Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Wvuafm tuscaloosa.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Happy Sunday, y'.
[00:00:10] Speaker C: All.
[00:00:10] Speaker B: You are listening to Fit to Be tied with Sheena and Mika on 90.7, the capstone. And here we are, my friend.
[00:00:17] Speaker C: Listen. We're blazing through February.
[00:00:20] Speaker B: We really are. You know, I.
You know, for whatever reason, like, it is. It's a short month and I don't know, it just. There's just something about it, I think. I think it was just naturally made that way because the powers that be knew that January was gonna feel long and then you need, like, a little bit of a shorter month right after that as a buffer. I don't know.
[00:00:46] Speaker C: Yeah, it is a little bit. Even though there's a lot of sickness in February, I think, like blue peaks in February and all kinds of stuff, it. It is a little bit of, like a reprieve from the holidays in January and back to school. It's a little like.
I feel like.
[00:01:06] Speaker B: Yes. And I think what is confusing about this time of the year, especially with February and March, not so much January, but February and March, is that we.
We do this little dance with the weather where it's like, oh, beautiful weather. Oh, but then, wait a second, we might have a snowstorm in March. Wait, you know, warning. Exactly. Tornado. Like the world, you know, when the last really real. That significant tornado we had in 2011, that was in April. You know, you just. It's so interesting when we think about just the jump back and forth between the hot and cold weather during the months of February and March. So as much as I want to be like, oh, I've enjoyed these pretty days, I know the cold is coming.
[00:01:49] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. I love just James Fan who tells us to not plant anything until after tax day.
Yes. Yes. Because it's always. You're going to think if there's no way it's going to get cold again. And it does.
[00:02:05] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:02:05] Speaker C: Somehow it finds its way into a cold snap.
[00:02:08] Speaker B: Yes. I want to. You know, as I always do, I.
[00:02:11] Speaker C: We go on.
[00:02:12] Speaker B: I go on these random tangents in our first five minutes. I have to tell you, I thought about you this past weekend because
[00:02:20] Speaker C: I
[00:02:21] Speaker B: am pretty sure there is a critter that is living in part of our roof that is like the top part, that is over our den and carport. I think it's isolated to just that area.
But it made me think about your possum adventures. It was a possum.
[00:02:41] Speaker C: Correct. It was a raccoon.
[00:02:42] Speaker B: Raccoon.
[00:02:42] Speaker C: But now I do have a possum.
[00:02:44] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:02:44] Speaker C: I did have. It was first A raccoon that was.
That I trapped and then I relocated. Yes, he has a new zip code, but then I thought he was back and it was a possum and then an armadillo. And I mean, I live within city limit. Yeah. So, I mean.
[00:03:05] Speaker B: Well, I'm trying to remember. So. Okay, so for the creature that you relocated, the raccoon, how many miles out did you tell me before that you have to drive out because the animal is capable of remembering and coming back?
[00:03:20] Speaker C: Yeah. So I researched it because I don't know about raccoons. I just know that, you know, animal control will come get them and I didn't want to hurt it, but I just. It could not be in my backyard digging the holes because my little dog was going to step out and fall in a hole and break its leg. Right.
The wildlife, you know, commission of Alabama or what? You know, forestry commission or just the people that know. The people that know their stuff.
I said 12 to 14 miles.
[00:03:50] Speaker B: That is insanity to me.
[00:03:51] Speaker C: Yes, that is insanity.
Yes.
[00:03:55] Speaker B: Well, you know, we. We don't know yet what the creature is.
It sounds like it's. Is it a squirrel? We're thinking it could be a squirrel, but just the, the sounds and just how active it is. It could be something else. But I don't know if it. The last time you've seen the movie Princess Bride. Oh, yeah, but we were re watching it with our kids the other.
And then there's the, the part where Princess Buttercup is like, oh, the rouse the rodents of unusual size. That's what we were joking was up there, like this big scary thing.
And so that's. I was like, if that is what's in there, I don't know what I'm gonna do.
[00:04:39] Speaker C: You know, not to be like, sky's falling, but get that checked out. You don't want it chewing on a wire.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: No, absolutely not. So we, We've called the appropriate people, so we'll just, we'll see what kind of intervent.
But I don't know.
[00:04:52] Speaker C: The boys may have a knee pet.
[00:04:54] Speaker B: They may. Now, I will say over the summer we actually. We saw a snake on our roof.
[00:04:59] Speaker C: No.
[00:04:59] Speaker B: Now where he ended up, I'm not really sure.
[00:05:01] Speaker C: No, no. So that, that I cannot, I cannot relocate unless it's in the grave. I just, I know there's good snakes and bad snakes, but that is just. That's.
