Five Holistic Ways to Show Your Heart More Love
While chocolates and roses and grand romantic gestures are nice, let’s spend this Valentine’s Day showing a little more love to ourselves — and what better place to start than with our heart health?
The symbol of love, your heart is arguably the most important organ of all, responsible for supplying oxygen and nutrients to every single cell in your body. And yet, we so rarely give it the love it deserves in return. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide, despite so many of its risk factors being easily preventable.
So, with that in mind, let’s discuss five simple and holistic ways to support our heart health, lower the risk of disease, and improve overall wellbeing:
1. Incorporate More Heart-Healthy Fats
Fats often get a bad rap in diet culture, but it’s important to remember that not all fats are created equal — some are actually vital to your nutrition.
More and more research shows that certain fats, such as omega-3s and monounsaturated fats, are essential to your heart’s health. By prioritizing these in your diet over trans fats and refined vegetable oils, you can lower cholesterol levels, reduce inflammation, and improve blood pressure.
Tips To Adding Heart-Healthy Fats into Diet:
Swap Butter for Olive Oil: Extra virgin olive oil is great for cooking, salad dressing, or drizzling over roast vegetables.
Add Avocados: Avocados are packed with monounsaturated fats. Spread them on toasts, blend them into smoothies, or use them as a creamy base for homemade dressings.
Snack Smart: Instead of processed foods, a handful of nuts or seeds can provide a heart-healthy boost throughout the day.
2. Eat More Antioxidant-Rich Foods
Free radicals are unstable molecules that have the potential to damage cells within our body. Every day, they are created naturally during the metabolic process or as a result of exposure to certain toxins (UV rays, alcohol, tobacco, etc.). Left unchecked, they will lead to oxidative stress and inflammation, two of the biggest threats to your heart’s health.
The best way to combat free radicals is with an antioxidant-rich diet.
Tips To Adding Antioxidants into Diet:
Incorporate More Berries: Adding berries to your morning oatmeal or smoothie is a great source of flavonoids, a powerful plant compound that can improve circulation and reduce blood pressure.
Enjoy in Moderation: Toxins from alcoholic drinks, tobacco, or any other substance will cause more free radicals, increasing oxidative stress.
Drink Green Tea: Replace a cup of coffee with heart-healthy green tea, which is full of polyphenols that reduce cholesterol.
3. Skip the Processed Foods
Our lives are busy and that means we may find ourselves eating on the go more often than we’d like. But many of the pre-packaged snacks on the grocery store shelves are heavily processed, meaning that they’re full of all the anti-nutrients we want to avoid — refined sugars, trans fats, artificial preservatives, sodium, and more.
Not only can these foods lead to even more cravings, causing weight gain and fatigue, but they can cause chronic inflammation, rising cholesterol, and high blood pressure.
Tips To Avoiding Processed Foods:
Plan Ahead: Meal prepping dishes and snacks for the week gives you greater control over the ingredients in your diet.
Whole Grains: Avoid the refined carbs found in white rice and white bread in favor of whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, and whole wheat products.
Read Ingredient Labels: The more ingredients on the back of the box or bag, the more processed it likely is. And if you find yourself reading words you’ve never heard of or can’t pronounce, best to stay away.
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4. Reduce Stress Through Lifestyle Choices
We all experience moments of stress throughout our lives, but when the issue becomes chronic, it’s important that we begin making lifestyle changes. Stressful situations trigger the release cortisol (A.K.A. the stress hormone) and adrenaline, putting our bodies in a state of fight or flight. Over a sustained period, this can take a serious toll on our heart.
Tips To Reducing Stress:
Prioritize Sleep: A regular nighttime routine of avoiding screen time and winding down naturally can improve your sleep quality, which helps reduce cortisol levels.
Exercise Regularly: Many have found exercise to be a fantastic and healthy stress reliever that also improves heart health.
Mindfulness & Self Care: Moments of relaxation can go a long way. Meditation, breathing exercises, or yoga can be a great way to show yourself some love.
5. Be Kind and Do Things for Others
Research is beginning to find that acts of kindness like volunteering or giving affection can actually strengthen our heart health. By developing more meaningful relationships and spreading generosity, we are able to reduce stress and blood pressure, while also boosting our mood and healthy habits.
Tips To Spreading Love:
Random Acts of Kindness: It can be as simple as holding the elevator door, buying coffee for a stranger, or giving a generous tip.
Write a Heartfelt Message: If there’s someone you care about or someone who has impacted you greatly, let them know how you feel.
Foster Meaningful Connections: Keep in touch with friends and family or join a local club or community to find new ones.
Looking For Something More Personal?
If you’re interested in improving your health but feel like conventional methods don’t quite fit your lifestyle, holistic nutrition might be the answer.
Holistic nutrition goes beyond just what’s on the plate — it’s about using food, lifestyle habits, and mindset shifts to promote long-term wellness.
Reach out for a free 20-minute consultation to discuss what a personalized approach to your wellbeing would look like