This is KILLING 1,909 People Per Day in the US!!!

Today we're talking about just how deadly heart disease is.Approximate read time: 3 min 17 sec

In 2020 heart disease killed 697,000 people in the US.697,000 is a huge number that's hard to wrap our minds around.Let's make this feel real.You've flown on a large passenger plane, right?You know what a fully booked flight looks like. 697,000 people comes out to 1,909 people per day.That's the equivalent of fulling loading 5 Boeing 777 airplanes and running them straight into the ground every day of the year with no survivors.And that's just in the US. Heart disease is the number one killer worldwide, which bumps the number up to 15,365,660 people per year or 42,097 people every day, also known as 110 Boeing 777s crashing with no survivor crashes. Does that make the issue of heart disease feel a bit more urgent?Can you imagine the chaos if 110 commercial flights were hijacked and run into the ground every single day for a year?There would be a complete meltdown.There would be nothing else on the news.Air travel would grind to a halt.Every government in the world would declare a state of emergency.

Why doesn't anyone seem to care?

No one cares about heart disease because it's not interesting enough to make it on the news. Go back to the hijacking scenario; news sites would be crashing around the world due to overloaded traffic, and social media would be painted red with the tragedy of these lost lives. Why?It's easy to have an emotional response when you have a specific enemy. When you know who to point your anger and frustration at, it's easy to let it out and, for better or worse, make some waves.Things get sticky when you don't have a defined enemy, you're unaware that there is an enemy, and you're not even sure which side you're on.

Welcome to the fight against heart disease.

It's hard to tell what's true and what's not, who is the enemy, and who's your friend.But there are a few things we know for sure.It's firmly established that staying physically active, eating right, managing your stress, and getting enough sleep at night DRAMATICALLY reduce your risk of heart disease. Here's the problem.Almost no one knows how to do those things, and even those who do, struggle to do them consistently. I'm here to help you; I'm giving you my simple checklist for heart-healthy living.

• Exercise daily- I don't care what you do; you just have to move. Walking for 21 minutes per day reduces your risk of heart disease by 30%. More exercise is better, but this will make a dent.

• Eat a balanced diet- What does that even mean? Get 0.5-0.7 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day, and then fill the rest of your calories up with fruits and vegetables and minimally processed foods.

• Make sleep a top priority- Your bedtime and waketimes need to be written in stone. You need 7-9 hours of sleep per night, EVEN IF YOU FEEL ALERT WITH LESS. Most of the recovery and housekeeping processes your body goes through to keep it functioning well happen while you're asleep, and that takes time.

• Manage your stress- What works for me might not work for you. I exercise, walk, and do walking meditations for my stress management. Find what works for you. It should be something that doesn't add a burden to your life, and it should be easy to be consistent. If it's not, you won't stick with it.

The ball is in your court.

Look at that list.Is there anything on there that someone else can do FOR you?Nope.It's up to you.The cavalry isn't coming.You're the only person who can keep your heart healthy, but that's the best part about this.You CAN do it!That's all for today.

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