Eating For Better Heart Health

is the season when those wonderful New Year’s resolutions may be starting to unravel. Maybe your resolution wasn’t specific enough. Resolving to “exercise more” or “lose weight” are easy ways to set yourself up for failure. Or maybe it just wasn’t realistic. After all, you can’t expect to be a completely different person on January 1 than you were on December 31.

But if one of your 2022 goals is to change from an unhealthy to a healthy diet, here’s some advice: Put your heart into it. In other words, look for ways to eat that improve your heart health, not just your waistline.

“The key to losing weight is to approach it not from a ‘dieting’ mindset, but from a healthy eating mentality. Healthy eating is about giving our body more nutrient dense foods and leaving room for foods that simply bring us joy,” said Sidney Smith, RDN LD, Clinical Dietitian, Bariatric Center of Kansas City.

To get started on your journey toward a heart-healthy diet, it’s important to know which foods to eat more of and which foods to limit.

“I recommend visiting USDA’s website myplate.gov to get an idea of what to eat and your daily caloric needs to maintain your body weight. And maintaining a healthy weight improves cardiovascular health as well,” said Kirsten Lampe, PA-C, AdventHealth Medical Group Primary Care.

For many of us, one of the biggest hang-ups is the notion that eating healthy is a lot less fun than not eating healthy. The truth is, it’s an opportunity to tap into our adventurous side.

“By elevating meals with elements like seasonings, healthy

eating can taste amazing and be fun. Garlic keeps our heart healthy, turmeric is anti-inflammatory, cinnamon may help control blood sugar, basil can protect our DNA and keep our heart healthy, and oregano has anti-bacterial and antifungal properties,” said Smith.

Of course, it’s not only what we eat. It’s how much. Overloading your plate, taking seconds and eating until you feel stuffed can all lead to eating more calories than you should.

“When you’re eating out, be mindful that portions served in restaurants are often more than anyone needs. Aim for keeping protein servings about the size of your palm, veggie servings half the plate and carbs a third of your plate,” said Smith.

Put your plans into action by creating daily menus

Emphasize vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Choose lean protein sources and healthy fats and limit salty foods. And remember, variety also makes your meals and snacks more interesting. For example, if you have grilled salmon one evening, try a black bean burger the next night.

“You don’t have to be an amazing chef to eat healthy, but you have to at least try to cook at home. And practice makes perfect,” said Lampe.

“Cooking and healthy eating is a lifestyle, not a quick all-or-nothing change. Overall, we want to make small changes that lead to longterm results,” said Smith.

Talk to your healthcare professional about what a healthy weight looks like for you. To find the right primary care provider for you, visit MyHealthKC.com.

For many of us, one of the biggest hang-ups is the notion that eating healthy is a lot less fun than not eating healthy. The truth is, it’s an opportunity to tap into our adventurous side.

How can you fight cravings for unhealthy foods?

1 Keep yourself fueled and satisfied by doing the following: a.Fill up on vegetables first! Yes, vegetables are typically full of fiber but low in calories — which can often fill you up. b.Don’t skip meals. Studies show that people are more likely to binge eat on their favorite foods if they skip meals. c. Drink plenty of water. Aim to drink at least 64 oz. per day. 2 Allow yourself to occasionally have “unhealthy food” in moderation. The more you tell yourself you can’t have something, the more you’re going to crave it.

It’s human nature. 3 Replace night-time snacking with a productive, healthy task — crocheting, organizing, journaling or even brushing your teeth!

— Kirsten Lampe

Sidney Smith, RDN LD Clinical Dietitian, Bariatric Center of Kansas City

Sidney Smith is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. She graduated from Kansas State University in 2016 with a degree in Dietetics and a minor in Kinesiology. Within the field of Dietetics, she's worked as a Nutritional Health Coach, a WIC Dietitian, a Nutrition Instructor, and is currently working as a Bariatric Dietitian at the Bariatric Center of Kansas City.

She loves helping patients by using evidence based research to find a balance in their meals with foods that help accomplish their health goals, while still being enjoyable to eat. When she's not working, you can find her playing with her dog, Newman, or binging the latest Netflix show.

Kirsten Lampe, PA-C AdventHealth Medical Group Primary Care

Kirsten Lampe, PA-C, is a certified physician assistant with AdventHealth Medical Group Primary Care at South Overland Park. She provides primary care for patients of all ages with a wide range of health needs.