[00:05:10] Speaker B: No, yeah, no, I, Yes, I, I concur. That's all I'm gonna say is I concur. On that note, you guys we do have to take a quick break through. Thankfully, we will not be continuing this show on the topic of critters. It will be a much more productive conversation. But with that said, run to the restroom, grab a drink of water, do what you got to do. You are listening to fit to be tied with Sheena and Nika on 90.7 the capstone.
[00:05:40] Speaker A: Wvuafm tuscaloosa.
[00:05:49] Speaker C: Welcome back, listeners. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena And Nika on 90.7 the Capstone.
[00:05:54] Speaker B: That's right. And this is normally the time in the show where we say we have a fabulous guest lined up. It's going to be wonderful. But guess what? You have two pretty fabulous hosts of the show. And we're just, we're gonna rock it out today.
[00:06:09] Speaker C: Yeah. So we're gonna be talking about heart month and you know, we get geeky, nerdy excited to, to tell our listeners all of the information that we have that we want to share to hopefully make their lives healthier and better about heart month.
[00:06:29] Speaker B: Absolutely. And you know, it's funny because in the past decade that we have had fit to be tied. You know, Nika, when you previously wore your guest hat on this show, I feel like the topic that we would have you on the most about was heart health.
[00:06:46] Speaker C: Yeah. So when I had my role at St Vincent's in Birmingham, I was actually named the American Heart Association's social media, like, promoter influencer of the year because I did all their, I did all the, the segments on like, CBS 42, NBC 13, ABC 3340, spoke on a panel and did all their videos of like, how to get fit using a couch girl. I just, I, you know, I'm all about women's health and promoting it. And heart disease is the number one killer of women, more than all of the cancers combined. All the cancer.
[00:07:34] Speaker B: That is one of those very sobering stats. It's a, it's a mic drop moment for sure. And you know, for one, we just have to briefly acknowledge the celebrity status that you are as a cardiovascular influencer.
[00:07:50] Speaker C: So I do still teach CPR.
I've been CPR certified since 1995.
I just, I feel like it's one of those things where we say, hey, have a first aid kit in your car, have a fire extinguisher in your house, know how to give life saving help, know how to give cpr, how to put on an aed, but also know as a woman that heart disease is not a man's disease. Right. It absolutely is. Not. But I have some information today that you've probably never heard me say about why we still tend to think that it's a man's disease.
[00:08:35] Speaker B: Man, I'm. I cannot wait. And you know, I think as much as we just talked about earlier on at, at the beginning of the show that, you know, we, we do enjoy the reprieve of February being a shorter month. Part of me almost wishes that American Heart Month was not necessarily during the month of February so that the, the spotlight on heart disease could be a little bit longer. You know, I am really grateful to the American Heart association for having it designated as such. I think, you know and I know we both know that historical context of that first proclamation back in 1964 with Lyndon B. Johnson for American Heart, really, that intentionality with, with spotlighting it. But I feel like it needs to be longer than February.
[00:09:19] Speaker C: You know, it does. Some of the research has shown that we had made really great strides that. Almost 65% of women could tell you back around 2014 that heart disease was the number one killer of women. And we fell off pretty drastically around 2019 to where like only 34% could tell you.
[00:09:43] Speaker B: Really?
Do you have any suspicions as to why that decrease.
[00:09:50] Speaker C: I just think it was. I really don't. I haven't read the research on that. I think there was a push and, you know, go red for women Heart Month, heart walk. We, we really pushed it and then I think we maybe kind of saw great success and then maybe backed off a little bit thinking that that momentum was just going to keep carrying. And it's true for anything in public health. You have to keep reminding people of just basic preventative measures because we have so much we have to remember. We have so many things going on in our lives that we tend to forget. What, you know, cover your cough, wash your hands, cook your meat to an internal 165 degrees. Just these basic things that you're like, yeah, it's common sense. I know.
But in the everyday life of all the things that are. That is competing for our attention, we just tend to forget.
[00:10:49] Speaker B: I know. And you know, I think.
You know, I know. We'll talk in more detail about this later when we talk about it being the silent killer. But you know, I think with today's society, obviously we are in a culture society that really breeds a lot of stress.
[00:11:08] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:11:09] Speaker B: And just the expectation of things. So I think, you know, to that point, Nika, what are usually some of the big talking points that you share related to heart health and Especially when, when you are doing these media based things to, to give people awareness.
[00:11:26] Speaker C: Yeah. So, you know, I kind of let off with, you know, it kills more women than all other forms of cancer combined, but it's the number one killer of new moms and it counts over a third of our maternal deaths in the United States. I think we don't talk about that enough.
And you know, 38% of women die within one year of first recognizing a heart attack, as opposed to only 25% of men.
So you hear all these statistics and you're like, okay, okay, but why?
And so, you know, when I go on the media tours, you know, I only have a few minutes to tell everybody the things that you know are the most important. Like what can you do action steps today?
And we'll get into those, I know a little bit later, but like knowing the signs. So let's just talk about why we still think it's a man's, a man's disease, when really it's not. Okay, so going to give you a little bit of history here.
