Did You Know Heart Attacks Have Beginnings?

By the time you read this, the reported deaths from COVID-19 and its variants in the U.S. will be close to 900,000. As staggering as that statistic is, its 400,000 short of the number of Americans killed by Heart Disease in the same time period. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women of most racial and ethnic groups.Lets not allow the topic to overwhelm the fact theres a miracle inside your chest. Weighing about as much as a grapefruit, the heart is a powerful pump that drives five to six quarts of blood to every microscopic part of your body every second. And if it fails for even a second, the body is very unforgiving. Even though its the one piece of machinery driven by the brain, we tend to treat the heart like a kitchen appliance that we take for granted. Rarely serviced, rarely cleaned, and overworked until it burns out. Although heart bypass and transplant have become routine since the pioneering operations in the 1960s, its not like replacing the coffee maker you neglected too long. One Thing at a TimeThe better way to treat your heart with the respect it deserves is to start with changing just small habits. That way, youll avoid the relapse from trying to change everything at once and falling back to unhealthy heart habits inside of a month. The most obvious: if youre a smoker or heavy drinker, work on that first. Imagine a small team of remodelers arriving at your heart to do a makeover. The first thing theyre going to say is, Well, we cant do anything with the plumbing until we clear the smoke. Look for Help During Heart MonthQuitting smoking and reducing alcohol is never easy, but this is probably as good a time as any during the year to start a cessation program with help. February is American Heart Month, so youre likely to be reminded frequently of heart health and offered tips on modifying your routine to help your heart and prolong a happy life. If you only look to one place, trust the American Heart Association  www.heart.org. Prediabetes and Heart DiseaseWhats your blood sugar level? If you dont know, you should find out from your doctor if youre not already monitoring it yourself. You could be pre-diabetic without knowing it or showing any symptoms. Theres a good chance you could avoid becoming diabetic and reverse your pre-diabetic blood sugar to normal with relatively little change to your diet and a slight increase inyour activity. Diabetes has long been linked to heart disease, but recent studies suggest that reversing prediabetes is also linked to fewer heart attacks and strokes. [Reversing Prediabetes linked to fewer heart attacks, strokes, heart.org, Jan. 26, 2021.]While youre at it, get your cholesterol tested and routinely monitor your blood pressure.If youre worried you might be at risk for heart disease, ask your doctor to perform a simple cholesterol test to let you know if youre at risk and should adjust your diet. Home blood pressure monitors are not expensive, theyre digital, and theyre easy to use. Blood pressure stations are common in supermarkets now, and you can also check your weight and pulse. Womens Heart HealthWhy the emphasis on womens heart health? The American Heart Association tells us that cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of women, causing 1 in 3 deaths each year about one woman every minute. They devote an entire website to womens heart health: Go Red for Women (www.goredforwomen.org). Here are just a few of the common misconceptions about womens heart health:Myth: Heart disease is for men, and cancer is the real threat for womenFact: Heart disease is a killer that strikes more women than men and is more deadly than all cancer forms combined. While one in 31 American women dies from breast cancer each year, heart disease is the cause of one out of every three deaths.Myth: Heart disease is for old peopleFact: Heart disease affects women of all ages. For younger women, the combination of birth control pills and smoking boosts heart disease risks by 20 percent. Heart defects are more common than you might think: 1.3 million Americans alive today have some form of congenital heart defect and at least nine of every 1,000 infants born each year have a heart defect. Even if you live a completely healthy lifestyle, being born with an underlying heart condition can be a risk factor.Myth: I run marathons no way I could be at risk.Fact: Factors like cholesterol, eating habits, and smoking can counterbalance your other healthy habits. You can be thin and have high cholesterol. The American Heart Association says to start getting your cholesterol checked at age 20. Earlier, if your family has a history of heart disease. Age and Heart HealthMany things, like wine and most people, grow better with age. The heart, however, takes more tending than a glass of fine wine. Avoid things that weaken your heart beyond the normal aging process. These are the usual suspects: smoking and tobacco use, lack of exercise, diet, alcohol, overeating, and stress. Some preexisting conditions you cant control: irregular heartbeat, congenital (inherited) heart defects, sleep apnea (although this may be a product of obesity or alcohol consumption).Viruses and MyocarditisMyocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle mostly caused by a virus, including COVID-19, and can lead to left-sided heart failure. The left ventricle of the heart is the part that pumps oxygen-rich blood back to the body. This valve tends to stiffen with age. Thats one of the many reasons why age combined with a preexisting condition puts you at greater risk of death from COVID-19. Even survivors of the novel coronavirus infection can sustain permanent heart damage. All people must protect themselves and others from COVID-19 by observing precautions, not just because of its immediate lethality but also because of its impact on the heart, known and unknown. How to Start with Your HeartThe factors involved in heart health and the onset of heart disease are many, varied, and complicated. But the common preventions (listed here, from the Mayo Clinic) are simple. You probably already know them by heart, so to speak:Not smokingControlling certain conditions, such as high blood pressure and diabetesStaying physically activeEating healthy foodsMaintaining a healthy weightReducing and managing stress Those may seem like six significant challenges, especially if you take on all six. But you should notice something else about them. Almost every one of them can affect the other five. So, if you pick one, youll find it easier to take on the next one. People who quit smoking usually discover that they have more energy within the first week, and exercise becomes easier. A little exercise and switching out one unhealthy food will help with weight, stress, blood pressure, and diabetes. Easy does it, especially if youre 65 and older. Youve spent a whole life learning one way. You can take your time. Learn to enjoy your healthier heart. But start today.First, Get a Checkup!Most of the questions this article has raised in your mind (Whats my blood sugar level? Whats my blood pressure? I used to smoke am I at risk?) can all be answered in a single doctors visit with simple lab work done a few days before. Schedule it now, before you start a program of exercise and diet. And schedule a regular exam per your doctors recommendation. Relieving the stress of not knowing will be a good start on your way to a healthier heart.

