February is Heart Month in Canada and American Heart Month in the US. Of course, with red hearts and romance readily being marketed for Valentine’s Day, it makes sense to bring awareness to your heart — the very muscle that pumps your blood throughout your body and keeps you alive.
Tweetable: Your heart beats about 100,000 per day! That’s 5.5 litres of blood pumped every minute. [1] 
You eat healthy foods, exercise regularly, and keep your stress levels in check. Experts keep telling you that these activities will keep your heart healthy and strong for your lifetime. Or will that be enough? Healthy choices for food and lifestyle will trump genetics; however, applying that knowledge is the difference maker.
Look over the heart healthy choices below and choose one or two that you could apply to your current healthy food and lifestyle choices. Make this small transformation that could extend you healthy and strong to climb, hike, run or whatever you choose to do for movement.
5 Key Heart Healthy Choices
- Eat colourful vegetables and fruits that provide natural antioxidants, also termed free-radical scavengers, which bind the disease-causing free radicals that can damage arterial walls. By having sufficient quantities of vitamins A, C, and E and the mineral selenium means your body can neutralize the free radicals and prevent cellular and tissue damage. Antioxidants are your first-line of defense to protect your body’s cells. Wanting more information? Check out these blog posts: Antioxidants, What Are They Anyways? or 10 Best Antioxidant Foods.
- Choose healthy fats — fat is not your body’s enemy, but unhealthy fat choices can be. In fact, fat is needed for brain, nerve and heart health. Healthy fat choices provide natural anti-inflammatory benefits by helping to improve the flow characteristics of your blood and by reducing inflammation.[2] Avocados, extra-virgin olive oil, cold-pressed flaxseed or hemp oils, coconut oil, fatty fish like salmon and nuts/seeds all provide healthy nutrient-dense fats to benefit your heart and cardiovascular system.
- Add heart healthy fibre — beta glucans — You probably have heard that oatmeal is heart healthy, but did you ever wonder why. [3] Like edible mushrooms, seaweeds, and yeasts, oat bran/oatmeal contain soluble dietary fibre that helps control glucose levels, slows digestion in the intestines, lowers LDL cholesterol and boosts your immune system. So add some edible mushrooms like reishi, shiitake and maitake. I add dried mushrooms to my simmering bone broth to take advantage of the beta glucan fibre.
- Choose L-arginine-rich foods — L-arginine is an essential amino acid — essential because your body cannot produce it — that improves blood flow and circulation. [4] Amnio acids come from protein. Arginine helps with the formation of nitric oxide (NO), which increases the relaxation of blood vessels. [5] Thus, this essential amnio acid lowers heart disease and hypertension (high blood pressure). Natural sources of L-arginine include cage-free eggs, grass-fed meats and organ meats, pasture-raised poultry, wild-caught fish, seeds (sesame, pumpkin, sunflower), seas weeds and sea vegetables, coconut meat and nuts (Brazil nuts, walnuts and almonds). [6]
- Include some dark chocolate — Superfood cacao is filled with two things that most of us love: antioxidants and chocolatey richness. The antioxidants boost your immune system and support your cardiovascular system. The rich, chocolatey flavour is delicious and dessert-like, which helps to resist those sugar cravings while still satisfying your sweet tooth. Chocolate adds naturally occurring magnesium, a mineral that supports muscle relaxation (your heart is a muscle), and neuromuscular transmission and communication. Stress and excessive sugar consumption deplete magnesium, so why not add a little heart-healthy chocolate.
Want to make a lifestyle change that will make your heart happy and let you play at your most amazing life ever? Did you know that attaining and maintaining a healthy weight is a strong influencer on how you live your life? I don’t know about you, but I plan to dance, laugh and enjoy my life.
Call Brenda at 403.801.5698 or email hello@wattworksnutrition.ca for your no-obligation Discovery Chat. Brenda can be your health coach and cheerleader. All you have to do is take the first step — call or email today!
RESOURCES
[1] http://health.clevelandclinic.org/2015/07/21-amazing-facts-about-your-heart-infographic/
[2] David W. Rowland, The Nutritional Bypass: Reverse Atherosclerosis Without Surgery, (Parry Sound, ON: Rowland Publications, 2012) 17.
[3] Jiezhong Chen et al, “ Beta gluons in the treatment of diabetes and associated cardiovascular risks,” Vascular Health Risk Management 2008 Dec; 4(6): 1265–1272. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2663451/
[4] Josh Axe, ND, “L-Arginine Benefits Heart Health and Exercise Performance,” http://draxe.com/l-arginine/
[5] Elson Haas, MD, Staying Healthy With Nutrition, (Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 2006) 48.
[6] Axe, http://draxe.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/L-arginineGraphic2.jpg