[00:12:34] Speaker B: Yes, please.
[00:12:36] Speaker C: Did you know that it wasn't until the 1980s, 85, 84, 86, that mid. The mid. That anyone anywhere began looking at how heart disease might affect women?
[00:12:51] Speaker B: Are you serious?
[00:12:52] Speaker C: Huh?
And it wasn't until 1993 that women were included in the research.
[00:13:00] Speaker B: You are joking me.
[00:13:01] Speaker C: I am not.
So here's what happens. They thought that men and women experience the same thing, you know, so that's kind of how they thought about it. Then when the research got to really going, they started seeing that, okay, women are often on average about 10 years older when they have their first heart attack than when a man does.
And usually that coincides when, when a woman is going through menopause.
So yes, we know that the loss of estrogen does reduce natural protection against heart disease. But for a while we just chalked it up to menopause. Yeah. Now we're backing it up and seeing that right now nearly 45% of females ages 20 and older are living with some form of cardiovascular disease.
So menopause is not the red flag that we need to be like so worried about. Yes, it's something. But what's going on is they started seeing that, okay, women also have atypical symptoms that kind of lead to misdiagnosis. And then when you are in menopause, when you're in that middle age, you are more likely to have more underlying comorbidities that they say, well, this is, this is Due to type 2 diabetes high blood pressure, age.
And so the other thing is, we all know that women have.
Are more likely to have autoimmune disorders than men.
When you have certain autoimmune disorders, not all of them, but some, like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, it causes plaque to build faster in a woman's arteries than a man's, and it leads to worse outcomes when we have a heart event or a stroke.
So there's very different biological reasons as to why women and men have the, you know, heart disease rates. Yeah. And so what happens is women tend to internalize stress.
Because you talked about stress. Right.
You know, then going through menopause, that's stressful, you know, because that's a change of life.
And there are some health disparities out there where it's. We don't get the same kind of, I think, media attention from TV shows and movies as men do. So, for instance, when men report ever having experiencing a symptom, you don't have to have a symptom to know that you're having a heart attack. Right. It's kind of scary. You talked about the silent. Yes. But when men report it, they say, hey, I feel squeezing pressure, pain in my chest, my jaw, my neck may have some pain.
I get nauseated, I vomit, I'm short of breath, I sweat.
Okay. Women can experience all that, plus feeling lightheaded, feeling like there's an elephant sitting on their chest, fainting, extreme fatigue, and a sense of impending doom.
Okay, well, when you're going through menopause, that is one of the biggest telltale signs is I just feel kind of blah.
[00:16:28] Speaker B: Right. And I think. Yes. So I think that most providers are just going to, like you said, chalk it up to something else.
And, you know, I. Gosh, we. We've got to take a break. But I mean, the fact that you're mentioning this. I want us to keep talking about this after the break, especially as you're mentioning the differences that the. The genders experience when it comes to those symptoms, because I. Additional thoughts on that. But y', all, please stick with us. We have some great information today. I know we've dropped these truth bombs, but we also have some solutions, too, so. So with that said, go get hydrated, run to the restroom. Do what you got to do. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Na on 90.7, the capstone.
[00:17:18] Speaker A: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
[00:17:27] Speaker C: Happy Sunday, y'.
[00:17:28] Speaker B: All.
[00:17:28] Speaker C: You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Nika on 90.7 the capstone.
[00:17:32] Speaker B: And y', all, if you are just now joining us, you have got to go back and listen at least to our last segment, because we are talking about heart health today. It is American Heart Month. February is American Heart Month, and Nika has been dropping the truth bombs. And just a lot of sobering stats and information when it comes to the prevalence of heart disease, and also just a lot of the disparities between males and females when it comes to experiencing symptoms, actually getting the help they need and all of those things. Because, you know, before you had mentioned how women typically experience their symptoms, I did want to specifically ask you about that because, you know, I wondered, do we just have a higher pain tolerance or are. Do females tend to just ignore symptoms? Because, you know, it's like, well, we. We gotta keep the show going. You know, we're just gonna go.
But it. I mean, I think it sounds like it's a lot of things.
[00:18:38] Speaker C: It's a lot of things. Yeah, it's a lot of things. And, you know, listeners, you guys don't just take my word for it. You can go out there and. And read and do your own research. But, you know, in some of the research I've seen, you know, medical students say they're. They don't feel like they're getting, you know, a lot of targeted education on the difference between the sexes. And that makes sense if women were not even used in a research study until 1993. I mean, that makes sense, you know, especially with all the other things out there that we have to research. You know, you've got all the different kinds of diseases and cancers, and so I get that. But that is, you know, we're not here today to blame anyone. We're here to just educate so that, you know, you can do your own research and have your own patience of advocacy and autonomy and, you know, create that relationship with your primary care provider or your specialist and, you know, and just be comfortable asking the questions.
