7 Lifestyle Habits to Tickle Your Ticker

Contributed by Dr. Mache Seibel- Red Hot Mamas Medical Expert

It’s February and in honor of American Heart Month I want to share a short story about how one study increases heart disease for millions of women, and how it almost affected my family.

My wife had surgery that threw her into early menopause only seven months after the Women’s Health Initiative study or WHI was published. That study created a chaotic time because it incorrectly concluded that estrogen caused breast cancer, heart disease and dementia among other illnesses.

Based on that one study a decade of women, millions of them, have avoided estrogen and thousands of doctors have refused to prescribe it. That is so unfortunate. Why? Because if estrogen is taken in the estrogen window, it can significantly lower the risk of heart disease and breast cancer. That’s what my best selling book, The Estrogen Window, is all about. It tells how and when to take estrogen.

But whether or not you choose to take estrogen, maintaining a healthy lifestyle will increase your chances of avoiding the number-one cause of death in women-heart disease. And many of those lifestyle changes will also improve your chances of preventing breast cancer. I want to share 7 tips to help you keep your ticker ticking.

Stop smoking

It’s a fact – smokers have two to six times the risk of heart attack as nonsmokers. Fortunately, as soon as you stop smoking, your risk of a heart attack drops rapidly. Just three cigarettes per day increase your risk of heart disease by 64%. That’s why passive smoke in your house is also unhealthy for you.

Exercise

It’s never too late to start. Brisk walking for 20 to 30 minutes and light weight lifting two to three times per week will help you lose weight and lower your blood pressure, blood glucose, and cholesterol.

 Reduce stress

Although there’s no proven link between a short-term stress and heart disease, chronic stress is bad for your heart. It causes the adrenal glands to secrete large amounts of the hormone adrenaline, which causes your blood pressure to rise, your heart to beat faster, and your breathing to increase. Stress can also increase the release of sugar into your bloodstream. Exercise is a great antidote and even simple stretching is helpful.

Eat a healthy diet

It just makes sense – food fuels every cell in your body. Bad gas will cause your care to run poorly. Bad fuel in your cells does the same to your body. Your total health and well being depends on what you eat and drink. Avoid sweetened drinks, trans-fat, and corn syrup, and focus on eating more greens, beans, vegetables, berries, seeds, and nuts and less saturated fat, salt, sugar, packaged foods, and processed foods.

Watch your weight

Maintaining your ideal body weight lowers heart risk by 35 to 45 percent. Some helpful tips include, reading labels to know what you eat, exercise regularly, lower stress, and lay off sugar and alcohol. It’s a great way to   give your ticker some love.

Maintain mental health

Treating depression and reducing stress can lower risk of heart attacks, and incorporating healthy foods into your diet-and ditching processed eats-may lower risk of depression. It’s easy to see all these things are connected.

Consider aspirin

Check with your health-care provider about taking 81 milligrams of aspirin daily, which has been shown to lower the risk of heart disease. Do not take aspirin if you have liver disease or a tendency to bleed or bruise easily.

Get more information about estrogen and your heart. Get my free report here so you don’t miss out on essential information to protect your heart. It could save your life.