& HEART HEALTH:
How to Protect Your Cardiovascular Health
The Role of Hormones in Preventing Heart Disease After Menopause
GlowNaturalWellness ABOUT
GLOW Natural Wellness is a fast-growing health and wellness brand revolutionizing hormone health with 100% plant-based, toxin-free, and cruelty-free solutions.
Founded by Dr. Michelle Sands, GLOW Natural Wellness is committed to empowering women through every stage of life, addressing the unique challenges of perimenopause and menopause with sustainable, science-backed, and holistic approaches. As the only brand in the market that combines Leaping Bunny certification, eco-friendly practices, and clean bioidentical formulas, GLOW Natural Wellness is setting a new standard for ethical and effective hormone replacement therapy.
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TableofContents
Introduction: Why Heart Health and Hormones Matter
Estrogen’s Role in Protecting Your Heart
What Happens When Estrogen Declines?
Debunking Myths About Hormone Therapy
Transdermal BHRT: The Safer Solution
Action Steps for Heart Health
Resources and Next Steps
1. Introduction: Why Heart Health & Hormones Matter
KeyStatistics:
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women, causing 1 in 3 deaths each year. Postmenopausal women are at 2-3 times higher risk of heart disease compared to premenopausal women. Symptoms of heart disease in women are often misdiagnosed as anxiety, acid reflux, or even menopause.
WhyHormonesMatter:
Estrogen plays a critical role in protecting your heart and blood vessels. But when menopause occurs and estrogen levels decline, the cardiovascular system takes a hit.
Menopause isn’t just about hot flashes—it’s a state of hormonal deficiency that accelerates heart disease risks. Understanding this connection can help you take proactive steps to protect your heart.
2. Estrogen’s Role in Protecting Your Heart
Estrogen is a cardiovascular superstar. Here’s how it keeps your heart and arteries healthy:
Flexibility for Your Arteries:
Estrogen stimulates nitric oxide, a molecule that relaxes blood vessels. This lowers blood pressure and improves blood flow. Without estrogen, arteries stiffen and strain your heart.
Cholesterol Control:
Estrogen raises HDL (good cholesterol) and lowers LDL (bad cholesterol), reducing plaque buildup in your arteries.
Anti-Inflammatory Power:
Estrogen suppresses inflammation, which is a key driver of heart disease.
Clot Prevention:
It reduces the stickiness of blood, lowering the risk of blood clots that can lead to strokes or heart attacks.
TheScience:
The Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study (KEEPS) and ELITE trials show that starting estrogen therapy in perimenopause and menopause provides cardiovascular protection.
3. What Happens When Estrogen Declines?
When estrogen levels drop during menopause, your cardiovascular system loses its natural protection. This hormonal shift triggers a cascade of changes that directly impact your heart and arteries. Let’s break it down:
1.StiffArteriesandHighBloodPressure
Why it happens: Estrogen promotes the production of nitric oxide, a molecule that relaxes and dilates blood vessels. This helps maintain smooth blood flow and keeps blood pressure low.
Impact of Decline: Without estrogen, nitric oxide levels drop, causing arteries to stiffen and narrow. This increases vascular resistance, forcing the heart to work harder and raising blood pressure over time.
2.CholesterolImbalanceandPlaqueFormation
cholesterol rises and HDL declines, creating the perfect storm for plaque buildup in arteries (atherosclerosis). This narrows arteries, restricting blood flow and increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
3.IncreasedInflammation
Why it happens: Estrogen has anti-inflammatory effects that suppress pro-inflammatory molecules, such as cytokines, which can damage blood vessels.
Impact of Decline: The loss of estrogen leads to higher levels of inflammation, contributing to the development of arterial plaques and accelerating the progression of atherosclerosis.
4.BloodClotRisk
Why it happens: Estrogen reduces blood clotting by regulating platelet activity and decreasing the production of clotting factors in the liver.
Impact of Decline: Without estrogen, blood becomes “stickier,” increasing the likelihood of clots forming in narrowed arteries. These clots can block blood flow entirely, leading to heart attacks or strokes.
5.MetabolicShifts
Why it happens: Estrogen helps regulate body fat distribution, insulin sensitivity, and glucose metabolism.
Impact of Decline: Estrogen loss contributes to a shift in fat storage, particularly around the abdomen (visceral fat). This type of fat is metabolically active and releases inflammatory molecules, further increasing cardiovascular risk and promoting insulin resistance a precursor to type 2 diabetes.
TheDominoEffect
These mechanisms don’t just affect your heart independently— they work together to amplify risk:
Stiff arteries raise blood pressure, which accelerates arterial damage.
Cholesterol imbalance and inflammation promote plaque buildup.
Sticky blood increases the likelihood of plaques rupturing, leading to clots.
Understanding these mechanisms highlights why early intervention with non-toxic, clean, transdermal bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) and lifestyle changes is so critical for women after menopause.
4. Debunking Myths About Hormone Therapy
There’s a lot of misinformation about hormone therapy. Let’s set the record straight:
Myth 1: Women with high cholesterol can’t use hormone therapy.
Fact: Transdermal estrogen can actually improve cholesterol by raising HDL and lowering LDL.
Myth 2: Hormone therapy always increases stroke risk.
Fact: Oral estrogen raises clotting risks because it’s processed through the liver. Transdermal estrogen bypasses the liver, avoiding this issue.
Myth 3: A history of blood clots excludes hormone therapy.
Fact: Transdermal BHRT is a safer option for women with clotting concerns.
Myth 4: Heart disease means you can’t use hormone therapy.
Fact: Transdermal BHRT is often safe and beneficial for cardiovascular health.
5. Transdermal BHRT: The
Safe Solution
Not all hormone therapy is created equal. Transdermal bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) is the gold standard for women’s heart health.
WhyTransdermalBHRT?
Bypasses the Liver: Unlike oral estrogen, transdermal estrogen is absorbed through the skin and doesn’t increase clotting factors.
Steady Hormone Delivery: It provides a stable dose of estrogen, reducing side effects and cardiovascular risks.
Improves Cholesterol: Transdermal estrogen is proven to raise HDL and lower LDL, reducing heart disease risk.
6. Action Steps for Heart Health
Here’s how you can take control of your heart health:
1.GetTested: Click here to learn more about how easy it is to restore hormones with natural, plant-based, non-toxic alternatives to pharmaceutical medications.
Ask your doctor to check your hormone levels, cholesterol, and cardiovascular markers. Or order your own at-home, non-invasive salivary hormone trio test here.
2. Consider Clean Transdermal Hormone Restoration:
3. Prioritize Lifestyle Changes:
Eat an Anti-Inflammatory Diet: Focus on foods like salmon, walnuts, leafy greens, and berries.
Exercise Regularly: Aim for 150 minutes of aerobic activity per week (e.g., brisk walking, swimming).
Manage Stress: Practice yoga, meditation, or deep breathing to lower cortisol levels.
4. Avoid Toxins:
Reduce exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals in food, plastics, and skincare products and in your hormone replacement therapy
7. Resources and Next Steps
Helpful Links:
Healthy Hormone Club
Hormone Trio test
Hormone quiz
Free Hormone Masterclass