Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
General Heart Health as We Age Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND I have talked about how we can keep both our cholesterol levels and blood pressure healthy as we age. But what if your heart is already healthy? How do you keep your heart healthy as …
Heart Health As We Age (part 1) Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND Keeping our hearts healthy as we age is an important part of healthy aging. However heart health is a huge topic that can take forever to go over! For the sake of this blog …
What is Healthy Aging?
Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND
Healthy aging is one of those new trendy buzz words that tends to pop up all over social media. Due to this popularity I wanted to do a new series on this topic. But what even is healthy aging? Before we can really dive into this topic it is a great idea to start at the beginning by talking about what we even mean by healthy aging. Let us get into it, shall we?
Everyone gets older. We go from being infants to toddlers, children to teens and before you know it middle age approaches and then bam you qualify for a senior discount! But not everyone ages the same way. There are 5 pillars of healthy aging. One goal of these pillars is to maintain your overall wellbeing. Another goal of these 5 pillars is to maintain productivity and activity level. Another of the goals of these 5 pillars is to promote being able to maintain your independence. Lastly these 5 pillars of healthy aging also work towards the more obvious goal of maintaining a strong, healthy body and reducing the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes or heart disease. And of course, we can’t forget how healthy aging involves our overall mental health as well as our physical health.
All that being said, what are the 5 pillars of healthy aging? The first pillar is nutrition! A nutritious eating plan affects all aspects of our health both physically and mentally. The more nutritious your diet is the easier it is for your body to handle age-related illnesses.
The second pillar of healthy aging is physical activity. Physical activity can help maintain a strong body. Exercise can also help with mental health as you age. As we also know, exercise can help to reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes or heart disease.
Social engagement is the 3rd pillar of healthy aging and is considered an important aspect of overall health. In fact, studies have shown how seniors who have a healthy active social life are less likely to have chronic illnesses. They are less likely to develop physical disabilities and even mental illness.
The 4th pillar of healthy aging is mental stimulation. In fact research has shown that seniors that engage in activities that provide mental stimulation can reduce the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by up to 65%! Remember healthy brains are important for healthy aging.
Lastly, the 5th pillar of healthy aging is to maintain meaningful activities and relationships. Studies have found that maintaining healthy connections can improve overall health and well-being. (1) Throughout this series on aging we will review the most common aspect of aging and how you can age in health. Here are some fun ways to incorporate different Invite nutrients into your diet to stay healthy! And as I always say don’t be afraid to experiment. Have fun!
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Understanding Fasting part 2 Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND In our last blog on fasting, we were focused on shorter fasts such as water or juice fasting. We also talked about how you would go about doing a detox or cleanse, which lasts longer than a …
Understanding Fasting Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND Fasting can be done for so many reasons. It can be done for religious reasons, cleansing or for general detoxification of the body. Fasting can also look vastly different depending on the reasons behind your fast. Several types of …
Winter and Heart Health
Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND
Wintertime, as we all know, can have negative effects on our immunity, mood and even our heart health. But how exactly can the cold of winter impact our heart health? What can you do to protect your heart? Let us get into it, shall we?
If you are watching the news after a storm, you may notice that it is common to hear about people having a cardiac event after shoveling snow. This can happen for a number of reasons. Lifting snow is exercise. This type of exercise can put an added strain on your heart. This extra hard work and stress on your heart can trigger a cardiac event. As you can imagine this is especially true in those who do not regularly exercise or who are elderly and /or have any underlying heart conditions. This makes sense if you think about it. Have you ever used a muscle that you do not normally use? It tends to hurt and feel strained, right? Well, the heart is a muscle and if you suddenly start exercising just like any other muscle the heart can be overworked. If you go from no heavy lifting in the summer to heavy weightlifting aka shoveling snow your heart will feel it just like any other muscle.
Another reason winter can have a negative impact on heart health is the cold. When it comes to blood flow and heat the body will prioritize the core organs. For example, your lungs are more important to your body than your skin. I know what you are thinking, what does this mean and how does the body prioritize heat? It means that the body makes sure that your organs that keep your alive stay warm by clamping down on the blood vessels that lead to the skin making them narrower. This affects the heart because the heart must work harder to pump blood through the narrow passages. In fact, studies have found that for every 10 degrees drop in temperature there is a 5-10% increase in the risk of heart attacks. (1) Chilly weather can also affect blood pressure. As we all know, high blood pressure is a risk factor for both heart attacks and strokes.
Something else that may be unexpected but that comes up often in the winter is the issue of dry heat. For some people, this dry heat can lead to nosebleeds. For others it can lead to dehydration. This dehydration can increase the blood, increasing the risk of blood clot formation.
And while some people exercise more in the winter due to activities like snow shoveling others find themselves staying inside their homes and as a result exercise less. In some cases, this decrease in activity can lead to an increase in heart disease risk factors.
The risk of other heart related conditions can increase in winter. For example, you are at an increased risk of angina, irregular heartbeat, and even chronic heart disease in the winter. This can be due to the combination of wintry weather, temperature changes, reduced physical activity and seasonal stress all putting a strain on your heart. (2)
It’s important to seek medical help if you suspect you are having a heart attack. Please see the attached diagram for the symptoms of a heart attack. While the most common signs of a heart attack include chest pain, weakness/lightheadedness, and a squeezing sensation in the chest there are other signs that you may not expect. (1) Men and women can have slightly different symptoms, so I have included the signs of a heart attack usually experienced by men and by women. (3)
Now what can you do to improve heart health?
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