count. Look at HDL, LDL and total cholesterol numbers. It is not about one component but instead, the full picture.

2) Calculate your waist/hip ratio: the higher the ratio, the greater your risk for heart disease.

3) Don’t let homocysteine accumulate, it’s toxic! Take supplements to convert homocysteine to non-toxic forms.

4) Increase your fiber intake: Fiber will bind to cholesterol in the intestines and excrete it.

5) Avoid hydrogenated oils and trans fat because these elevate cholesterol and are atherogenic! Throw out the margarine, cookies, crackers, baking products and vegetable shorting that contain these harmful ingredients.

6) Restrict sugar intake.

7) Choose lean protein, fish and vegetable proteins often. Organ meats, pork and processed meats are to be consumed rarely.

Move often! Get your heart rate kicking by partaking in aerobic excercise 3-5 times a week for 20-30 minutes at moderate intensity. Try a salsa class or hit the ski slopes!

9) Supplement with a multi-vitamin, fish oil, bioflavanoids, Pantethine, CoQ10, Carnitine, Vitamin C, Niacin, Magnesium and more! (note: It is not necessary to supplement with everything listed – an individualized protocol should be followed depending on your own personal situation).

10) Eat garlic and fenugreek. They both lower LDL and total cholesterol.

11) Donate blood to remove excess iron in the body — while at the same time giving love to someone in need!

12) Practice loving yourself-up! Nourish your body with positive messages. Wipe out negative self-talk and learn to love and accept yourself daily.

13) Build healthy relationships at work, in your family and with the people behind you at the supermarket checkout line. Make connections with others and learn to embrace life through the people you meet along your journey.

14) Tap for heart health using The Emotional Freedom Techniques. Download the free manual to learn this useful technique or hire an EFT practitioner like Alison Held to guide you toward personal freedom.

15) Practice the whole brain posture for heart health. This is an excellent position to eliminate stress, anger, resentment, forgiveness or any unhealthy emotions that might be limiting you from being your best-self. The whole brain posture is one of the most common Psych-k balances.

16) Hug yourself and others for a healthy heart. When you hug someone, make sure you are aligning your heart to their heart (many people hug the other way which can give a negative charge….change that negative to a positive!)

Today is National Wear Red Day! By wearing red you will show your support in the fight against heart disease. Approximately one in four women get heart disease (see today’s NIH press release that shows a decline to the previous 1 in 3) – staggering statistics! Why are these numbers so high – is it diet? lifestyle? Or is there something more to it than this?

The Standard American Diet is truly SAD. Most of us consume artificial, chemical, hormone-filled foods. The doctors tell us to eat less fat and sugar to reduce our risk of heart disease and this is not bad advice! The problem is that education is lacking and truthful facts get twisted by the media, food industry and corporate giants. Less fat becomes fat-free and less sugar somehow manifests itself into aspartame and splenda!

On today’s Go Red website there are several recipes featured. A picture of a delicious berry tart is displayed that makes me think, “Oh wow, if I’m trying to prevent heart disease I can have a big piece of that every night & it will help? Cool!” When I click through for the full ingredient list I see what is wrong with this picture!

The Berry Topped Pudding Pie contains a fat-free and sugar-free pudding mix, fat-free milk, fat-free frozen whipped topping, 1/2 a cup of sugar, and some other ingredients thrown into the mix. Talk about major deprivation when it comes to fat! Yet sugar is obviously o.k. for heart disease because I’m getting not only the 1/2 cup of white table sugar but also plenty of sugar in the fat free items (after all, those fat-free items need something added to make our taste buds happy!). I do not see much mention of whole, clean foods….I ponder why?

This campaign has plenty of excellent education, the reader just must be savvy enough to throw out the nonsense and embrace the quality material. For instance, getting your cholesterol in check and incorporating daily activity are some excellent steps in prevention. Evidence-based facts are presented through research articles and you can even take their heart health check-up.

Don’t have any red to wear (or you’re already dressed for the day!)? Carolyn Leber Public Relations shares a great alternative – light a red candle to show your support in this cause.

Much research (which I did not find on the Go Red site?) supports the fact that negative emotions will increase the risk of heart disease. When our heart “aches” it is not just because of poor food, environmental toxins, genetics or lack of movement. Our emotional state surely is connected to our physical body and this is just not fancy woo-woo speaking. Stress (that can come up due to lack of finances, relationship problems, career obstacles, etc) will impact our physical body. In addition, the thoughts that come up around these events may have an even greater impact.

Take all this to heart! Yes – improve your diet, get to know your family health history, exercise regularly, improve your cholesterol ratios, etc. But also change your thought patterns (two of my favorite techniques that I use with clients are EFT and Psych-K) so your outlook is bright and there is less impact on your physical body when negative things happen. Learn how to relax, take deep breathes and listen to the beating of your heart. Go Red – if you love it, it will love you back!

Alison Held
Nutritional Consultant & Health Coach
Healthful Direction