That's all it is. It's just, you know, know where to find the information so that you feel prepared to go have a good conversation with the provider that you love and trust.
[00:19:48] Speaker B: Absolutely. And I know, you know, we're about to transition in just a few moments to talking about some things that we can think about related to our diet and just lifestyle. I know, you know, later on, Nico, we're going to be talking about how movement plays a piece in all of this, too, but I am curious, what do you usually tell individuals when it comes to a factor of A family history of heart disease. Is that typically a pretty significant thing for, for people to take into consideration if there's a family history?
[00:20:20] Speaker C: Yes, they, you need to know it and talk to your provider about it. So I love that you asked me about, you know, what were some of the things that contribute to the risk factors. So let me just say this right quick for our listeners.
Heart disease is not just a heart attack, okay? So you got to think coronary artery disease is that most common and familiar one. That's where, you know, your plaque builds up and narrows your arteries, which is going to be great when you talk about fixing our diet.
[00:20:46] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:20:48] Speaker C: But then you got stroke, heart failure, heart attack, cardiac arrest, valve disease. It's, it's a bunch, you know, it's this umbrella term.
But so you're thinking, oh my gosh, do I have a risk factor family history?
Yes, but have you had your cholesterol checked lately? How is your cholesterol level, your blood pressure? Are you type 2 diabetic? Do you use substances like drugs and alcohol regularly? Is your BMI greater than 25?
Do you use tobacco?
Do you move?
Do you sleep well? Do you have chronic stress? And then do you have a family history?
So if you're ticking off all these things, you're like, you know, there's some non modifiable, you can't help your age or your family history. But knowledge is power. You know what you're working with and what you're working against.
And so if, you know, you have a family history of high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol.
The thing that we do every day is eat. So let's start there.
[00:21:52] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:21:53] Speaker C: And this is your bread and butter, so to speak, pun intended. This is your, you know, forte. So Sheena, enlighten our listeners with what they can do.
[00:22:03] Speaker B: Yes, thank you so much. You know, I think I, I really wanted to ask that piece about family history because I want to acknowledge the fact that a lot of our listeners are probably college age students, traditional college students. You know, we are a, a show that is based on campus. And I think that, you know, it can be so easy to kind of have that invincibility mentality whenever we are in college. You know, we, we, you know, may not be actively thinking about what kind of family history we have. But if we know now, you know, now we can be so proactive with it. I think that, you know, it can be so easy to be like, oh, I'll worry about that after I finish undergrad or you know, once I get married or whatever else. But if, you know, now and you are, you know, already building your palette to these foods that will really enhance your health, that's a huge thing. And so, you know, whenever I think about heart disease, heart health, you know, one of the main dietary regimens that is often recommended is the Mediterranean. Mediterranean diet. And so I know with U.S. news and World Report, they always give their recommendations for, you know, top dietary recommendations. And the Mediterranean diet is always within the top three.
And that really just comes down to eating whole foods. You know, really getting in those fruits and vegetables, you're getting in that fiber. That's really helping with those cholesterol levels. You know, when we think about dietary fat, you've probably heard people talk about the different types of fats that we have. So we have monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, omega 3 fatty acids. These are not just buzzwords, but these are actually, actually fats that we should choose that are much healthier for our diet. And it was interesting because one of our nutrition interns, Isabel Johnston, who, one of our graduate students, she'll actually be on the show next week. She was just recently doing a macros101 presentation for some of our students on campus. And so when we were talking about unsaturated fat and saturated fat, one thing that you can think about with saturated fat that's typically going come from animal products is that it is solid at room temperature. And so when you think about it being solid at room temperature, just think about the fact. Just the way that, you know, bacon grease, when it cools off, it kind of coats that pan.
You know, if that is the primary type of fat in our diet, it can cut. It can coat those arteries too, right?
[00:24:43] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. So also, Sheena, for some of our listeners out there that hear or may have been miseducated for whatever reason, fats are not a bad thing. It's.
There's different types, right? And it's the amount you get of each type. So when you said monounsaturated, what are some of the. The foods that I could go home today and eat that would have the. The mono and the polyunsaturated?
[00:25:11] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. So when we're thinking about those monounsaturated fats, these are definitely things we want to keep in our diet. So things like olive oil, you know, having avocados, alm.
