Shelly's Shares: Heart Health, Not Fate; Choose It

Heart disease isn’t destiny, and it isn’t just about cholesterol. We unpack the real drivers that push risk higher—chronic stress, poor sleep, blood sugar swings, inflammation, and everyday toxin exposure—and show how small, doable habits build a stronger, more resilient heart. From decoding women’s often-missed symptoms to the Monday morning spike in heart attacks, we cut through the noise with practical guidance you can use today.

We share how to help alleviate some stress moments with quick breath work techniques, daily walking, and nervous system-friendly routines that lower cortisol and blood pressure. Then we turn to metabolic health: why insulin resistance often comes before heart trouble, how protein and fiber flatten glucose curves, and what a Mediterranean-leaning, plant-forward plate can do for your arteries. You’ll hear clear food strategies like including omega-3s, fiber-rich plants, and quality protein choices.

We also address the unique cardiovascular realities for women during perimenopause and menopause, when declining estrogen affects vascular tone and risk grows. Strength training, consistent movement, and protein sufficiency take center stage, along with social connection and purpose—two undervalued protectors that calm the stress response. Finally, we return to the cornerstone habit: sleep. With a few tactical tweaks, better rest stabilizes blood pressure, moderates appetite hormones, and brings your nervous system back into balance.

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Thank you for listening to the Words of Wellness podcast with Shelly Jefferis. I am honored and so grateful to have you here and it would mean the world to me if you could take a minute to follow, leave a 5-star review and share  the podcast with anyone you love and anyone you feel could benefit from the message.

Thank you and God Bless! And remember to do something for yourself, for your wellness on this day! 
In Health, 

Shelly

Transcript

Genetics Versus Choice

SPEAKER_00 0:00

If it's in your family history, it is not the destiny for you. Let me just tell you, genetics plays a role, but it plays a very, very small role. That does not mean that you poo-poo it and you don't take it into consideration. But I want you to not be completely discouraged if it runs in your family. I want you to be aware of it and then take proper peak precautions. And maybe for you, you might need to go the extra, you know, the extra mile when it comes to your heart health and what you're doing to stay healthy. Because really, the biggest contributor, the biggest factor when it comes to your heart disease risk is your lifestyle.

Meet Words Of Wellness

SPEAKER_00 0:56

Do you get confused by all of the information that bombards us every day on ways to improve our overall health and our overall wellness? Do you often feel stuck, unmotivated, or struggle to reach your wellness goals? Do you have questions as to what exercises you should be doing, what foods you should or shouldn't be eating? How to improve your overall emotional and mental well-being? Hello everyone, I am so excited to welcome you to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelly Jeffries, and I will be your host. My goal is to answer these questions and so much more. To share tips, education, and inspiration around all of the components of wellness through solo and guest episodes. With 35 plus years as a health and wellness professional, a retired college professor, a speaker, and a multi-passionate entrepreneur, I certainly have lots to share. However, my biggest goal and inspiration in doing this podcast is to share the wellness stories of others with you. To bring in guests who can share their journeys so that we can all learn together while making an impact on the health, the wellness, and lives of all of you, our listeners. The ultimate hope is that you leave today with even just one nugget that can enhance the quality of your life, and that you will, we all will, now and into the future, live our best quality of lives full of energy, happiness, and joy. Now let's dive into our message for today.

Why Heart Health Now

SPEAKER_00 2:27

Hi my friends, welcome back to Words of Wellness. This is our Shelly's Shares episode today. And I want to jump in and talk a little bit about our heart health. I thought that given the fact that it is the month of February, I thought it would be an important topic to discuss. And I just want to share some key points surrounding this very topic. Because it's very, it's very important to be aware of what are we what are we doing? What are we doing on a daily basis that can help contribute to our heart health?

Toxins And Cardiovascular Risk

SPEAKER_00 3:12

And I learned a statistic over the weekend that 20% of global cardiovascular deaths can be contributed to toxins. And again, this is a topic I share about often, but it's just more reason to be aware of toxins that we're exposed to and how we can reduce that exposure. So I wanted to share that with all of you because I think that's very, very important to be aware of. And I wanted to share some key points when it comes to our heart health.

