If you’ve got 43 seconds, you’re going to want to read this… | Andrea Beaman

As you travel through life there are lots of things that can kill you. But, the number one known killer in the world is heart disease. Here’s some scary statistics:

• Cardiovascular disease claims more lives than all forms of cancer combined.
• In the United States someone has a heart attack every 43 seconds.
• Every 90 seconds someone dies from a cardiovascular related disease (stroke, heart attack).

Wow! Those are staggering statistics. And, the most shocking of all is that over 80% of cardiovascular related diseases are preventable with diet and lifestyle improvements.

What the heck is going on here? By the time you get to the next paragraph someone may have already had a heart attack that could’ve easily been prevented.

So, let’s get to the heart of the matter. Below are some major contributing factors to this deadly disease that you need to be aware of:

• Bacterial infections
• Viruses
• Poor immunity
• Inflammation
• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Lack of exercise
• High blood pressure
• Stress

You’ll notice that cholesterol is not on that list of contributing factors to poor cardiovascular health. Cholesterol contributing to heart disease is a medical myth. Your liver creates cholesterol in response to stress, cell damage, inflammation, and other factors. Cholesterol is created by your body to support bodily processes and protect it from damage, not harm it. You can read more about that here: The Big Fat Cholesterol Myth.

According to medical science, your heart is a muscle about the size of your fist. The heart sends blood to your body and provides your system with the oxygen and nutrients it needs to stay alive. Without oxygen, your cells (and you) would die. Your heart is like a pump. The right side of your heart receives blood from the body and pumps it to the lungs. The left side of the heart receives oxygen from the lungs and then pumps out oxygen-rich blood to the body. The body then takes oxygen out of the blood and uses it in your cells. When the cells use that oxygen, they make carbon dioxide waste that gets carried away by the blood. And, the process of oxygenating the blood starts all over again.

But the heart is NOT just a mechanical organ that does a physical pumping job. According to ancient healing wisdom, the heart is responsible for human intelligence, understanding, compassion, joy, happiness, and the ability to connect with other humans in loving, intimate relationships.

By the way, it’s been approximately 3 minutes since you began reading this blog. That means 4 people have had heart attacks and 2 people have died from some form of cardiovascular disease. As you can see, this is a BIG problem.

The time is now to start improving your cardiovascular health, not 3 minutes from now. Below are a few easy things you can do to begin nourishing your heart and circulatory system.

1. Reduce/eliminate refined sugars – we all know what that means….kick the Kit-kats and potato chips to the curb and start eating real wholesome foods like fish, vegetables and fruit.
2. Eat cooling foods and herbs like salad, fruit and dandelion if you are in a state of excess, and are hot and inflamed, and have high blood pressure.
3. Eat warming foods and herbs like garlic, ginger and rosemary if you are in a state of deficiency; pale, cold, and weak with low blood pressure.
4. Use bitter herbs like gentian and dandelion to promote good digestive health and absorption of vital nutrients into the blood.
5. Exercise to circulate lymph and to support overall cardiovascular health.

Beyond food and exercise, the emotions need to be nourished to keep the heart functioning well on it’s many levels.

Emotional healing of the heart can look as simple as this:

• Do things you love – this includes work and hobbies.
• Find your passion – what makes you come alive? Discover what that is and do it.
• Develop healthy relationships – I know this is easier said than done, but it begins with creating a loving and healthy relationship with yourself first.
• Reduce stress – if trying to find your passion and develop healthy relationships causes you stress, then you are headed in the wrong direction.
• Hug more people – connect with your community.

Whatever you do, don’t let the number one killer in the world gets it’s grips on you. Incorporate some of the easy diet and lifestyle steps I’ve laid out for you above.

Source:  Andrea Beaman – https://www.andreabeaman.com/health/if-youve-got-43-seconds-youre-going-to-want-to-read-this/