So when you hear about these foods, like nuts, being high in fat, it's actually a good fat. This is, you know, something that we want even polyunsaturated fats. We're going to see that in walnuts, sunflower seeds, flaxseed. You know, you hear about people sprinkling flaxseed in their cereal and their oatmeal or putting that in their smoothies, and then omega 3 fatty acids. This is the type of fat that you typically see in your fatty fish. You know, you probably have seen your favorite celebrity influencer talk about eating salmon all the time. It's because omega 3 fatty acids are not only helpful for our heart health, but it's actually helpful from a cognitive standpoint, too. So there's a lot of research that correlates omega 3 fatty acids, especially DHA, docosahexaenoic acid, which is a derivative of omega 3 fatty acids, really helping reduce the plaque in our brains that attributes to Alzheimer's and dementia, too. So there's just so many different layers to this. But I think, you know, again, I don't want any of our listeners to feel like, oh, my gosh, I can never eat, you know, I can never eat fried food again or I can never eat red meat. I think just as you're learning about the foods that can be helpful to your health, if you can think about what can I add to my diet that's going to be helpful? Because you're over time going to naturally reduce the types of foods that, that aren't so great for your heart. Yeah.
[00:26:51] Speaker C: Because you just want to have room for them.
[00:26:52] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. So if you're like, oh, man, like I heard them talk about on the show how I need to get more omega 3 fatty acids, or, oh, let me start incorporating more olive oil when I'm cooking. As you're naturally thinking about that, it's just going to make it so much easier to implement in the long term versus going into a deficit mindset of like, oh, well, I can never have this, I can never have that. It's. What can I add to my diet? If you are listening to today's show and you're like, like, well, hot dang, I haven't, you know, had any fresh produce in quite some time. Maybe your next step is where, you know, where are some opportunities I can sneak in some of that fresh produce.
[00:27:28] Speaker C: Yeah. I also like that you said fiber. So I'm sure our listeners know what fiber is. But let me ask you this.
Can I just go buy the fiber one bars and just sprinkle in, you know, some, some Metamucil into my diet? Is that the same?
Is that gonna do the same thing for me.
[00:27:50] Speaker B: So you're gonna be getting some fiber, but you and I both know we want to get that fiber from actual food sources. For one, the foods that are naturally going to have fiber, especially a lot of those fresh fruits and vegetables, oatmeal, things of that nature. You're also going to be getting the additional health benefits of that food aside from the fiber. So you're going to get a lot of those antioxidants, other micronutrients, so those other vitamins and minerals, and then that fiber that's within, within that food naturally versus just taking it in a supplemental form, it's going to be a lot more active and effective in terms of lowering your cholesterol.
[00:28:31] Speaker C: So I, I understand how this works, but will you tell our listeners, let's say I had some fried catfish and a chocolate milkshake, but then I had a really good side item that had fiber in it.
What is that fiber doing? When you say lowering my cholesterol or binding to something, how is, how does that look in action?
[00:28:56] Speaker B: Yes. So you want to think of that fiber kind of like little sponge, little scrubbing bubble. It's, it's cleaning things up for you. It's really, it's helping clean up some of that plaque that is in those arteries from the other foods that we're eating. It can help low that ldl, that bad cholesterol. And then if you, you know, you hear about HDL and LDL cholesterol, HDL is that good cholesterol that we actually want to keep at higher levels because it's, it's fast moving through your arteries. It kind of shoots through your arteries like a BB gun. It, it helps clean up your arteries. And I like to tell people, I want you to think about your LDL cholesterol, kind of like a little marshmallow that's floating through your arteries because as it bumps into those walls, it can leave some residue over time.
[00:29:43] Speaker C: Sticky. Yeah.
[00:29:44] Speaker B: And it can get clogged up. So, yeah. But yeah, when you're thinking about that fiber, especially soluble fiber that you can find in things like oatmeal, that's going to be great because that's going to kind of help absorb that grease, for lack of better words.
[00:29:58] Speaker C: So really, like, think about it as when you're taking your, your paper towel and you're blotting up the grease off of your pizza, the soluble fiber is kind of blotting it up.
[00:30:11] Speaker B: Dude, that is, that is the best visual. That's like inst. Gratification to Me, that's probably one of my most favorite things to do is I'm like, I see the action working, you know?
[00:30:20] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:30:21] Speaker B: So, yes, fiber is that high quality paper towel that's actually absorbing things. And you can think of now, while I'm. I won't completely discredit fiber supplements because they can, you know, again, it can be really hard to get some of the recommended fiber limits that we need for. For men and women. So, you know, sometimes we do have to supplement. But think about only using fiber supplements is like using like a cheap paper towel that's not going to completely do the job. And also too, since we are talking about increasing that fiber as it relates to heart health, when you start increasing that fiber, make sure that you're staying hydrated too. Your bowels will
[00:31:04] Speaker C: keep things from.
You just want to keep things soft. Yes.
[00:31:10] Speaker B: On that note, Nico, we gotta take a break.
[00:31:12] Speaker C: Let's take it.
[00:31:13] Speaker B: We're talking about bowel movement, y', all, but we're also talking about heart disease. Catch us on the flip side. You are listening to fit to be tied with Sheena and N on 90.7, the capstone.
