Cori (00:00):
Hey guys, this is Cori from Redefining Strength. Welcome to the Fitness Hacks Podcast. This is the show where I share all my free workout and nutrition tips. I’m not going to ever fill this episode with sponsorships or ask you to buy anything. All I ask in return is if you’re enjoying the podcast to leave a review or leave a five star rating or even better share with someone you think it might help. This will only take a few minutes and would mean the world to me and possibly change the life of someone. So let’s jump right in. Our diet really gives us so much ability to control and impact our health for the positive and for the negative. And after seeing a comment this last week about making changes, feeling like all of a sudden something was out of their control in terms of their heart health and their cardiovascular health, I really wanted to bring Julia in to talk about nutritional changes we could make to improve our cardiovascular health, take care of our heart, fuel our body well, because there is so much we can do to really impact in a positive way how we’re feeling and our health.

(01:01):
So Julia, thank you so much for joining me. I want to jump into right away some background on what a heart healthy diet really is. Some of the changes we can even see, because I think especially this one client was struggling with some new changes in her blood levels despite not necessarily eating any differently than she had previously. And there’s some things that can happen as we get older and go through menopause that can impact our heart health as well. So can you dive into a little bit of background for me?

Julia (01:27):
Of course. Yeah. I’m excited to dive into this. I think we hear all the time what a heart healthy diet is, but we don’t exactly know what to do, so we’ll definitely get into that. But first off, just some signs that you should be focusing on your heart health. Like you were saying as far as blood levels, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, if you have high blood pressure as well, or if you are someone in that menopausal time period, because we know that our estrogen declines during menopause and that really works hard to have a positive effect on your blood vessels. Keeping those inner linings flexible and then just for overall health as well, right? Because you always want to be on the preventative side versus that reactive side where you’re getting back those blood levels and you’re kind of feeling that frustration. So really just for anyone looking to improve their health overall as well.

Cori (02:14):
And it’s key to note that these numbers will change. Again, with menopause, we might see changes with changes that are fueling with changes, even our weight loss. During the weight loss process, our numbers can be impacted. So not everything’s necessarily a sign that we need to freak out and do a whole bunch of dramatic changes, but at the same time, when we do see that change in blood numbers, we want to know where it’s coming from and what we can do to really positively impact that. Usually we hear a lot about those healthy fats For your heart, can you go over the different types of fat and the impact they might have?

Julia (02:47):
Sure. So first off, we have saturated fats, which are those that are really highly demonized when we talk about heart health. They’re mostly found in animal foods, but they can also be found in things like coconut oil or palm oil. Next step, we have trans fats. These can increase the bad cholesterol while simultaneously lowering the good cholesterol. So overall really increases our risk for heart disease and these can be found in things like commercial baked goods, margarine, microwave, popcorn and non-dairy creamers and fried foods. And then finally we have those good fats that we want to add in. So these are our unsaturated fats. These can be our monounsaturated and our polyunsaturated fats, which are found in those plant-based foods. Things like almonds, avocados, nuts and seeds, and then those omega threes. So we hear so much about these and these can really help lower those triglyceride levels or reduce inflammation and prevent blood clots to really support our heart health. And these are found in things like fatty fish, like salmon, mackerel, tuna, shrimp, sardines, and also plant-based foods like walnuts, chia seeds, flax seeds at aama and olive oil. And for this, we really want to be within that one to 1.5 gram range per day. So this can be as simple as having four ounces of salmon or a tablespoon of flax seed.

Cori (04:08):
I love that you mentioned all the nuance and the different types of fats because I think often they just get demonized as, oh, low fat is key, but really there is not just a blanket statement that you can make. You want to make sure that you’re adjusting the type of fat that you’re consuming and paying attention to those quality sources that will impact you positively. And not only increasing potentially the good ones, but taking a look at, hey, maybe I’m already including a ton of positive ones, but I have a lot of the ones that are not necessarily promoting health in the way that I want also included. And so you can cut back, but it’s that fine line of addition, but also sometimes subtraction off of that, we hear often demonize salt when it comes to our heart health. Can you talk a little bit about the impact that salt really has and whether or not we should be as worried about it as we are?

