6 Stress-Busting Strategies That Can Protect Your Heart

A little emotional stress can be healthy. It’s what propels you to meet deadlines and get things accomplished. But research shows that chronic, excessive stress may be as bad for your heart as eating a high-fat diet and having a sedentary lifestyle.

A study using positron emission tomography–computerized tomography (PET/CT) scans of the amygdala, known as the brain’s fear and stress center, sheds light on the connection. It showed that people who had increased activity in their amygdala had more inflammation in their arteries and bone marrow. Over time, and up to five years later, those with a more consistently activated amygdala were 60 percent more likely to have a heart attack. The research was published in February 2017 in the journal The Lancet.

“Stress can be subjective. But this study was fascinating because it actually measured the stress response on the brain and its negative impact on the body,” says Erin Michos, MD, a preventive cardiologist with Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore.

Other research underscores the link between stressful events and the risk of heart disease. A study published in May 2015 in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, for example, found that divorce, which is a stressful event, significantly increased the risk of heart attack for both men and women, but especially so in women who had been divorced more than once.

Stress can also indirectly increase the risk of heart disease. “People who are stressed tend to have poor coping behaviors,” Dr. Michos says. They may sleep poorly, and smoke, drink, or binge eat to comfort themselves.

An Egyptian study, published in December 2017 in the Egyptian Heart Journal, found that overeating was associated with a 3.7-fold increased risk of heart attack. Similarly, a meta-analysis published in March 2017 in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology found that insomnia was associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

The encouraging news is that even though stress can feel like it’s out of your control, it’s all in your head. “You create the stress response, using the power of your own thoughts,” says Kiran Dintyala, MD, CEO and President of Stress Free Revoluation and author of Calm in the Midst of Chaos. By the same token, you can also create your own sense of calm.

6 Stress-Busting Strategies from Heart Health Experts

To help you outwit your amygdala and reduce the risk of heart disease, we asked leading experts for their best stress-busting strategies. Here’s what works for them:

1. Air Your Grievances

When you’re stressed out, whether you’re waiting for test results at the doctor’s office or preparing for a major presentation at work, “just watch your breath,” says Dr. Dintyala. Focus on your breathing to redirect your attention from what’s making you a stress mess. “As long as you focus on your stressful thoughts, they’re real to you,” Dintyala says. “But the moment you take your focus off them, they go away."

According to the American Heart Association, breathing exercises can help manage stress and lower the risk of heart disease.

“Any sort of deep breathing or refocusing can get us back to a less inflammatory state,” says Jennifer Mieres, MD, a leading expert in cardiovascular disease in women and author of Heart Smart for Women.

One way to focus on the breath is to breathe in through your nose for a second, then exhale for a few seconds longer than you inhale. “But don’t set yourself up to feel like a relaxation failure, as in ‘I didn’t do any breathing today,’” says Stacey Funt, MD, a lifestyle medicine specialist and wellness coach. “Breathe without judgment and expectation.” If you remember to do your breathing exercises, great.

2. Take Phone Breaks

When you’re waiting in line at the supermarket or Starbucks, don’t go on your phone. Instead, just stand there and give your brain a break. “Our brains need natural rest periods throughout the day to recoup and face the next challenge or situation,” Dr. Funt says. Don’t fill them with phone time.

3. Create a Schedule

To reduce the low-level stressors that often affect you, “take an inventory of what trips you up the most,” says Funt. For example, if routine responsibilities like cooking dinner get you frazzled, plan a weekly menu on Sunday night. “Without a doubt, if I spend 10 minutes on Sunday planning a menu for the week, my weeks go much better,” says Funt.

4. Prioritize Your To-Do List

If you’re someone who feels pressured to accomplish the tasks on your to-do list ASAP, create two separate lists: a to-do list and a to-do-soon list for tasks that can wait. With both lists going, “I can stop worrying that I’m going to forget something, but not feel pressured to get everything done immediately,” Funt says.

5. Exercise Your Options

To downsize stress, “one of the most important things you can do is to choose to move every day,” Dr. Mieres says. The recommended 150 weekly minutes of moderately intense physical activity, such as brisk walking, produces endorphins, those feel-good brain chemicals that help you feel calm and sleep better, which in turn helps keep stress at bay.

To stick with it, pick activities you enjoy.

“I love to run because it’s outside and it gets me out of my head,” says Michos, who runs alone on weekdays and with a running group on Saturday mornings, which has become a strong support system. “We talk about our lives and what’s bothering us about our kids, spouses, and work,” she says. “Saturday morning is the highlight of my whole week.”

And, if you’re really stressed, try this quick trick: Move really fast for a minute. “Jog in place, shift from foot to foot or shake your hands in the air really fast,” Funt says. “Moving helps you get out of your brain and into your physical body.”

6. Focus on Having More Fun

“The more you take care of yourself and the more you’re experiencing pleasure, the less reactive you will be to outside stressors,” Funt says.

Consider the various stressful parts of your life and figure out how to make them more enjoyable.

For Funt, that meant tweaking her hectic commute. Two to three times per week, she drives for over an hour in rush-hour traffic. To make her driving time more fun, she joined a book club and started tuning in to audiobooks. “Now when I get to work, I don’t even want to get out of the car because I’m so engaged in what I’m listening to,” she says. She also updated her music playlist. “I listen to my favorite show tunes or my 1970s track on my way to work, which has been a wonderful way to reduce stress.”

Overall, there are many different tools for reducing stress. Funt adds, “It’s a matter of experimenting and seeing what works best for you.”

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