"Open your heart to me Jeff Carter Kings Jersey , my own," whispers Grandmother Growth so softly you aren't certain you hear her. "Open the wisdom way of compassion here in your heart and draw me inside. Let Grandmother Growth be inside you, helping you encompass the whole, in the beat of your own heart, my heart, Crone's heart." Step 0: Do Nothing Thinking of taking hormone replacement to keep your heart healthy? Think again. Data released in April of the year 2000, from the federal government's Women's Health Initiative, showed "a small increase in the number of heart attacks, strokes and blood clots in the lungs of women on hormone replacement compared with women on placebo." The Heart and EstrogenProgestin Replacement Study (HERS), completed in 1998, found the same connection. For a healthy heart, don't take hormones. "Recently released data from the federal government's Women's Health Initiative suggests that during the first two years of postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy there is a slightly greater risk of heart attack, stroke and blood clots." Heart disease is America's top killer (claiming a life every 34 seconds). Women aged 30-50 have far less risk of heart disease than a man their age. But postmenopausal women die from heart disease at rates as high as men's. (Women account for 51 percent of all cardiovascular deaths; men, 49 percent.) Is it lack of estrogen? No. Estrogen does lower LDL cholesterol and increase HDL cholesterol, but cholesterol is only weakly linked to heart disease, especially in women. (Most heart attacks happen to people with normal cholesterol levels.) Estrogen raises blood pressure (one of the top three reasons for heart attacks in women), increases triglycerides, promotes clotting (a leading factor in heart attacks and strokes), and raises levels of C-reactive protein (a marker for inflammation associated with heart disease). Take progestinsprogesterone too and you increase your risk of heart disease even more. Hormone replacement really isn't heart healthy. Aren't there studies linking estrogen usage to lowered risk of heart disease? Only retrospective ones, which cannot establish a cause-and-effect link. And the women in those studies ate well, exercised regularly, and were unlikely to smoke - behaviors that are critical to heart health. The simple truth is more than 90 percent of all heart disease is preventable with lifestyle choices. The three top risk factors for heart disease in women are too much belly fat, smoking, and untreated hypertension. High cholesterol is one of the top three risk factors for men, but not for women. (This is because, after menopause, we make heart healthy hormones from our cholesterol.) Step 1: Collect Information The Nurses Health Study - which followed 86,000 women for 14 years - shows what happens to those wise old Crones who follow heart healthy behaviors: Those who ate more fish than meat, plus plenty of whole grains, beans, leafy greens, fruits, and vegetables reduced their risk of heart disease by one-third compared to those who ate a "normal" American diet. Eating one serving a day of whole-grain foods reduced heart attacks by 34 percent in another study of 34,000 postmenopausal women. Those who ate at least 5 ounces of nuts a week were only half as likely to have a heart attack as those who ate none. Women who walked a total of three hours per week or who exercised vigorously for at least 90 minutes a week had one third fewer heart attacks than women who got no exercise. Those who walked five or more hours a week cut their risk in half. Step 2: Engage the Energy Rose flower essence and rose quartz essence are both recommended for engaging the energy of the heart. Do you attack your heart? Do you close your heart to protect it? Love yourself. Give yourself plenty of nice strokes so you won't have a bad stroke. Try Stephen Levine's meditation "Opening the Heart" in Who Dies? People in Hawaii, New Mexico, and Arizona have the healthiest hearts in the United States. Imagine you live there. Smile! Depression increases your risk of both heart attack and stroke. In fact, severe depression is more strongly linked to stroke risk than high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking cigarettes, being overweight, and nine other known risk factors. When you smile, your brain makes hormones that make you, and your heart, feel good. So, smile. Step 3: Nourish & Tonify Touch and be touched. In numerous scientific studies, people who were touched lovingly every day had significantly fewer heart problems than those who weren't. Nuts to heart attacks. The fats in nuts have been linked to a reduced risk of heart attacks. Volunteers on high-fat diets (35-40 percent of calories nuts and olive oil) lowered their LDL cholesterol by 13 percent. Greek women do the same, and have one of the lowest rates of heart disease in the world. Essential fatty acids, especially omega-3s, are ever so essential to a healthy heart. Look for them in fish (salmon, sardines, trout, herring are highest), seeds, whole grains, beans, and nuts. They are especially abundant in wild seeds such as plantain, lamb's quarter, and amaranth. And in freshly ground flax seeds. Women who consume the EFA alpha-linolenic acid daily have the lowest risk of a fatal heart attack. Keep your heart healthy with regular use of seaweeds. Seaweeds have clinically proven cardiotonic effects: they stabilize blood pressure; regulate levels of triglycerides, phospholipids, and cholesterols; prolong the life of the heart muscle; and encourage a steady heartbeat. Women who regularly eat foods rich in carotenes cut their risk of stroke by 40 percent. Women who eat broccoli at least once a week have roughly half the risk of heart disease as women who eat none. Eliminating or limiting carbohydrates, especially refined flours and sugars, has halved the cholesterol of several friends whose totals were above 400. "What emerges is a clear association of
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