Building a Healthy Heart After Substance Abuse

It’s Heart Health Month, held each year to remind Americans to learn about the impact the heart has on one’s overall health, as well as the lifestyle factors that can promote a healthy heart. 

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women, so it’s never too soon to start caring for this vital organ. Certainly getting help for drug or alcohol abuse is a great step. Both drugs and alcohol can pose very serious risks to your cardiovascular health, increasing your risk for heart attack and stroke. 

Here’s a look at how to best care for your ticker after years of abuse from addiction. Perhaps the best part, these tips from the American Heart Association (AHA) can work double-duty and benefit your overall recovery, too: 

Get active. If you get at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity each day (like brisk walking), five times per week, you can almost guarantee yourself a healthier and more satisfying life while lowering your risks for heart disease, stroke and diabetes, according to AHA.

Watch your cholesterol. Too much bad cholesterol (LDL) can form plaque in your veins and arteries – and these blockages can lead to heart disease and stroke. Firstly, if you don’t know your numbers, schedule a visit with your doctor to get checked. If your numbers are high, engaging in moderate exercise, avoiding tobacco smoke and eating a heart-healthy diet can help.

Manage high blood pressure. High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Again, get your numbers checked and make an effort to follow these steps from the AHA:

• Eat a heart-healthy diet, including reducing sodium
• Get regular physical activity
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Manage stress
• Avoid tobacco smoke.

Pay attention to your diet. Healthy foods are the fuel our bodies use to create the energy we need to thrive and fight diseases, notes AHA. So do your best to load up on veggies, fruit, low-fat dairy, fiber-rich whole grains, and lean meats including fish.

Nutrition Planning at Complete Harmony

Helping clients plan healthful meals to enrich their body and mind is just one of the many features of our hybrid addiction treatment. By integrating conventional and holistic recovery approaches, we help restore balance to the whole person. To learn more, call: 866-930-4673.

Stress Management Is Key for Recovery (and Your Heart)

The fact that stress and heart troubles are related may not be news to you – however, researchers have yet to fully understand the full mechanisms. A new study published in The Lancet this week revealed an interesting link between stress and the heart: the brain. 

Researchers found that people with greater activity in the amygdala, the area of the brain that controls fear, stress and emotion, were more likely to suffer from heart attack, stroke and angina (chest pain) in the future. 

Increased activity in the amygdala was also linked to more activity in the bone marrow tissue – and “that in turn may impact the arteries, causing inflammation, which then could lead to a cardiovascular disease event, such as a heart attack or stroke,” study author Ahmed Tawakol told Forbes.com.

While more research is still needed to understand the entire reaction, Tawakol said that stress reduction exercises have been found to reduce both the size and activity of the amygdala. 

Here are a few things you can do today to manage stress and enhance your recovery: 

• Create a mantra. It doesn’t have to be complicated; a simple phrase like “I am in control,” or “I am making progress” can help keep you calm and focused on your recovery. 
• Go for a vigorous walk. There’s nothing quite like exercise to increase those feel-good endorphins and keep stress at bay.  
• Streamline your day. Over scheduling yourself can quickly lead to stress, especially during the first 90 days of recovery, when you’re most likely to relapse. For now, just focus on recovery essentials and aim to complete one or two tasks per day. 
• Make sleep a priority. Seven to eight hours of solid shut-eye can do wonders to restore your body and mind and improve your ability to cope with stress. 
• Start a journal. Journaling is a great way to discover the source of your stress — and then to release it by writing down your thoughts and feelings.

Find Inner Peace at Complete Harmony
At Complete Harmony, we encourage the use of many different cutting-edge techniques — including yoga, meditation, and acupuncture — to help patients control stress on their journey toward sobriety. To learn more about our treatment center and our approach to addiction recovery, call today: 866-930-4673.

Protect Your Heart and Your Sobriety

Getting help for your addiction is perhaps the best thing you can do for your heart! Drugs and alcohol take a toll on this vital organ, causing cardiovascular problems ranging from abnormal heart rate and bacterial infections of the blood vessels to heart attack and stroke.

6 Heart-Smart Steps
Once you’re in recovery, you can continue to care for your ticker. And, perhaps, the best part: These heart-healthy habits do double-duty, helping your long-term sobriety and cardiovascular health.

1. Go fish. Just a few servings of fatty fish (salmon, herring, sardines, tuna) can reduce your risk of a heart attack. The omega-3s in this type of fish helps your mental health, too; these healthy fats help fend off depression. Not a fan of fish? Other heart-friendly superfoods include berries, nuts (walnuts, almonds, pecans), avocados, and cruciferous veggies (kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts).
2. Eat the right fats. Trans fat (found in some processed and fried foods) and saturated fats can increase the amount of LDL (bad) cholesterol in your body — and this ups your risk of heart disease. Replace both trans and saturated fats in your diet with healthier unsaturated fats (mono- and polyunsaturated).
3. Stop smoking. With each puff, you’re putting your heart at risk. This is because nicotine releases a toxin that lowers the HDL (good) cholesterol in your body.
4. Get moving. Exercise boosts your HDL cholesterol, lowers your LDL cholesterol, and minimizes plaque build-up in your arteries — plus it helps keep stress in check. Build up to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise (jogging, cycling, hiking, playing tennis) most days of the week.
5. Prioritize sleep. A good night’s slumber isn’t a luxury, but a necessity for protecting both your heart and your sobriety. In fact, getting less than six hours per night can increase your risk of heart disease.
6. Make time for meditation. Meditation has long been associated with heart-healthy stress reduction, but it’s also been shown to improve LDL levels.

More on Meditation and Addiction

Many studies show that meditation has a notable impact on the brain’s self-control regions, making it an effective treatment for addiction recovery. Meditation is encouraged throughout your Complete Harmony residential stay. To learn more about our holistic addiction treatment, call 866-930-4673.