The thought of exercising can be daunting for many of us, but it doesnt have to be.Sticking to a moderate intensity or within whats called zone 2 cardio can help make exercise more manageable and just as effective, when done consistently and often.What is zone 2 cardio?Some examples of zone 2 cardio include walking, running, biking and swimming.All of these exercises get your heart pumping, but its how fast its going that makes all the difference because this is how hard your body is working to get oxygen through your bloodstream.Jefferson Brewer, an Exercise Physiologist at Intermountain Health said, Your heart doesnt care what youre doing. If youre walking around the neighborhood, pushing the cart around the grocery store, or running up a mountain."When youre doing something at a lower intensity, it will be easiest to do that on an indoor bike or a treadmill with a slight incline, depending on your fitness level. It can be quite hard to run in zone 2 though.Theres a common misconception in the world of fitness training in that you have to be going all gas, no breaks, pedal to the metal at all times, as hard as possible all the time, said Brewer.Zone 2 workouts are going to be more sustained over a longer period, but at a lower intensity, which is different from something like High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) where youre revving the engine up, going to 8 out of 10 or 9 out of 10, and then cooling off for a matter of seconds.The American College of Sports Medicine recommends healthy adults aged 18-65 do moderate intensity or zone 2 cardio for 30 minutes, five days a week, or a total of 150 minutes per week.How do I know Im doing zone 2 cardio right?Most fitness trackers, like Apple Watches and Fitbits, will track your cardio zones.Theyre set to averages, but you can manually adjust your zones in the workout settings.For guidance, these are the average cardiac zones used on Apple Watches:Zone 1: Less than 136 BPMZone 2: 137-148 BPMZone 3: 149-161 BPMZone 4: 162-174 BPMZone 5: 175+ BPMTo know your true cardiac zones, it requires quite a bit of math and some knowledge of your resting heart rate and your maximum heart rate.When you're looking at zone 2 cardio, it's not quite so challenging that you couldn't talk to someone or carry a conversation. You certainly couldnt sing to that person, but youre moving and its not at your max, said Brewer.The easier and more precise option is to book an appointment with one of our Exercise Physiologists or Sports Medicine Providers who can do a VO2 Max test on you to figure out your heart rate zones.