[00:31:27] Speaker A: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
[00:31:36] Speaker C: Welcome back, listeners. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and NA on 90.7, the capstone and we are discussing heart heart health month on the show today. And I implore you to go back and listen to our other segments because I feel like you are going to get some kind of tidbit that is going to be applicable to your life, that's going to help you in some way.
Sheena just dropped a just. I mean, like, I could just listen to her talk about dietetic knowledge all day long.
She dropped some great information on us about fiber and fats. But there is one thing that we ran out of time and I want to make sure that we mention and that is sodium. Yes.
[00:32:24] Speaker B: So, you know, I think that when people think about heart disease and like you were mentioning earlier in the show, Nico, you know, people think about just clogged arteries, you know, that plaque buildup. So they're probably thinking a lot about fat in their diet.
[00:32:38] Speaker C: Right.
[00:32:38] Speaker B: But then I think that we don't always think about sodium and it may be because we're not always thinking about, well, how does that affect my heart? But if we have a high sodium diet, you know, sodium is going to be a water magnet. It adds in a lot of water pressure within our arteries. It puts a lot of pressure on those arterial walls, and that can be really stressful. For the heart.
[00:33:01] Speaker C: Right. So that sodium is different than table salts. If you're thinking, I never salt my food, sodium is going to be like the things that they used to preserve for shelf life, right?
[00:33:17] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. So, you know, a lot of the foods that we eat that especially the things that we purchase in the middle of the grocery store, so a lot of packaged food, so canned soups, or if you're using like a boxed rice, a roni or whatever else, and, you know, even, you know, some of the different taco seasonings, you know, those are going to be high deli meats. Yes, Deli meats, too. And so I think it's actually. So the American Heart association recommends limiting your daily sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams a day. I think for most adults, they would rather it be closer to 1500 milligrams a day. And so, you know what that would equate to, if you were looking at in terms of salt, that's about a teaspoon of salt that. But, you know, again, Nika, to your point, there's probably a lot of our listeners that think, I don't really salt my foods. But if you've not looked at a nutrition facts label in a hot minute. Yeah, you need to look, look at,
[00:34:18] Speaker C: look at the back of ramen, how much sodium is in ramen. I think that would really make you realize w. Oh, oh, yeah. This is what they're talking about, right?
[00:34:28] Speaker B: Absolutely. So that, you know, frozen meals, things of that nature.
And so I think depending on the types of foods you normally eat, you know, all of a sudden trying to limit yourself to that 2300, that could feel daunting in the beginning, but just know that.
Just do it one step at a time. And what the thing that I really like about our taste buds, and this is something that I actually shared a lot of times with my congestive heart failure patients when I worked in an inpatient patient setting, is that your taste buds can adjust to less salt over time.
[00:35:03] Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
[00:35:04] Speaker B: You know, sometimes we even. So for our listeners who do, you know, get into the habit of salting their food, I think we all know someone in our life, maybe you know, an elderly relative, that there's that one family member that before they even taste
[00:35:18] Speaker C: their food, they go ahead and salt it.
[00:35:20] Speaker B: So one of the things that me and the other dietitians at the hospital that we worked at, we would talk about even telling an individual, hey, have a salt shaker at the table, but keep it empty so you can still go through that initial physical motion of, you know, shaking the salt shaker.
Just, you know, in the beginning as you try to get rid of that behavior. But over time, those taste buds are going to adjust. Now, if you, you know, if you cut that salt cold turkey, of course your taste buds are going to notice it. But as we start to decrease that and we're a little bit more intentional with label reading and maybe choosing one brand over another based on sodium content, those taste buds are going to adjust.
[00:36:01] Speaker C: Yeah. And using more spices when you cook instead of just automatically going for the salt. Yes.
[00:36:07] Speaker B: So, you know, making that switch instead of. If you're used to just using garlic salt, how about garlic powder or onion powder?
You know, and maybe our listeners may not realize that there are differences, but there. There's definitely a difference between a garlic powder and a garlic salt or an onion salt and an onion powder.
So keep that in when you are looking at those labels.
[00:36:29] Speaker C: I love it. I love it, friend.
[00:36:31] Speaker B: Well, we got it. We gotta talk about movement, my friend.
[00:36:33] Speaker C: All right, let's talk about movement. So, you know, like I said before, some of the risk factors, you know, are the high blood pressure, cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, high BMI.
So movement diet can help these. So, you know, when people say, okay, okay, I know that the heart is a muscle, and we strengthen it when we work out and we improve circulation and we lose weight. What am I missing? What else? Okay, well, yes, any kind of movement is going to strengthen your heart. So if your blood can pump more efficiently with each beat, hey, that's a win, right?
But as you are improving your circulation, it helps your blood vessels become more flexible and dilated. So it helps lower your blood pressure, takes some of that pressure off. And then you're lowering the sodium in your diet, making sure you're drinking your water. So everything is kind of coming together.
