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Local naturopath Yolanda Falivene shares insight into how to keep a healthy heart.
LET’S talk about heart health, specifically how to maintain a healthy heart and prevent the leading cause of death – atherosclerosis (hardening and blockage of the arteries of the heart).
Your body actually needs cholesterol to function properly. It helps digestion, is used in production of hormones and neurotransmitters, structures cell walls and is important for the nervous system.
The concern is the balance between the two types of cholesterol. Maintaining a higher level of HDL (good cholesterol) helps the body get rid of LDL (bad cholesterol).There is more to a healthy heart than low cholesterol though.
Atherosclerosis occurs when LDL (bad) cholesterol deposits onto arteries in the heart. This happens only when the arteries are damaged, so it follows that while maintaining a healthy ratio of good and bad cholesterol is very important, we need to look at reducing the damage and helping repair artery walls in other ways so as to minimise the deposit of LDL in the first place.
Will adjusting your lifestyle including diet, exercise, decreasing stress and supplements help? Absolutely! These factors have a direct physiological link in preventing artery damage and maintaining heart muscle function.
Dietary balance of good and bad fats is vital. Reducing saturated fats in meat and dairy, and reducing trans fats created when frying oils will keep HDL higher and LDL lower. Eating ‘good’ fats in foods such as avocado, fish like salmon and sardines, coconut oil and nuts is recommended.
Foods rich in the antioxidants Vitamins A, C, E and lycopene (in berries and tomatoes) help repair artery damage and can dilate blood vessels.
Rice bran and oats can lower bad cholesterol. Including foods containing magnesium and potassium like dark leafy greens help heart function and lower oxidative damage to cell walls.
Reducing salt, high in processed foods and reducing sugar is imperative.
Sugar causes an insulin spike in your blood which research has shown can damage artery walls.What about reducing stress and increasing exercise?
Any stress kicks in the ‘fight or flight’ response. The liver dumps sugar into the bloodstream to ‘fight or run’. But we don’t run (exercise) enough. Insulin is then produced to reduce excess sugar. This surplus insulin can lead to artery damage, insulin resistance and higher LDL, sodium retention, weight gain and high blood pressure, all of which also happen to be predisposing factors to heart disease.
Other nutrients important for heart health are Vitamin D and Co-enzyme Q. Vitamin D deficiency can increase your risk of heart attack by 50 per cent and Co-enzyme Q helps heart muscle function.
The chemicals inhaled from smoking can damage artery walls, so stop! In fact reducing chemical exposure overall reduces stress on the liver which will help the cholesterol situation in the long run.
So preventing and maintaining a healthy heart can easily be achieved by all of us. By altering our lifestyles and ensuring correct nutrition we can help manage and prevent a dangerous health condition.
(For people taking prescribed medication: some nutrients in supplement form may be contradicted. Seek professional advice before introducing any of these into your daily regime.)
