With Valentine’s Day last week and February being heart health month, this feels like an important topic.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both women and men in the United States.

Heart disease kills more women and men than all types of cancers combined.

According to the CDC, more than 60 million women (44% of women) are living with some form of heart disease, and over 50% of men.

Metabolic health generally refers to your body’s ability to efficiently utilize food for energy.

Metabolism is your body’s process of breaking down food into energy. 

They’re related, but not identical.

Poor metabolic health goes hand in hand with heart disease.  

It’s called cardiometabolic health.

88% of us are in poor metabolic health.

Heart disease is a topic I’m passionate about because 23 years ago, my Dad suffered a massive heart attack at 73 years old.

He was working full-time.

Watching what my Dad went through led me out of my high-stress career in the fashion industry and into the wellness space.

The quick version of his story is that my Mom forced him to go to the doctor.

She could tell he wasn’t feeling well.

His doctor wheeled him into the emergency room, and he was admitted to the hospital.

At 4:30 in the morning, he suffered a massive heart attack and was taken for emergency quintuple bypass surgery.

He spent two weeks in the cardio ICU.

He had one complication after another.

At one point, he was unresponsive.

He spent 56 days in the hospital and lost 56 pounds in the process.

He clotted to his feet (most people stroke and clot to their brain), and he ended up losing all of his left toes.

Eight doctors with micro specialties attended to him.

The hospital bill in today’s dollars was $1.7 million.

I had a front row seat to the best and worst of doctors, hospitals, medicine, and insurance companies.

The amazing part is that my Dad defied every odd stacked against him.

There was no medical reason that he survived.

He became a case study for his pacemaker implant.

When he came home, he barely had the strength to walk or care for himself.

One day at a time, he set tiny goals and eventually got up to walking 3 miles a day.

His recovery took a year.

He had to retire from his career.

My Mom and I cleaned out his office after 30 years.

He didn't drive for almost a year.

We made a deal that if he went to cardio rehab, I would go to the gym.

I've been consistently lifting weights ever since.

At cardio rehab, he could only do 20 seconds on the treadmill before he was so winded he had to sit down.

He lived 14 years after that surgery, but it left a deep impact on the quality of his life.

Having a heart attack damages the heart muscle.

He only had about 40% of his heart function.

The question I kept asking the team of 8 doctors was, why did this happen?

How did this happen?

I was instinctively looking for the root cause.

I was told things like his age, family history, etc.

When he was finally discharged from the hospital, no one mentioned nutrition, blood sugar, or stress.

Heart disease is preventable if you understand its root cause.

Heart disease doesn't just show up one day.

It happens over years and decades.

Chronic stress.

Poor nutrition.

Lack of movement and exercise.

My work with clients focuses on:

• Stress
• Sleep
• Blood Sugar 
• Digestion    
• Nutrient Dense Diet

Here’s how each of these pillars impacts heart disease:

Stress - Chronic stress raises cortisol levels, which can raise blood pressure, trigger inflammation, and put extra strain on your heart.

Prevention Tip: Rather than focusing on managing stress, what if you focused on having more joy, rest, and play in your life?

Sleep - Poor sleep disrupts your body’s ability to repair itself, leading to high blood pressure, insulin resistance, and inflammation—all risk factors for heart disease.

Prevention Tip: Aim for 7–8 hours of quality sleep per night by establishing a calming bedtime routine and limiting screen time before bed.

Blood Sugar - Frequent blood sugar spikes can damage blood vessels and lead to insulin resistance, increasing your risk of heart disease.

When blood sugar levels are consistently high, it can lead to a process called glycation. This produces harmful substances known as advanced glycation end products (AGEs). 

AGEs damage the lining of your blood vessels, making them stiff and less flexible. 

Over time, this damage can contribute to high blood pressure, inflammation, and plaque buildup, significantly increasing the risk of heart disease.

Prevention Tip: Balance your meals with protein, healthy fats, and fiber to keep blood sugar steady throughout the day.

Digestion - Poor gut health can lead to inflammation, which can affect the heart and overall health. A disrupted gut microbiome is linked to higher cholesterol and blood pressure.

Prevention Tip: Include fermented foods (like yogurt or sauerkraut) and plenty of colorful vegetables to support your gut.

Nutrient Dense Food - A diet lacking essential nutrients deprives your heart of what it needs to function properly and recover.  

Eating foods that cause poor blood sugar regulation leads to heart disease.  

Years ago, fats were demonized based on a flawed study.  

Remove the inflammatory seed oils and keep the healthy oils like butter, ghee, tallow, olive oil, and avocado oil.

Statins (cholesterol-lowering medications) are handed out like candy, yet they have a less than 1% chance of reducing your risk of having a heart attack.

Prevention Tip: Focus on whole, nutrient-dense foods like leafy greens, lean proteins, and healthy fats to give your heart the fuel it needs.

Skip the flour-based products like cookies, crackers, bread, pasta, and chips.

These all become sugar.

These are the 5 markers of metabolic health to pay attention to:

• Waist circumference
• Blood pressure
• Fasting blood sugar (glucose)  
• Triglycerides  
• HDL Cholesterol

I would add fasting insulin, although most doctors do not test for this, so you need to request it.

My Dad’s retirement years could have been vastly different if he had prioritized his health in his 40s, 50s, and 60s.

He dealt with atrial fibrillation and congestive heart failure.

It made it challenging for him to walk long distances or stand for very long.

He and my Mom didn’t feel confident they could travel internationally.

He was on a cocktail of 12 medications that required constant monitoring and had multiple side effects.

I felt like he lived in a body he didn’t recognize.

Everyday I’m meeting people who are struggling with chronic illness like heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer.

These are all driven by nutrition and lifestyle choices that are often years in the making.

I often hear people say it’s just bad luck due to their genes.

Genes load the gun, but nutrition and lifestyle pull the trigger.

You can have energy and vitality in old age.

You don’t have to spend it in decline and poor health.

You don’t need to DIY or figure it out on your own.

I can support you in making changes that could change your quality of life now and how you spend your retirement years.