Heart health, menopause, and the gut

February is Heart Health month, and here are a few things you need to know but might not:

1. Heart disease is the #1 killer of women in the United States, far outpacing breast cancer.
2. Estrogen is protective of the heart - it relaxes arteries and promotes the "good" kind of cholesterol.
3. Ten years post-menopause, a woman's risk of heart disease is equal to a man's.
4. Women are more likely to die due to heart attack because our assumptions about what heart attacks "look like" are based largely on men's symptoms - not women's. So women often don't seek treatment or are misdiagnosed.

That's enough of the bad news. Here's some good news instead.

Nutrition, exercise, and attention to gut health can go a long way toward reducing your risk of heart disease (and this is true of everyone at every age).

In this conversation with bariatric surgeon and gut-health expert Dr. Erika La Vella, Gennev Director of Health Coaching Stasi Kasianchuk asks the questions YOU need the answers to: how to maximize gut health to have a healthier heart.

You can find Dr. La Vella at lavellayourguts.com. You can make an appointment with Coach Stasi or any of our Dietitian Nutritionist coaches at Gennev.com/plans.

Resources for additional information:

Estrogen-gut microbiome axis

 

Gut microbiota