Women’s Symptoms And Safety

SPEAKER_00 3:54

And one thing that is pretty alarming, some of you might know this, is that it is the number one killer of women is heart disease. And you know, I think it's so hard for me to see that statistic, knowing that there are so many things that we can do that are in our power and our control to be preventing that. Now, I know there are some cases where we can't we can't prevent it. And there are those cases, those unusual cases, where out of the blue, someone will have a heart attack and it makes no sense. Now, of course, there is that genetic component, we're gonna get to that in a minute, but I want to just really highlight some key points today, and then let's talk about what we can do to just protect our heart. And we're gonna we're gonna go over some some key key habits that we can get into. So as far as the the topic of women, you know, it's crazy. I mean, that's just heart disease, you know, is one of the top diseases that that that women deal with. And sometimes if you just are aware of the symptoms, it can make, of course, a difference between life and death. So for women, it's different than men. For women, it's fatigue, nausea, anxiety, shortness of breath. Those are just some of the some of the um key signs. Whereas I think for men, you know, it's just a little bit different. There is that fatigue and that probably that nausea, but you also hear about the the pain going through the left side, the arm and the left side of the body. So they're different responses that each go through. And what I will always say, I will say this forever, I always have said this. If you are not sure, go to the doctor or the hospital. It's always better to be safe than sorry. I'll never forget. And my dad, God bless him, is no longer living, but he had a mild heart attack. This was probably this was a few years before he he actually passed, but he had a mild heart attack. And he, you know, recognized the signs and he told his wife and gone, I think I'm having a heart attack. Um, and they went to the hospital. Sure enough, it was a mild one, but yes, he was was having one. So thankfully, um his wonderful wife, Madeline, who loved dearly, was able was home. She was home so she could get him to the to the hospital. So just better to be safe than sorry. Sorry. So, so number one, it is the number one killer for women. So, you know, that's something we need to really take to heart. No pun intended.

Stress As A Hidden Driver

SPEAKER_00 6:50

The second point I want to make is stress. Stress is one of the biggest hidden drivers of heart disease. Now, if you listened to my episode last week, I talked about stress. It was the last part in a four-part series that I shared on longevity. And so if you need to go back and listen to some of the key points, and some of it I will share again today. But stress is one of the biggest factors when it comes to heart disease. And we know that stress you know raises our blood pressure, it increases inflammation, it keeps our cortisol levels elevated. So we just have to really take heart again, no pun intended, but eat nutritious foods, make sure we're getting exercise and moving our bodies to kind of really help regulate our nervous system. So, so

Blood Sugar And Metabolism

SPEAKER_00 7:42

so important. The next key point: blood sugar balance. Many heart issues start with metabolic dysfunction. Metabolic dysfunction, one of those is high blood pressure and high insulin insulin levels. So we want to really keep those in check and keep them under control the best that we can. And in some cases, that does require medication. So that's one of those areas where you must go to your doctor and get checked, get your blood work done, and see where you fall within that range and make sure you're taking steps and being very proactive to keep your insulin levels balanced.

Walking As Daily Medicine

SPEAKER_00 8:26

Walking, another key point. Walking is so powerful when it comes to keeping your heart healthy and strong. And it's such a wonderful habit to get into. It's easy, you just need a good pair of tennis shoes, some comfortable clothing, and you, you know, walk out your front door, right? So it does help lower your blood pressure, helps to improve your cholesterol, it definitely reduces those stress hormones. And I talked about this in the previous episode where any form of movement really helps us manage stress. And then, of course, walking helps us, you know, kind of balance and keep our weight maintained. It helps with the blood sugar levels. So that's another really key component in this and keeping our heart healthy is getting the regular movement and most specifically walking. It's just so, so beneficial. Not to mention it really, really helps us with our our mental health. And you know, mental health really is connected to our stress. So all of that goes hand in hand. So grab some walking shoes, jump, you know, step out the front door and get to walking. It is it's amazing.