But, you know, as you're losing weight, it's also taking pressure off your organs and your blood vessels. It's raising your healthy cholesterol because our body actually produces HDL when we exercise, and it reduces inflammation and stress. So you're lowering that stress hormone of cortisol adrenaline, which leads to chronic inflammation, which are both key contributors to heart disease. And then you increase your body's ability to extract oxygen from the blood and thus reducing the workload on the heart.
So get out there and, you know, cut a rug, you know, dig up a. You know, dig up a tree stump, trap a raccoon, you know, walk. Just anything it does not have to Be in a gym. It doesn't have to be. I am sweating. I think that this is, you know, the worst thing I've ever done. It's gotta, it's gotta be something you enjoy because if you enjoy it, it, you'll be consistent with it.
[00:38:43] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:38:44] Speaker C: And the, the other thing that I want to say about being consistent, if you haven't exercised in a long time and it's not something that you enjoy, I need you to get your mind right and understand that the first few times you do it, it's not going to be fun.
Let yourself embrace being right about that. Yeah. Yeah. I hate this. I hate being sweat sweating. This is hurting my feet. This, this sports bra is uncomfortable. Like, you know, embrace it. But let me tell you something about the human body.
It becomes addicted very fast to movement. So within days, you're going to get better energy and improve sleep. Within two to four weeks, your blood pressure is going to drop by at least two to four points.
And then within, in two months, improved insulin sensitivity and your cholesterol levels will start showing up in the blood work. Go in the positive direction.
But then your mood's going to improve, you're going to sleep better.
Your, you know, your energy is going to be higher and you're going to be able to deal with those stressed out emotions better.
[00:40:00] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:40:01] Speaker C: So when we tell you, hey, lower your stress, you're like, yeah, have you seen my life?
You know, I'd have better odds of winning the lotto than doing that. Okay, well, start exercising.
It is going to inadvertently help lower those stress levels.
[00:40:17] Speaker B: Yes. And, you know, I think when we think about movement or exercise, physical activity, whatever way we want to label it, I think we often forget that the, you know, with movement, we have better blood circulation. And the reason that we have blood circulation is because it legitimately is the transit system for oxygen to get to all of our different organs. You know, we don't think about that, including your brain. You can think more clearly when you've moved. You know, and like you said, Nika, I love the fact that you brought home the point that it doesn't have to be this formal activity at the gym. It could be just choosing to park further away or using the stairs in your building instead of the elevator. So, you know, when people say, like, oh, well, I just don't have time in my day to like, go sneak away to work out, hey, let's figure out what are some creative ways to, you know, sneak in some additional movement. I mean, shoot, at this point, use some chat GPT to think of some ideas.
[00:41:18] Speaker C: Yeah, about, you know that I had a client one time that told me this and I'll you tell thought that's pretty brilliant.
Say you're shopping at a large store such as Super Target or Super Walmart. Okay. And you're shopping for all the things. You're not just doing groceries. So you're needing to go back and forth between the store. Okay. Well, if you had an hour to spend, but you're like, I don't really want to spend it outside, it's too hot, it's too cold, it's raining. I don't want to go to a gym. But you have the hour.
They told me that they would go on one side of the store and get like their toothpaste. They would go to the complete opposite end of the store and get their milk. They go back to the other side of the store to get their shampoo, back to the other side of the store to get their paper towels. That's how they got in. And they're pushing the cart and they are walking and they don't realize it because they're just mentally like checking off a, a list and they're getting things done.
But they are in a very sneaky way tricking themselves into getting more steps in a climate controlled environment.
[00:42:23] Speaker B: Oh my Lanta.
[00:42:24] Speaker C: I thought it was brilliant.
[00:42:26] Speaker B: Oh, that is super brilliant.
[00:42:27] Speaker C: I was so thankful they shared it with me. And sometimes I will do it too. I'm like, you know, I won't get so mad when I'm like, oh, I forgot it across the side of the store. I'm like, you know what I needed? I needed this, these extra steps.
[00:42:38] Speaker B: No, I need to try that next time for sure. I know we've got to go on a quick break at the end. Nika, I want you to touch base on sleep, okay. Because you know, you know all the things. But before we go, I just. Based on what you just said with that example, I actually recently picked up one of my Target orders and I, I did it where they come to your vehicle and they're always so friendly. And so I was asking the gentleman, I was like, do you track your steps? I was like, I want to. I was like, you are. You and everybody else, y' all are buzzing around taking this to everybody's vehicle. Like, what, what is your step count? And like, well, you know, we get steps out here walking it to the car. But he's like, then we also will do the personal shopping inside too. And he said, in the summer, especially when I'm doing this full time. He's like, I can easily get over 30,000 steps.
And I was like, oh, my. Lance. I was like, that's like going to
[00:43:32] Speaker C: Disney World and getting paid at the same time. I mean, just killing two birds with one stuff.