Julia (04:56):
Of course. So we hear all the time to cut sodium because a high sodium diet can lead to high blood pressure and that is a risk factor for heart disease. Ideally, we want to be under that 2300 milligram range per day, but if you are someone who maybe you know this is something you need to work on, your doctors told you you have high blood pressure, some things you can do would be limit eating out as those are higher sodium foods. Typically limiting processed meats, whether this be lunch meat sausages, things like bacon burgers, opting for no salt added options if you’re buying canned foods. So for things like tuna or beans or veggies, just opting for a no salt option if they have it or just seasoning your food differently. So instead of going for those really high salt seasonings, going for things like herbs, garlic, onion peppers, or just lemon juice or I know they have that brand mustache, the salt-free seasoning. So that’s another really great option to watch that. But overall, if you are someone who is sweating every single day, you’re pretty active. Watching your sodium probably isn’t going to be super important for you, especially if you are an athlete who is very active and endurance athlete, you most likely have higher sodium needs. So this doesn’t exactly apply to every single person.

Cori (06:12):
It’s really key. We note that point that it doesn’t apply to every single person because I think often when something is not recommended for a specific population, it starts to hit mainstream and we think all of us shouldn’t be having it and that can hold us back whether or not it’s reducing carbs or reducing sodium. So really understanding your needs is very key as well. And realizing the importance of sodium potentially in your diet. So don’t just write something off because someone else might need to adjust that for their health. Also assess what your current intake is to make those tweaks. And I love that you brought up the different seasonings because salt can be hidden in things sort of deceptively. And if we don’t pay attention to that overall intake, if we’re not tracking, we might not notice some of the places we’re getting it that we didn’t even realize with that too. We’re talking about hydration off of sodium as well often, and hydration is multifaceted. Can you talk a little bit about the importance of not only hydration but that electrolyte balance even for heart health?

Julia (07:11):
Of course. So a lot of times with these high sodium levels, we also see a lack of other really important electrolytes and these other electrolytes really work to keep that sodium balance in our body. So one of them being magnesium. Magnesium is essential for proper electrical signaling and muscle contractions of the heart, but also works to manage sodium levels as it helps transport potassium into our cells, which then regulate that sodium and water balance in the body. So if we see a lack of magnesium and potassium, that could also be contributing to high sodium levels in the body. Some ways to improve magnesium will be consuming foods like pumpkin seeds, darvy, green vegetables, rolled oats, cashews, nuts like almonds, peanuts, whole wheat bread, avocados, and this is a really big one because again, we see that such a large majority, I believe it’s over 70% of the population in the US is magnesium deficient. So again, a really great one to maybe even look into supplementing with if you are struggling to meet those needs through diet

Cori (08:16):
And even recognizing that those needs might change as you go through menopause, as you have different things going on and as we even do see changes in our blood numbers. So just because you might’ve been getting enough so to speak at one point doesn’t mean that right now you’re filling that nutritional gap. So paying extra attention to your needs as they change is really important. And I think so often we do jump right to what we should cut out when we want to improve our health over what we should add in. Can you go over some really great things to add into our diet if we are looking to improve our heart health and even manage some changes we’ve seen in our blood numbers with menopause or even with weight loss in general

Julia (08:54):
Of, so another big one when it comes to heart health, especially if you are someone who you struggle with, high cholesterol fiber is going to be really, really key just because fiber goes bind to that cholesterol and it helps us excrete it through our bowel movements. So getting this from foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and even plant proteins like tofu, Tempe, lentils or beans can really, really help. And for most of us, we should be aiming for that at least 25 grams of fiber per day. We can always add in a fiber supplement, but it’s not necessary in most situations if you are eating a balanced diet. So even just hitting that 25 gram range per day can look like having a half cup of oatmeal at breakfast, an apple as a snack, a half cup of black beans with your lunch, and then a cup of Brussels sprouts at your dinner.