Chronic Inflammation Explained

SPEAKER_00 9:42

The next key point I want to share is inflammation. I think that this is a topic that's not shared probably enough. And it's more about chronic inflammation. So when we think of heart disease, so often we think of the relationship to our cholesterol, when in fact it's really more related to the overall inflammation that we're experiencing, the chronic inflammation. So, what contributes to inflammation? Well, inflammation is driven by poor sleep. So if we're not getting decent night's sleep on a regular basis, poor sleep, high stress, again, coming back to the stress, we talked about it last week. The high stress contributes to inflammation. Blood sugar swings. So again, if your blood sugar is not balanced, that contributes to stress. Toxins, as I mentioned at the top of this podcast episode, toxin exposure contributes to inflammation. And, you know, my friends, I would be willing to bet it is one of the, if not one of the number one contributors to so many of the health issues that we are experiencing today. And again, I've shared on this topic, I've spoken on it. I will continue to share and spread the awareness around toxins and how to reduce our exposure. But again, taking just small steps, taking making small swaps in your home, one to two things every one, two, three, four months or weeks, whatever you can do is is really so critical and so beneficial for your health. And then inflammation is also driven by ultra-processed foods. So we've heard a lot about that in the news this last year or two, that so much of what we are consuming is highly processed. And the chemicals, the ingredients in high-processed foods contribute highly to inflammation in our bodies. So when it comes to counteracting all of this, some of the foods that are supportive

Food Choices That Protect

SPEAKER_00 12:05

of our heart health include omega-3s, fiber-rich plants, so getting a lot of plants in your diet, consuming a plant-based diet, which is very similar in what the Mediterranean diet is, which is what's recommended in the longevity space. So really consuming a lot of plant foods in your day-to-day food, consuming quality protein. What does that look like? Well, personally, I recommend uh when it comes to our like our chicken, our poultry, our fish, I recommend organic as much as you possibly can. And you know, it can be also you can get protein, of course, from eggs, from yogurt, and obviously from beef and steak. And so, whatever it is that you're consuming, you want to make sure it's a quality form of protein, a high quality, and that it's being utilized and absorbed by your body. And another protein that's really very highly absorbed is whey protein, and that's something that I consume on a daily basis. And I consume undenatured whey, which is one of the highest, if not the highest, forms of whey that you can consume because it's undenatured. Undenatured means that it has not been processed in a way that destroys its nutrients, it has not been heated, so it's very, very high quality and nutrient dense. And then minimize your processed fats. You know, how how how many foods are you consuming that have processed fats? And then if we're really conscientious of processed foods in general, that will help reduce how many of the processed fats that we're consuming.

Sleep, Mondays, And Risk

SPEAKER_00 14:02

And then the next point is sleep. Again, I talked about that in my four-part series, so you can go back and listen to that episode. But again, sleep is a non-negotiable when it comes to our heart health. And if we are not getting our proper sleep, it can raise our blood pressure, it can increase our cortisol levels, it can also disrupt our blood sugar levels, and therefore it can increase our heart attack risk. Now, a scary statistic, and I don't have the exact number, but the highest amount of heart attacks occur on Monday morning. So why is that? And we can go back and think, well, it's the start of the week. People are stressed about a new week, getting back to work, and a lot of times Sunday night, that stress starts to kick in and it disrupts our sleep. I know that was something that my husband experienced. And, you know, leading up to Monday can be can be stressful. So we want to do everything that we can to minimize that stress so that we we are not going through that experience and increasing our risk for a heart attack.

Lifestyle Over Genetics

SPEAKER_00 15:29

And then talking about genetics, um, you know, I've I've I've shared this a little bit, but if it's in your family history, it is not the destiny for you. Let me just tell you, genetics plays a role, but it plays a very, very small role. That does not mean that you poo-poo it and you don't take it into consideration, but I want you to not be completely discouraged if it runs in your family. I want you to be aware of it and then take proper peak precautions. And maybe for you, you might need to go the extra, you know, the extra mile when it comes to your heart health and what you're doing to stay healthy. Because really, the biggest contributor, the biggest factor when it comes to your heart disease risk is your lifestyle. Your lifestyle. What are you doing on a day-to-day basis when it comes to your health, when it comes to movement, exercise, your nutrition, your sleep, your stress management. What does your day-to-day life look like? Right? Those are all really important components. And then again, your toxic exposure. So lifestyle, I cannot emphasize enough, is the biggest factor when it comes to your heart health.

