Gratitude Makes a Happy, Healthy Heart

This is February, and it's Heart Health month. Heart disease, for many years, has been the number one leading cause of death in the United States. Now, over this past year with COVID, I think COVID has given it a run for its money for the top place.

Still, what can we do to keep our hearts healthy?

We know eating healthy, getting exercise or movement Daily. Maintaining a healthy weight, getting blood sugar under control, getting high blood pressure under control, and stopping smoking. And of course, so much more.

One tool in our toolkit is gratitude. Gratitude is the practice of identifying and acknowledging the positive, or the good things in our life. It's a very simple and powerful tool. When I feel lost or scared, I go straight to gratitude.

It brings me right into the present moment. I feel calm. I feel safe and it reduces my stress.

When we practice gratitude on a regular basis, we are calmer and kinder to each other, and we feel better about ourselves. Gratitude also has the ability to reduce inflammation in our bodies, and inflammation is a major contributor to heart disease.

The other thing it does is it also improves our heart rate variability. Now what is that?

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is the measure of the time between beats. We want good variability in our hearts because if our heart rate stays the same all the time, whether we're exercising or resting, we have a problem with our heart.

So practice gratitude, reduce inflammation, improve your heart rate variability, and you will have a happy, healthy heart. If you're interested in talking to me about any of your health concerns, please click here and sign up for my free 20 minute health chat.

Thank you so much for listening. And happy Heart Health month!

Thank you!

Dr. Elaine

This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the medical advice of your doctor or healthcare provider. Please consult your healthcare provider for advice about a specific medical condition.