Yours truly, The Clean Eating Coach, is a huge fan of Dr. Oz.  I love taping his show and catching up on all the news he’s got to share about leading a healthy lifestyle. His practical approach to making small but sustainable changes it so aligned with my approach to clean eating and disease prevention.

Last week one of the episodes featured a piece on 5 silent killers in women.  In addition to the likes of hepatitis and uterine cancer, right up there on the list, as no surprise, is heart disease. I know most of you know it’s the number one killer of women, but the question really is about whether you’re taking proactive steps to prevent heart disease and lead a clean eating lifestyle the way you know you should.

For me, there are two specific actions you can take to decrease the likelihood of heart disease and heart attack: clean up your eating and increase your self-awareness about your body.  The former has everything to do with long-term, lifestyle changes, while the latter is all about being present in your body to notice when something’s awry. It’s the combination of these two actions that provides such a powerful method of prevention for women, yet we don’t always make either a priority.

Your willingness to embrace clean eating and kick foods full of sugar, sodium and preservatives to the curb, is the first step in supporting your heart health.  Whole foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains, fortified with antioxidants, and low in fat and calories keep excess pounds off, blood pressure and cholesterol in check, and decrease the likelihood that you’ll develop Type 2 Diabetes.

To me, the beauty of clean eating is that it’s fun and you can get totally creative. Here are just a few ideas:

• Try a new fruit or vegetable that you’ve never had
• Go on a health food store tour and enlist your friends to join you; together you can discover all kinds of healthy foods
• Create a Clean Eating Club and cook with friends. Once a month you can gather and create simple and delicious dishes that are heart healthy

In addition to helping prevent heart disease through healthy eating, it’s also important to be tuned into what you’re feeling in your body and what feels normal for you.  Ever notice those days when you’re on the run with a lengthy to do list and barely time to eat? Those are exactly the times when you’re less tuned it. As women, we tend to be so focused on getting things done or doing things for others that we lose sight of ourselves. Imagine leading an over the top, multi-tasking lifestyle where we barely stop to breath deeply, get quiet and listen to what our body needs.

But preventing something as severe as a heart attack starts with body wisdom and your own self-knowledge. Time and time again I’ve read stories about women who tuned in enough to recognize that something just didn’t feel right, they remembered the signs of heart attack in women, and they made a beeline to the emergency room just in time to save their life.

Here are a few suggestions to help you tune into your body:

• Get a regular physical exam and yearly blood work to monitor your heart health
• Get familiar with the symptoms of heart attack in women so you’ll know what to look for. Here’s a handy guide from Dr. Oz.
• Slow down your hectic pace and make time to breath and listen to your body every day. Super busy? I bet you can fit 5-10 minutes in!

So what’s it going to be your life? Can you see the benefit of clean eating and tuning into your body to help you prevent heart disease? What are you currently do that’s working and where do you have room for improvement?

Filed under: Heart Health, Prevention, Women's Health, clean eating