[00:43:38] Speaker B: Yeah. So I thought that was very interesting. But I will hush up, you guys, because we got to take a quick break. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and me on 90.7 to capstone.
[00:43:52] Speaker A: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
[00:44:01] Speaker C: Welcome back, listeners. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Mika on 90.7, the capstone.
[00:44:07] Speaker B: That's right. And today we have been talking so much about heart health. You know, we started the show off strong with. With just talking about the significance and the prevalence of heart disease, a lot of the differences between what females and males experience. And I think we just. We brought a lot of awareness.
[00:44:28] Speaker C: Na, I hope so. You know, I never want any of our listeners to feel doom and gloom, and I never want them to feel defeated. I want them to feel like, hey, I can take at least one thing and run with it this and make my life better. That's. That's, you know, maybe more than one thing, but at least one thing.
[00:44:46] Speaker B: Yeah, definitely feeling empowered. And now, Nika, before the break, I think I was mentioning to you that I wanted to end the show today to talk about sleep, because I will say that when you have been on the show before in more of a guest mode talking about this topic, I mean, you. A lot of those conversations with you are really what has helped me prioritize getting more sleep. Sleep and being better at stress management when it comes to, you know, just wanting to be better for my health. So.
[00:45:18] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, thank you.
Another thing I feel like we have been desensitized to is a lack of sleep means, you know, you're real productive.
And if you sleep and you rest, then you're.
You're lazy. And that's not the case. Case. I mean, you would not go on a trip without bringing your phone charger.
You understand that your phone has a limited amount of battery. You use it a lot. It's got to get plugged in. You don't blame it. Why do we blame ourselves?
[00:45:53] Speaker B: Right. Or we feel like we have to earn rest.
[00:45:55] Speaker C: Yes. Or we have to feel guilty or we have to give an excuse as to, well, I did xyz, so I earned the snap. No, you know, know we have to power down.
You need to protect your sleep. You've got to protect it. A minimum. I mean, everybody's different. Talk to your provider. But let's start with a minimum of seven hours. Yes.
[00:46:18] Speaker B: Yes. And research shows, I know that you and I both know from our backgrounds and the types of education that we provide to clients that there is so much research that, that talks about when you have, have consistent chronic inadequate sleep, your, your immune system is killed, it's completely compromised your metabolism. Yes. You have a higher risk of heart disease when we have inadequate sleep because our body is just, it's not able to do those restorative processes in those deep stages of sleep when it comes to get, getting rid of free radicals and oxidative stress.
[00:46:56] Speaker C: Right.
Higher incident rates of Alzheimer's and dementia, stroke, blood, high blood pressure, diabetes, you name it. The body has to power down, it has to go to work, it has to restore, it has to repair growth factors, all those good things, hormones, you know, just give it what it needs.
Think about a baby. Baby. When a baby is brand new, they sleep 23 to 20, you know, 22, 23 hours out of the day because their bodies are growing exponentially. We don't blame them for that.
[00:47:36] Speaker B: Right.
[00:47:37] Speaker C: We understand it's part of the process. We have got to start being the same way with ourselves. Yes.
[00:47:41] Speaker B: Because I think that it can be easy for us to just think of sleep as a means to, quote, unquote, not be tired the next day or not be grouchy the next day. But y' all all, there is so much behind the scenes work that is happening. The amount of stage hands that are, you know, at work in your body when you are resting, it is crazy. And it all correlates back to that heart health, too.
[00:48:03] Speaker C: Yeah. Oh, yeah.
Protect your heart. You really need to get your sleep, get some movement, you know, eat healthy, try to lower your stress.
You know, be social, get, you know, get a network that, you know, we talked about that last week. Social connection is so important.
And then go, go get, go get checked up. If you feel like something is not right, trust your gut and, you know, if something feels off, go get it seen about.
Don't feel embarrassed and don't feel like you're being overdramatic.
You know, you talked about silent, silent heart attacks. That's where people are actually having a heart attack and they don't know they're doing it and they blame it on something else. Oh, it was indigestion.
I was just really stressed. I was really wound up.
It could be that or it could be a heart attack.
[00:48:59] Speaker B: Yes. And I mean, I think just as a final reminder, just to kind of wrap things up for today, we only have one body. We can't get a replacement body, like, the way that we can get, like, a replacement vehicle after it's been in an accident. We only have one body.
[00:49:14] Speaker C: I mean, you can do some repairs, but you're not going to get a new model off the floor anytime soon.
[00:49:21] Speaker B: No, ma'.
[00:49:21] Speaker C: Am. So you better take care of it. Get that extended warranty.
[00:49:25] Speaker B: So when that said, y', all, we hope you had some great takeaways from today. I know I did.
We have a fabulous show lined up for next week, and until that time, you guys have been listening to Fit to Be Tied with Sheena and Nika on 90.7 the capstone.
[00:49:46] Speaker A: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