Prior to joining AdventHealth Medical Group in 2021, Kirsten worked as a physician assistant in both urgent care and primary care settings. She earned her master's degree in physician assistant studies from Missouri State University.

The Way to Women’s Heart Health

First, the good news for women. It’s a well-known fact that women tend to outlive men. For instance, as of 2017, life expectancy for men was 76.1 years, while for women it was 81.1 — that’s five, full years longer.

Today, researchers estimate the lifespan gap will continue. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women's life expectancy is projected to reach 87.3 years by 2060, compared to 83.9 years for men.

But why do scientists believe women tend to outlive men? There are a lot of reasons — including findings that show women are more likely to see a doctor when they’re sick.

But in not-so-great news, women are also more vulnerable to heart disease than men. In fact, heart disease in women is more deadly than all forms of cancer — combined. Yet only one in five women believes that heart disease is her greatest health threat. So it’s more important than ever to understand just how serious heart disease is for women, starting with their risk factors.

“The traditional risk factors of family heart health, activity and diet

tendencies, and individual age play a larger part in women’s heart disease. Even more important are what we consider ‘modifiable’ risk factors — the ones we can actively control, including high blood pressure and/or cholesterol, smoking or diabetes,” said Heath Wilt, DO, FACC, Cardiologist, AdventHealth Medical Group Cardiology & Cardiovascular Surgery.

Even if you’re a yoga-loving, marathon-running, workout dynamo, your risk for heart disease isn’t completely eliminated. Factors like cholesterol, eating habits and smoking can offset your healthy habits. And unlike with men, it’s not always as clear-cut when a woman is having a heart attack or other heart episode.

“Women are more likely to experience jaw, shoulder, or neck pain, than chest pain during a heart attack. Although chest discomfort may still be present, it is also more likely to accompany atypical locations (like the right shoulder), nausea, significant and sudden illness. It may even mimic heartburn,” said Wilt.

Similarly, strokes are less likely to display noticeable symptoms of slurred speech or focal numbness and weakness, instead appearing as confusion, disorientation, profound fatigue or garbled speaking.

Women who have experienced pregnancy complications should also know that those issues could affect their heart health.

“Issues during pregnancy — such as gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and pregnancy-induced hypertension — can influence cardiac health even decades later. Similarly, key factors such as time of onset of menstruation as a youth, or timing of menopause can also influence long-term cardiac health,” said Wilt.

The bottom line is that many things can put you at risk for these problems — things you can control, and others that you can’t.

“Every woman needs to be aware of her body and recognize new symptoms as something that may represent a sudden life-threatening event. For prevention, it’s being aware of your numbers (like blood pressure and cholesterol) and other risk factors (smoking, diabetes, family history). It’s also about keeping an open line of communication with your trusted provider when you feel you may be at risk, so that additional testing, therapy or education can be provided,” said Wilt.

Remember, with the right information, education and care, heart disease in women can be treated, reduced and even – in many cases – prevented. In fact, studies show that healthy lifestyle choices by women are already resulting in hundreds fewer heart-disease related deaths per day.

Here are just a few of the lifestyle changes every woman should consider:

3 Don’t smoke 3 Manage your blood sugar 3 Get your blood pressure under control 3 Lower your cholesterol 3 Know your family history 3 Stay active 3 Lose or manage your weight 3 Eat healthy

What a heart attack feels like to a woman:

3 Upper body pain 3 Nausea 3 Shortness of breath 3 Unusual fatigue 3 Breaking out in a cold sweat 3 Light headedness or dizziness 3 Chest pain discomfort, like there’s a ton of weight on you.

Heath Wilt, DO, FACC AdventHealth Medical Group Cardiology & Cardiovascular Surgery

Heath Wilt, DO, FACC, is an experienced, award-winning invasive cardiologist with AdventHealth Medical Group. He also serves as medical director for AdventHealth Shawnee Mission's non-invasive imaging lab and the cardiac and peripheral arterial rehabilitation units.

Dr. Wilt is Board-certified in cardiovascular disease, echocardiography, nuclear cardiology and cardiac CT. He earned his medical degree from Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences. He completed a residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a fellowship in adult cardiology and cardiovascular disease at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

At AdventHealth, we offer HEARTaware, a free, online heart disease risk assessment designed to help you identify your risk factors for developing heart disease. To complete a quick and free heart risk assessment, visit AdventHealthKC.com/Heart.