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

Heart disease kills more women 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.

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 22 years ago, my Dad suffered a massive heart attack.

Watching what he 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 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 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 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.

Forty percent of his heart muscle was damaged.

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

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

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

The question I kept asking that 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 what the root cause is.

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 increase blood pressure, lead to inflammation, and put extra strain on your heart.

Prevention Tip: Find ways to manage stress daily, like deep breathing, journaling, or even taking short walks.

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 creating a calming bedtime routine and limiting screens 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 creates 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 cause inflammation, impacting 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 is what leads to heart disease.  

Years ago, fats were demonized based on a flawed study.  Remove the inflammatory seed oils and keep healthy oils like butter, ghee, tallow, olive oil, and avocado oil.

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

Emotional Health: I would be remiss if I didn't address the emotional and energetic piece of your heart.

Are you carrying sadness, anger, emotional trauma, regrets, grief?

All of these create stress on the body that, over time, impacts health.

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

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

Hindsight is twenty-twenty.

When I piece together what led to my Dad's heart disease, some of the contributing factors:

• Decades of a high-stress career where he often worked six or seven days a week.
• Not enough downtime, rest, or vacation.
• Chronic high stress leads to poor blood sugar regulation.
• Lack of exercise
• Less than optimal nutrition

I hope my Dad's story motivates you to care for your overall health and heart health.

Please reply to this email or text me if I can support you in having great health.