Collectively, heart and circulatory diseases cause more than a quarter of all deaths in the UK, accounting for more that 179,000 deaths each year, according to the British Heart Foundation. That’s a serious statistic…. so what can you do to help prevent Heart disease?
Some of my clients have made some positive changes to their health by implementing these tips. I’ve seen dramatic changes in their blood pressure results and one person’s consultant, said ” whatever it is you’re doing, keep doing it!” He was most impressed by the results. There are positive changes you can make that will make a difference to your health, it’s not all gloom and doom!
5 tips on how you can help your heart health naturally…
Exercise – it sounds obvious and it is, but keeping our bodies exercised will help our circulation. When we exercise we increase our Oxygen intake to our cells and blood supply. You don’t have to go and join an expensive Gym but by doing simple exercise for example walking 20 minutes a day at a pace where you huff and puff and get the heart rate up works wonders. Cycling is also very good, as is swimming.
Nutrition – Eat good nourishing, fresh food, that is organic if possible and have a balanced diet, with plenty or fresh vegetable and fruit. More and more research is available on how damaging refined sugar is. I would recommend cutting it out and replacing it with unrefined raw sugars, or sugar substitutes such as Agave Syrup. There is a school of thought that high cholesterol has no impact on our heart health. If you’d like to read up more on that there is a book by Dr Malcolm Kendrick – “The Great Cholesterol Con” which I found interesting.
Drink Water – drink mineral water and plenty of it. Blood, muscles, lungs and the brain all contain water and you need water to regulate your body temperature and to help the nutrients travel to your organs and tissues. It helps transport oxygen to your cells and removes waste. This also helps with circulation and your heart getting the blood it needs to circulate to all your organs.
Relaxation to combat Stress….. When our bodies are in a constant stress state it puts pressure on our hearts. We often have busy stressful days, and we need to shake off that stress at the end of the day. There are several things you can do to relax. Try taking a warm bath with some relaxing essential oils, such as Lavender, Geranium or Chamomile. Listen to a relaxation meditation CD before bed or in the bath and simply breathe! Long deep breaths in which you feel your abdomen fill with air and slowly exhale. Do this at least 7 times and feel your body relax. Stretching and Yoga are the perfect ways to unwind and release the tension from your body.
Supplementation – these days we don’t get all the nutrients we need from our food, due to the poor quality and over use of soil. Mineral and vitamin supplements can help keep our levels optimised. There is one Amino Acid that has been proven to help with creating nitric oxide in the body and that is L-Arginine. 3 scientists won the Nobel Prize in 1998 when they discovered that L-Arginine is a pre-cursor to Nitric Oxide. Nitric Oxide relaxes the arteries and therefore helps the blood flow. Exercise also produces nitric oxide. I have been taking an L-Arginine supplement for 3 years and found it beneficial – you can read more about that on my website. There was a trial conducted in California at the High Desert Heart Institute, where patients who were waiting for heart surgery improved dramatically after taking this supplement.
Screening – I have a device in which I use that will give you a heads up on your heart health. It’s quick, painless and not at all scary! It will give you an accurate result on your blood pressure, your central pressure and arterial stiffness and by implementing the 5 simple tips I outlined, you can make positive changes to your heart health. I would encourage anyone to start now if you have worries about your health. http://jotocherholistics.com/services/your-healthy-heart/