Stepping Into Better Heart Health

This is Dr. Jennifer H. Mieres, FACC, FAHA, MASNC. she’s an award-winning (we counted 9 major awards) professor of cardiology, and a leading advocate for women’s heart health. This latter she’s done via >70 scientific publications, >100 research presentations at national and international conferences, 3 books so far, and 4 documentaries, including the Emmy-nominated “A Woman’s Heart”.

What does she want us to know?

A lot of her work is a top-down approach, working to revolutionize the field of cardiology in its application, to result in far fewer deaths annually. Which is fascinating, but unless you’re well-placed in that industry, not something too actionable as an individual (if you are well-placed in that industry, do look her up, of course).

For the rest of us…

Dr. Mieres’ S.T.E.P.S. to good heart health

She wants us to do the following things:

1) Stock your kitchen with heart health in mind

This is tied to the third item in the list of course, but it’s a critical step not to be overlooked. It’s all very well to know “eat more fiber; eat less red meat” and so forth, but if you go to your kitchen and what’s there is not conducive to heart health, you’re just going to do the best with what’s available.

Instead, actually buy foods that are high in fiber, and preferably, foods that you like. Not a fan of beans? Don’t buy them. Love pasta? Go wholegrain. Like leafy greens in principle, but they don’t go with what you cook? Look up some recipes, and then buy them.

Love a beef steak? Well we won’t lie to you, that is not good for your heart, but make it a rare option—so to speak—and enjoy it mindfully (see also: mindful eating) once in a blue moon for a special occasion, rather than “I don’t know what to cook tonight, so sizzle sizzle I guess”.

Meal planning goes a long way for this one! And if meal-planning sounds like an overwhelming project to take on, then consider trying one of the many healthy-eating meal kit services that will deliver ingredients (and their recipes) to your door—opting for a plants-forward plan, and the rest should fall into place.

2) Take control of your activity

Choose to move! Rather than focusing on what you can’t do (let’s say, those 5am runs, or your regularly-scheduled, irregularly attended, gym sessions), focus on what you can do, and do it.

See also: No-Exercise Exercise!

3) Eat for a healthier heart

This means following through on what you did on the first step, and keeping it that way. Buying fresh fruit and veg is great, but you also have to actually eat it. Do not let the perishables perish!

For you too, dear reader, are perishable (and would presumably like to avoid perishing).

This item in the list may seem flippant, but actually this is about habit-forming, and without it, the whole plan will grind to a halt a few days after your first heart-health-focused shopping trip.

See also: Where Nutrition Meets Habits!

4) Partner with your doctor, family, and friends

Good relationships, both professional and personal, count for a lot. Draw up a plan with your doctor; don’t just guess at when to get this or that checked—or what to do about it if the numbers aren’t to your liking.

Partnership with your doctor goes both ways, incidentally. Read up, have opinions, discuss them! Doing so will ultimately result in better care than just going in blind and coming out with a recommendation you don’t understand and just trust (but soon forget, because you didn’t understand).

And as for family and friends, this is partly about social factors—we tend to influence, and be influenced by, those around us. It can be tricky to be on a health kick if your partner wants take-out every night, so some manner of getting everyone on the same page is important, be it by compromise or, in an ideal world, gradually trending towards better health. But any such changes must come from a place of genuine understanding and volition, otherwise at best they won’t stick, and at worst they’ll actively create a pushback.

Same goes for exercise as for diet—exercising together is a good way to boost commitment, especially if it’s something fun (dance classes are a fine example that many couples enjoy, for example).

5) Sleep more, stress less, savor life

These things matter a lot! Many people focus on cutting down salt or saturated fat, and that can be good if otherwise consumed to excess, but for most people they’re not the most decisive factors:

Hypertension: Factors Far More Relevant Than Salt ← sleep features here!

Stress is also a huge one, and let’s put it this way: people more often have heart attacks during a moment of excessive emotional stress—not during a moment when they had a bit too much butter on their toast.

It’s not even just that acute stress is the trigger, it’s that chronic stress is a contributory factor that erodes the body’s ability to handle the acute stress.

Changing this may seem “easier said than done” because often the stressors are external (e.g. work pressure, financial worries, caring for a sick relative, relationship troubles, major life change, etc), but it is possible to find peace even in the chaos of life:

How To Manage Chronic Stress

Want to know more from Dr. Mieres?

You might like this book of hers, which goes into each of the above items in much more depth than we have room to here:

Heart Smarter for Women: Six Weeks to a Healthier Heart – by Dr. Jennifer Mieres

Enjoy!

How to get many benefits of sleep, while awake!

Today we’re talking about Dr. Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist and professor in the department of neurobiology at Stanford School of Medicine.

He’s also a popular podcaster, and as his Wikipedia page notes:

❝In episodes lasting several hours, Huberman talks about the state of research in a specific topic, both within and outside his specialty❞

Today, we won’t be taking hours, and we will be taking notes from within his field of specialty (neurobiology). Specifically, in this case:

Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR)

What is it? To quote from his own dedicated site on the topic:

❝What is NSDR (Yoga Nidra)? Non-Sleep Deep Rest, also known as NSDR, is a method of deep relaxation developed by Dr. Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist at Stanford University School of Medicine.

It’s a process that combines controlled breathing and detailed body scanning to bring you into a state of heightened awareness and profound relaxation. The main purpose of NSDR is to reduce stress, enhance focus, and improve overall well-being.❞

While it seems a bit bold of Dr. Huberman to claim that he developed yoga nidra, it is nevertheless reassuring to get a neurobiologist’s view on this:

How it works, by science

Dr. Huberman says that by monitoring EEG readings during NSDR, we can see how the brain slows down. Measurably!

• It goes from an active beta range of 13–30 Hz (normal waking) to a conscious meditation state of an alpha range of 8–13 Hz.
• However, with practice, it can drop further, into a theta range of 4–8 Hz.
• Ultimately, sustained SSDR practice can get us to 0.5–3 Hz.

This means that the brain is functioning in the delta range, something that typically only occurs during our deepest sleep.

You may be wondering: why is delta lower than theta? That’s not how I remember the Greek alphabet being ordered!

Indeed, while the Greek alphabet goes alpha beta gamma delta epsilon zeta eta theta (and so on), the brainwave frequency bands are:

• Gamma = concentrated focus, >30 Hz
• Beta = normal waking, 13–30 Hz
• Alpha = relaxed state, 8–13 Hz
• Theta = light sleep, 4–8 Hz
• Delta = deep sleep, 1–4 Hz

Source: Sleep Foundation ← with a nice infographic there too

NSDR uses somatic cues to engage our parasympathetic nervous system, which in turn enables us to reach those states. The steps are simple:

1. Pick a time and place when you won’t be disturbed
2. Lie on your back and make yourself comfortable
3. Close your eyes as soon as you wish, and now that you’ve closed them, imagine closing them again. And again.
4. Slowly bring your attention to each part of your body in turn, from head to toe. As your attention goes to each part, allow it to relax more.
5. If you wish, you can repeat this process for another wave, or even a third.
6. Find yourself well-rested!

Note: this engagement of the parasympathetic nervous system and slowing down of brain activity accesses restorative states not normally available while waking, but 10 minutes of NSDR will not replace 7–9 hours of sleep; nor will it give you the vital benefits of REM sleep specifically.

So: it’s an adjunct, not a replacement

Want to try it, but not sure where/how to start?

When you’re ready, let Dr. Huberman himself guide you through it in this shortish (10:49) soundtrack:

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Want to try it, but not right now? Bookmark it for later

Take care!