The Story of Your Life Is Written With Your Heart
When you think about it, the heart shape is a pretty poor representation of the heart beating in your chest. I mean, obviously it misses the mark anatomically. But it also kind of reduces this objectively amazing little organ to the realm of emotion, which undersells it more than a little bit.
I'm not hating on romance or love, to be clear. My point is, our hearts do so much more—they power us through marathons and up mountains, their sounds soothe our babies (and help shape their brains), and each one beats, on average, more than 100,000 times every. Single. Day.
And yet, many of us tend to forget about these mighty machines—until there's a problem.
Unfortunately, heart disease is the leading killer of adults in the U.S., claiming a life every 33 seconds. Personally, my family has lost three people to heart disease—most recently, my father-in-law, who died suddenly of a heart attack a few years ago.
It wasn't his fault. But I can't help but wonder: If he had known how to care for his heart a little bit more—the way he cared for everyone else in his big, impactful life—would he still be here today?
I'll never know the answer to that question. But I do know this: There's a lot that I can do right now to protect my own heart, and if you're reading this, there's plenty you can do, too. Whether you want to scale mountains or simply stick around long enough to love up on your grandkids (or even great-grandkids!), start showing up for your heart.
Here's your guide to do just that. It's bursting with heart-healthy tips, from nutritious foods to fill your plate with to fun ways to get your heart pumping. You'll also find motivating personal stories from people with heart issues who have learned how to live full, healthy lives despite their diagnoses.
So dig in! I hope you heart it.
Kaitlin Ahern
Editorial Director, Health
Meet the Experts
Stacey Rosen, MD
Stacey Rosen, MD, is a cardiologist board-certified in internal medicine and cardiovascular disease, and a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology. She is the senior vice president for the Katz Institute for Women’s Health, the Partners Council Professor of Women’s Health, and Professor of Cardiology at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. Dr. Rosen is a leading expert in the field of cardiovascular disease in women and oversees women’s health services at Northwell Health with a focus on the elimination of health care disparities through comprehensive clinical programs, gender-based research, community partnerships, and education.
Jeff Huffman, MD
Jeff Huffman, MD, is a board-certified psychiatrist. He’s an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the director of the Cardiac Psychiatry Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, which aims to aims to improve the mental health and medical outcomes of patients with heart disease.
Maya Feller, RD, CDN
Maya Feller, RD, CDN, is a Brooklyn-based registered dietitian nutritionist and the owner of Maya Feller Nutrition, where she provides medical nutrition therapy for the management and risk reduction of non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular disease. Maya believes in providing inclusive nutrition education from an anti-bias, patient-centered, culturally humble approach to help people make informed food choices.
Majid Basit, MD
Majid Basit, MD, is a physician board-certified in both cardiology and interventional cardiology. He is the medical director of cardiovascular services at Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital and is also an adjunct clinical professor at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth in Texas. His clinical interests include complex heart disease and the treatment of cardiovascular disease in older adults.
Nikki Bart, MD
Nikki Bart, MD, is a heart failure and heart transplant cardiologist at The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Sydney, where she leads the Infiltrative Cardiomyopathy group and has established a state-of-the-art multidisciplinary amyloid clinic, offering specialist cardiology, neurology, and haematology care as well as genetic counseling. Her subspeciality interests include advanced cardiac imaging, pulmonary hypertension, and cardiac genetics.