(09:41):
So really just a balanced diet overall. And then when it comes to just overall health, menopause health, vitamin D is going to be another really, really big one. Again, a huge deficiency that we see across the board, but also really important for heart health is because it can improve bone and heart health and it’s really critical for that absorption of calcium. Calcium helps our blood clot normally. It helps our muscles and nerves to function properly. So overall, it really supports our heart and there has been some research conflicting in the past 10 years or 10 years or so showing that both dietary and supplemental calcium intake actually led to an increased risk of heart issues, whereas because it was believed to really contribute to that calcification building up in the blood vessels. But researchers have recently been finding that when supplementing with both vitamin D and calcium together, they see a decreased risk of heart disease as the vitamin D aids in that absorption of calcium. So again, a really big one to either supplement with or to get in through foods, things like egg yolks, fatty fish like salmon, tuna can also be really great sources through your diet

Cori (10:54):
And you’re going to hit on multiple things when you’re paying attention to these micros. Again, the healthy fats even. And going back to fiber, I think touching on the supplement part, and this occurred to me because while I am 100% in support of supplements to make things easier, I think always including and first going to that food diversity is so important and also recognizing why we want to supplement. A lot of times it can be good because we can’t get enough through our diet despite trying to include that diversity. But I think often with fiber supplements too, it’s because we want to so work in certain foods or not change our diet that we go to the supplement to increase overseeing how we can adjust and increase more fiber. And I bring this up because I actually had a comment just today on one of my posts about trying to decrease their sugar intake and wanting to pay more attention to that and break that down in their tracking.

(11:42):
And I said instead, why don’t you focus on that fiber intake? Because by focusing on higher fiber foods, you’re probably going to reduce just the sugar that you are consuming and get more quality carbs in instead of even turning to that supplement to increase fiber. So it slightly shifts the mindset from cutting out, which I think creates that restriction mindset, makes us rebel more to what we can add in, and I think that’s a super key focus with all of this, what can you add in that’s really going to help you see changes and results?

Julia (12:12):
Yeah,

Cori (12:13):
And I was going to say off of that, some key takeaways. If someone’s really looking to improve their heart health, they have seen their numbers change a little bit over time and they’re worried about it and they don’t want to turn to necessarily any sort of medication right now, if they’re really looking to make a change this week, what would you recommend? They start with

Julia (12:32):
Just taking anything that we talked about today, seeing where maybe in your diet you could be lacking, whether that be those omega threes that fiber that we talked about, or even those crucial micronutrients like magnesium and vitamin D, and seeing where you can really boost it in your diet. Again, it can be as simple as just adding a tablespoon of flay to your yogurt or your smoothie, something that already is in your diet. If you have eggs in the morning at breakfast, can you pair that with oatmeal on the side to really help bring down that cholesterol? Because adding that fiber in there while there’s so many different things that we can incorporate into our diet, also be honest with yourself about if you do need to supplement to fill in those gaps as well.

Cori (13:11):
And think in terms of diversity is a fun challenge to hit your macros if you’re tracking or even just to eat more of the rainbow. I think the more we find ways to make it fun or a challenge that’s positive over feeling restricted or deprived or just too overwhelming and we just focus on that one small change and see it as a challenge, the better off we’re going to be.

Cori (13:32):
Thanks for listening to the Fitness Hack podcast. Again. This is the place where I share all my free workout and nutrition tips. I’m never going to run sponsorships or ask you to buy anything. All I ask in return is if you’re enjoying the

Cori (13:44):
Podcast to leave a rating review

Cori (13:46):
Or share it with someone you think it might help. This will only take a few minutes and it would mean the world to me and possibly change the life of someone you know

*Please Note: this transcript is auto-generated and there may be some errors in the transcript