How to Prevent a Heart Attack

How to Prevent a Heart Attack

Most cardiovascular diseases are preventable. I recommend these lifestyle practices to help you avoid a heart attack or any heart disease:

1. Eat a healthy diet.
A heart-healthy diet does not mean entirely avoiding fats and cholesterol. As opposed to popular belief, saturated fats and "large, fluffy" low-density lipoprotein (LDL) are actually good for your body since they are your body's natural source for energy.
You also have to avoid consumption of processed foods, refined carbs, sugar (especially fructose), and trans fats since they help increase "small" LDL, which contributes to plaque buildup.
I recommend the following healthy diet strategies:

• Focus on fresh and organic, whole foods
• Limit fructose consumption to 25 grams each day. If you have diabetes, hypertension, or if you're insulin resistant, keep your fructose level below 15 grams per day
• Avoid artificial sweeteners
• Remove gluten and other allergenic foods from your meals
• Include naturally fermented foods in your diet like dairy and cultured vegetables
• Balance your omega-3 to omega-6 fat ratio by eating wild-caught Alaskan salmon or taking a krill oil supplement
• Always drink pure water
• Consume high-quality protein from organically raised animals
Eating healthy may not be enough to keep safe from a heart attack – remember, it's also important to observe how often you eat. That being said, I recommend intermittent fasting that limits your daily eating to an eight-hour window. It helps your body reprogram itself and remember how to burn fat for energy.

2. Exercise regularly.
It is essential that while you are loading up on healthy foods, you are also spending at least 2.5 hours per week doing exercises.  I recommend doing high intensity interval exercise, as it offers many benefits not only for your heart but also for your general health and overall wellness. But be sure that you rest after each session to achieve best results.

3.  Quit smoking.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has included quiting smoking as a measure to prevent cardiovascular diseases, which may lead to a heart attack. Smoking causes your blood vessels to narrow and thicken. It also causes blood clots to form that may lead to blood flow blockage to your heart.¹⁶

4. Avoid alcohol consumption.
Alcohol is high in empty calories and actually makes you fat. Drinking alcohol stops your body from burning fats and calories. As a result, the food that you just ate becomes stored fat.  Alcohol also damages your prefrontal cortex, which promotes impulsive eating. In order to maintain optimal health, I suggest eradicating all forms of alcohol from your lifestyle. 

5. Sit as little as possible.
Long hours of sitting have detrimental effects on your health such as a 50 percent increased risk of lung cancer and 90 percent increased risk of type 2 diabetes. To maintain an active lifestyle at home or even at work, I recommend walking 7,000 to 10,000 steps each day. Using a fitness tracker like Jawbone's Up3 also helps track all your activities for the whole day.

6. Optimize your vitamin D levels.
It is essential that you have your vitamin D levels tested annually as a deficiency of this vitamin increases your risk for a heart attack by 50 percent. In order to get its health benefits, you must maintain a level of 40 ng/ml or 5,000-6,000 IUs per day. I highly recommend sun exposure as your best source of vitamin D, although some foods and vitamin D3 supplements are considered to be good sources as well.

7. Try grounding/Earthing.
Walking bare foot transfers free electrons, which are potent antioxidants, from the earth to your body. Grounding also reduces inflammation throughout your body, as it thins your blood and fills you with negatively charged ions.

8. Free yourself from stress.
A study published in mBio^17,18 showed that when you're stressed, your body releases norepinephrine. This hormone causes the dispersal of bacterial biofilms that result in plaque rupture.
I highly recommend doing Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) in managing your stress. EFT is an energy psychology tool that helps reset your body's reaction in times of stress. This can reduce your risk of developing chronic illnesses. 

Keeping your heart healthy undeniably makes your life more enjoyable and fruitful. Remember these wholesome, commonsense strategies so you can avoid a heart attack and keep your cardiovascular system performing at its best.