February 13, 1983: I had just turned 7. And I lost my paternal grandfather. He was driving to see his doctor. And he never made it. He had a massive heart attack. It was his second heart attack and it was fatal. He was 66.
In the summer of 1987, my dad, who was in his early 40s, went in for a stress test and the doctor told him he needed to get to an operating room right away! They did triple bypass surgery and he was told that he was very lucky because he was minutes away from a massive heart attack. My dad lived for almost 30 more years and we are thankful for that time with him.
Heart disease runs in my and in so many other people’s families. It is a club you don’t want to be in but are all a part of in some way because everyone seems to know someone who has heart disease or has died from a heart attack. And it’s important to know the signs which can be different for women than men. For men, it’s typical chest pain and pain radiating up the arm. The American Heart Association lists these signs for women:
Heart Attack Signs in Women
- Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest. It lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back.
- Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
- Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
- Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
- As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.
If you have any of these signs, call 9-1-1 and get to a hospital right away.
Heart disease is the #1 killer of both men and women in the US. But the good news is that it can be preventable!
Some facts:
1 out of 2 people will develop heart disease
It is the leading cause of death in the US
One person dies from this every 32 seconds!
More than 1 in 3 Americans who have a heart attack don’t survive.
So building health is so important!
How do we do this?
Keeping a healthy weight through a balanced Diet and exercise, and taking good supplements daily can help.
Exercise: Getting your heart rate up regularly is really important. Walking, jogging, aerobic exercise…. this is helpful for your heart and keeping to a healthy weight. If you’re not used to exercise then start small and build from there. Be sure to consult your doctor before starting a new routine. Yoga and meditation can also be very helpful in reducing stress and lowering blood pressure.
Diet: getting your vegetables and fruit in daily….drinking water instead of the sugary drinks which can add to your weight. Watch your sodium and high fat/processed foods intake. Remember that fast food can be a fast way to heart trouble. Eating a good and balanced diet is really important for heart health.
Shaklee 180 is a great addition to your diet and exercise program for weight management. I used this program 6 years ago to get rid of the baby weight. I was successful and have been able to maintain too!
Supplementation: Taking good quality supplements can help build your health and also help to keep your heart healthy. Here are some of the supplements my family uses, including my husband who’s a pharmacist and chemist and specializes in natural product research with supplements and pharmaceuticals. The FDA does not regulate supplement makers so you want to be sure that your supplements are bioavailable, meaning they break down in the body. Shaklee’s not only breaks down but it breaks down where it needs to for optimal benefit! You also want to be sure your supplements are free of anything artificial and things like heavy metals and contaminants that are so prevalent with many supplements on the market.
Are you looking for good supplements and a company you can trust? Shaklee is a great choice. It’s the leading natural nutrition company in the US and has been around for decades. My husband was so impressed by their high pharmaceutical standards, integrity and testing, that we started using these products with our family when our kids were born. I had grown up with Shaklee but stopped using the products in college. I was so glad to learn more about them and make a smart choice with my young kids!
This is a great (and short!) video highlighting Shaklee’s Smart Heart products. My family is really grateful that my dad had been taking many of these for years. My parents had been using shaklee for decades! His doctors had been surprised at how well his heart did after his bypass surgery and we are thankful that he was able to take these great quality supplements that made a difference for him and so many and helped him live almost 30 more years after his surgery! You can watch the video by clicking HERE.
Breaking it down:
I like to start with the foundation. A good multiple vitamin and protein (building block of all cells) is a great place to start. Shaklee has some great ones to choose from!
Vitalizer or Vitalizing Plan is a great choice. Another excellent choice is Life Strips or Life Plan. Both have great quality foundational vitamins and the plans include our wonderful Life protein Shake! These come with a free lifetime membership to Shaklee right now, which saves you $$$ and gives you additional member perks too.
The Landmark study was done in 2007 looking at if supplements work and if brands matter. The results showed that people in the Shaklee supplement group had lower incidents of Coronary heart disease, heart attacks and Congestive heart failure!
The Life Strip also contains Vivix, which is a revolutionary anti-aging tonic that is shown to protect and repair DNA and combat free radicals. It also has resveratrol and polyphenols, which have been shown to be important with heart heath. (think red wine)
OmegaGuard is a natural anti-inflammatory fish oil supplement containing all 7 omega 3 fatty acids including DHA and EPA. This is so important for heart and brain health. Shaklee’s is different because it’s sourced from the cold water fish in Alaska. Studies have shown that the heart attack rate among North Americans is 46% whereas the heart attack rate month Green-Land Eskimos is less than 8%! So the sourcing of the fish is really important for heart health as well as brain and eye health. It has also been shown that cold water fish help to reduce platelet adhesiveness and reduce the tendency to form clots. AND it can lower blood pressure! Shaklee uses a patented triple distillation process to ensure that our fish oil is free of all contamination that the fish may have been exposed to.
CoQHeart – this is SUCH an important supplement for heart health. It contains CoEnzyme Q10 and Resveratrol. It helps with cholesterol, cell energy, blood flow, nerve health, and very important for those on statins.
Blood Pressure supplement: this helps to maintain healthy blood circulation and blood vessels and it relaxes blood vessels to help retain healthy blood pressure.
Cholesterol Reduction Complex: This delivers 100% of the NIH’s recommendation for sterols and stanols. It has been shown to lower LDL cholesterol naturally and is made from plants, fruits, vegetable and grain. Side note: my dad had been on statin drugs for cholesterol issues for years. He hated the side effects. When this supplement came out, he was able to slowly ween from his statins and regulate his cholesterol with this supplement. Be sure to check with your doctor before changing anything with your medication.
Ready to get started? Here are some good options and all of these come with a free lifetime membership to Shaklee saving you at least 15% always. Put on autoship (completely controlled by you) and you could save an additional 10%! And mention my blog this month and I will give you free shipping on any of these four options too for anyone new to Shaklee!
- SmartHeart Blood Pressure Regimen
- SmartHeart Cholesterol Regimen
- Vitalizing Plan Foundation regimen
- Life Plan Foundation regimen
And this is our great special this month through Feb. 28, 2017!
Are you ready to add some nutritional insurance into your day to help your heart stay healthy? I am glad to talk to you more about this and help. I also invite you to take the Health Print which is a free assessment that gives you a personal comprehensive nutritional plan and some recommendations. When you order through the advanced or comprehensive recommendations (and you can customize your shopping cart and still qualify) you can get a free product based on your top health goal, and even free shipping through 2/28/17! Check it out HERE.
Thank you for reading and taking a look. If I can help you more please let me know.
Be well,
Rebecca
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