Menopause And Heart Health

SPEAKER_00 17:09

And you know, this next point I want to share is most specific for women because when we start to go through perimenopause and menopause, that can also affect our heart disease risk. So when estrogen declines, it impacts our blood vessels. Risk actually increases postmenopause. And so I can't emphasize enough that this is the time for sure where you do not want to ignore any symptoms. Be safe rather than sorry. If you're experiencing something that does not seem right, get it checked. It's not something to mess with. I, of course, I'm not a doctor, but I'm just sharing with you as a friend and educated in this area of wellness, health, longevity, that these any symptoms that we might experience, these are these are signs that we do not want to ignore. Because truly, you just never know. You just never know. So keep that in mind for for my moms, my my my female friends out there, that menopause does, of course, change it changes everything in our bodies, but the symptoms are going to be more present if they're gonna come up at all. You have a higher chance of them coming up in the post-menopause menopause time of your life.

Quick Recap Of Risks

SPEAKER_00 18:49

So, what can we do? I have shared through all of this some things that we can do, but just to do a little overview of just the contributing factors and things that can be um beneficial, but also can put us at a higher risk. Women, we are at high risk. Stress is a big risk factor when it comes to heart disease, so we want to manage that stress, blood sugar balance, keep it in balance so we can protect our heart. Walking, get in the habit of walking. It's one of the most powerful things we can do for our heart. Inflammation is a huge contributor to heart disease. So, really, again, be aware of those areas that contribute to inflammation. Sleep, non-negotiable, my friends, when it comes to your heart health. Extremely important. Genetics plays a role, but lifestyle is the major contributing factor. And then midlife and beyond, we want to be really, really aware of potential symptoms and take action to protect ourselves. So, some small habits that we can

Daily Habits That Help

SPEAKER_00 20:05

do. I've shared a couple of them, and I shared many of these uh last week when I spoke on stress, but some small daily habits. Now, let me stress, as I always do, this is not about perfection. I I'm not my goal is never to overwhelm anyway, anyone. It's to increase awareness, provide education, and provide some simple tips that you can apply to your day-to-day life. So, some small daily habits that that we can put into play that will help us. Breath work. I talked about this last week. Taking time to really breathe full breaths into our belly, breathing completely out, maybe do the box breathing, breathe in for four counts, hold for four, breathe out for four. Any kind of breath work again helps to keep the stress at bay. It keeps our central nervous system calm and balanced. Breath work is huge. Walking is huge, any kind of movement is huge. Protein-rich meals, make sure you're getting enough of that protein, my friends. And then also, of course, the plants. Eating a fiber-rich, plant-based diet is so beneficial. Connection and purpose. This is such a big one. I was at an event for my company recently, and our last speaker spoke on AI, and it was just a phenomenal presentation. But it was stressed, and I have stressed this for a long time. I'm such a proponent of community and connection. And now, more than ever, because of what's happening with technology, we must keep connection with One another. And it's going to take more effort on our part, but it is so so critical for our overall health and having a purpose in our lives. Think about what lights you up. What are you passionate about? Having that purpose that motivates you and you know fills you with joy and keeps you alive. That purpose is so huge. So really take time to think about that.

Rest, Purpose, And Closing

SPEAKER_00 22:29

And then finally, rest. Taking time to rest is so important. Our pastor just recently did a sermon on you know our our hurried life, always being in a hurry, rushing here, rushing there, rather than taking moments to just rest. And I shared about this recently as well, is taking moments to to rest, to be still. And I think that in society it's probably not happening enough. So I hope that you are taking moments yourself to rest and to be still. And with that being said, take time for your wellness on this day and take time to rest. Take time to protect and care for your heart health. And until next time, my friends, have a beautiful, blessed rest of your week. And I'll see you next time on Words of Wellness. Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode. I hope you gained value and enjoyed our time together as much as I did. And if you know someone who could benefit from today's episode, I would love and appreciate it if you could share with a friend or rate and review Words of Wellness so that more can hear this message. I love and appreciate you all. Thank you for listening. And if you have any questions or topics you would like me to share in future episodes, please don't hesitate to reach out to me through my contact information that is shared in the show notes below. Again, thank you for tuning in to Words of Wellness. My name is Shelly Jeffries, and I encourage you to do something for you, for your wellness on this day. Until next time, I hope you all have a healthy, happy, and blessed weekend.