How Can Stress Impact Your Heart?
Not all stress is bad stress.
Acute stress can lead to clearer thinking, motivation to meet goals and resiliency to overcome challenges. However, chronic stress can lead to many health issues and impact your heart. During chronic stress, our body increases stress hormones such as cortisol, which can lead to an increase in inflammation and overall damage to our health. During February’s heart health month, take some time to learn more about how your stress is impacting your heart.
How Can I Make A Change?
Get Moving
Exercise has been proven to help improve heart health by reducing blood pressure, managing weight, and reducing inflammation in the body. Exercise helps the heart muscle become more efficient at moving blood through the body. With that efficiency, the heart is able to rest more which all muscles need for strength and longevity.
Don’t Add On
Additional weight can lead to fatty material building up in your arteries. This can cause your heat to have to work harder and potentially damage your arteries and heart, leading to heart attack. As our weight increases, so can our risk for hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol which directly impacts our heart health.
Take Deep Breath
Chronic stress can lead to increased blood pressure, heart disease and increased weight due to higher stress hormones, increased inflammation, and poor lifestyle choices. Creating a healthy stress management routine can help to reduce stress and manage heart health. this routine can include activities like exercise, hobbies, meditation, deep breathing, or a creative activity.