Since the start of the year, you may have noticed an uptick of fad diets. Maybe its your mom trying a pescatarian regime, or your neighbor raving about his new Mediterranean diet. With so many diet trends buzzing around, it can be hard to separate what works from what doesnt. This is especially true when it comes to heart healthy eating.The American Heart Association released a study comparing diets and their heart healthy potential and organized the results in four tiers. With the help of Kelly Elliot, RD at Intermountain Healths Denver Midtown Clinic - Weight Loss Center, we turned the studys results into easy-to-digest bites. It is important to always be mindful of your diet to reduce risk factors for heart disease, said Kelly. Creating a lifestyle that works for you as an individual that you can follow is what matters, because its what you will stick to!Whether youre a seasoned diet tryer, or just dipping your toes in heart-healthy waters, theres important information for everyone.Tier 4: Paleo Diets and VLDC/Ketogenic DietsStarting from the bottom of the barrel, we meet paleolithic and ketogenic diets. These diets, often hailed for their weight loss potential, may miss the mark when it comes to nourishing our hearts.The paleolithic diet, while rooted in our ancestral past, falls short in meeting heart-healthy guidelines. With its emphasis on meat and fat, and limited intake of fruits, grains, and legumes, it takes a detour off the heart health highway.Similarly, ketogenic diets focus on slashing carbs and loading up on fats. By cutting out essential food groups like fruits and grains, we risk missing key nutrients.These diets don't limit saturated fats, which can raise your LDL, which is the bad cholesterol, said Kelly. One way to modify these diets is to reduce saturated fat by consuming nuts and seeds instead of animal proteins, but this has to be balanced with caloric intake.Kelly also added that because these diets are low in carbohydrates, they could be beneficial for people with diabetes. However, because diabetics are at a higher heart disease risk, their saturated fats should be limited.Tier 3: Very Low-Fat Diets and Low-Carbohydrate DietsTier 3 diets include very low-fat and low-carb options, and present mixed heart health benefits.Both of these diets can potentially help with weight loss without omitting food groups and can help lower risk factors for heart disease, said Kelly.Very low-fat diets, while aiming to reduce overall fat intake, may inadvertently miss the mark on essential fatty acids. Likewise, low-carb diets, with their focus on slashing carbohydrates, could lead to a decrease in fiber-rich foods, which play a vital role in heart health.The drawback is that with low fat diets, they can lead to deficiencies in protein and essential fatty acids and B12, that the body requires for good health, said Kelly. On the other hand, a low carb diet can overemphasize animal-based protein and restrict fiber and increase saturated fat intake.Tier 2: Vegan Diets and Low-Fat DietsVegan and low-fat diets are the heart of Tier 2. These dietary paths offer a bounty of heart-healthy benefits with some caveats.The vegan diet, with its plant-based focus on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes, embraces the power of plants for heart wellness. However, tread carefully to ensure youre meeting your nutritional needs, particularly for vitamin B12.No animal protein is consumed in vegan diets, so they are very low in saturated fat intake, but the restrictive diet can lead to B12 deficiency, said Kelly. It is recommended to include a B12 supplement and choose plant-based milk alternatives.Meanwhile, the low-fat diet promises reduced cholesterol and a lighter load on our hearts. By emphasizing lean proteins, whole grains, and fruits and vegetables, it is a good heart healthy diet. But its important to avoid overconsumption of less healthy carbohydrates, such as added sugars.People with high cholesterol or high LDL cholesterol can benefit from replacing foods high in saturated fats with foods that have unsaturated fats, said Kelly.Tier 1: DASH-Style, Mediterranean, Pescatarian, and Ovo/Lacto-Vegetarian DietsStarted from the bottom, and now were here with Tier 1s DASH-Style, Mediterranean, pescatarian, and ovo/lacto-vegetarian diets. Its the pinnacle of heart-healthy eating, where the nutrients shine.Well start with the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, or DASH, diet. By the name alone, you might infer this diets ultra heart healthy nature. It emphasizes 8-10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, whole grains, plant protein, and low-fat dairy, while limiting sodium.According to Kelly, the DASH diets sodium limitations help cut out highly processed foods, which can help control weight and high blood pressure. This diet provides adequate variety with adequate protein, moderate healthy fats and moderate healthy carbs intake, while minimizing sodium intake, she said.Moving onto the Mediterranean diet, with its emphasis on olive oil, fish, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. These heart healthy foods make this a great choice for reducing heart disease risk. However, the Mediterranean diet also includes moderate alcohol consumption, which means two or less drinks for men a day, and one or less drinks for women per day.Kelly cautioned against misinterpreting what moderate alcohol consumption is. This does not mean, to have no alcohol for 3-5 days and then have all 3-5 drinks at one time, she said. These drinks should not include added sugar such as margarita mix, juices, and sugary sodas.A pescatarian diet is similar to a vegetarian diet, with the addition of fish, and sometimes includes dairy and eggs. Lacto-ovo vegetarians eat eggs and dairy, but not beef, poultry, fish, or pork. These diets may be lower in saturated fats, especially if whole milk products are not consumed. The biggest challenge with these diets boils down to protein.Kelly explained it simply as there being complete and incomplete proteins. While animal proteins contain all essential amino acids, plant-based proteins are incomplete, and must be combined for full nutritional benefits.The way to do this is to combine a nut or seed or bean with a grain, said Kelly. For example, red beans and brown rice, or nut butter on whole grain bread, will allow you to consume all of the essential amino acids.While these diets might seem daunting, remember youre not alone. A registered dietitian, like Kelly, can be an excellent starting source.Dietitians are full of ideas and strategies to help each individual overcome barriers to create effective behavior changes, said Kelly. Its important to remember that baby steps and small changes lead to big impacts on your health over time!Whether you're sticking to tried-and-true favorites like the DASH plan or exploring new diet horizons, the key is finding what works best for your heart. Remember, it's not about perfection it's about progress. So go ahead, savor those veggies, indulge in some heart-smart protein, and above all, listen to what your body needs.