Monthly Archives: February 2024

Heart Disease – The #1 Cause of Death Globally

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By Jen O’Sullivan, BCND

Even with many advancements in diagnostics and medical care, heart disease continues to be the number one cause of death – responsible for one third of deaths globally.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Leading risk factors for heart disease and stroke are high blood pressure, high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and secondhand smoke exposure, obesity, unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity.”

To identify potential weaknesses in the cardiovascular system, start by checking your comprehensive metabolic panel along with discussing your particular symptoms with your holistic practitioner to confirm areas of weakness. 

Your practitioner should work with you to help improve and strengthen your cardiovascular system and thereby help reduce your risk of developing heart disease. They should educate you on the importance of lifestyle changes as it pertains to improving your health foundations. 

Specific foundations I encourage my clients who have heart support needs is the following:

  • limit or remove all processed sugar
  • increase healthy fats
  • add garlic and fennel to their daily nutrition plan
  • include sweat-inducing exercise 3-5 days per week
  • get 7-8 hours of sleep per night
  • stay hydrated by drinking half their body weight in ounces (4-5 ounces every 30 minutes)
  • consider supplements such as CoQ10, turmeric, omegas, and digestive enzymes

Cortisol is NOT the Stress Hormone

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By Jen O’Sullivan, BCND

Cortisol, often referred to as the “stress hormone”, is not actually that. We call it this because when our adrenals are overactive from stress we can have too much cortisol. Cortisol is actually our wake hormone. When functioning properly, cortisol is released in the early hours of the morning to gently wake us up and keep us awake throughout the day. 

In my practice many people have overworked adrenals and their cortisol has been working overtime from excess stress which will eventually cause a reversal of energy. This causes a difficulty waking up and usually a surge of energy around 7pm coupled with a difficulty going to sleep. 

To support proper adrenal function, it is important to remove all sources of caffeine as that can cause your endocrine system more confusion by telling you that you do not need wake hormone in the morning since you are providing a shot of caffeine. This will cause you to be extremely tired at around 2pm. 

It is best to wake to natural sunlight, or use a full spectrum light and look at this light for about 10 minutes while doing deep breathing exercises. Drink around 8 ounces of pure water to oxygenate your cells and help mitochondrial function (ATP) to wake up. Reduce stress and consider taking some adaptogenic herbs to allow your body to adapt to stress better such as ashwagandha, cordyceps, or turmeric.