Nourishing Insights Functional Medicine and Nutritional Therapy | Scotland | UK
  • Home
  • Clinic Services
    • Nutritional Therapy
    • Testing
    • UTI Support
    • Group Programmes
    • Children's Nutritional Therapy
    • Fertility and Nutritional Therapy
    • Infant Reflux
    • Mentorship
    • Testimonials
    • Corporate
    • Podcast
    • Living Matrix
  • Meet the Team
    • Cancellation Policy
    • Ethics >
      • Privacy Notice
      • Cookie Policy
  • Courses & Workshops
    • Workshop
    • Membership Community
  • Blog & Podcast
    • Recipes
    • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Blog

The Massage Therapists Role in Supporting Heart Health

28/2/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Cardiovascular Disease typically refers to all diseases of the heart and circulation. For example: congenital heart defects, atrial fibrillation, heart attack, and coronary heart disease. There are many risk factors for cardiovascular disease including congenital defects, high blood pressure, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, diabetes and stress.

While little can be done about congenital conditions, the good news is that by making lifestyle changes you can help to reduce your risk. Walking for just 30 minutes each day has been shown to reduce your risk by 20%, compared with those who were sedentary. Daily exercise can also help manage your blood sugar which is another risk factor.

What we eat of course is also important. Reducing the amount of processed, inflammatory foods in your diet will reduce your risk factors. Enjoying a wide variety of fresh fruit and vegetables daily, foods high in omega 3 fatty acids like salmon, and nuts and seeds and good fats like avocado all help to support the heart and keep it ticking. To learn more about how Nutrition can help, make an appointment with a Nutritional Therapist. 
​
Stress and Anxiety
But what are you doing about reducing stress and anxiety? We know that stress and anxiety raise levels of stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones increase the rate of breathing, heart rate and blood pressure sending the body into the “fight or flight” response. When you live under constant stress the increased demand on your heart begins to cause serious damage. If that wasn’t bad enough studies have shown a link between stress and a change in the way blood clots, increasing the risk of heart attack.

So how can massage help?
Many of you will have experienced the stress relieving effects of a massage. But do you know how it works? Massage stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, lowering cortisol and adrenaline and pulling you out of the “fight or flight” scenario. It also increases dopamine and serotonin (our happy, feel-good hormones) and lowers excitatory hormones like norepinephrine and epinephrine (too much of which can lead to feelings of anxiety).
Massage also helps to lower cortisol and adrenaline by promoting relaxation and improving sleep. When we get restorative sleep the body is able to recover and the stress hormones return to normal. In addition, massage is a wonderful way to reduce pain levels. When we are in pain, the stress response is activated and our cortisol and adrenaline levels shoot up. Massage helps to calm us down, reducing blood pressure and therefore the strain put on the heart by elevated stress levels.

What the studies say…
  • Massage was shown to significantly reduce blood pressure and heart rate in hypertensive women over a 4 week period.
  • Massage therapy has been shown to reduce pain and anxiety after cardiac surgery.
  • Massage has been shown to reduce anxiety and systolic blood pressure in patients suffering from congestive heart failure.
  • Massage has also been shown to stabilise blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate and O2 saturation in patients with congestive heart failure.

To book your appointment email Harriette at info@nourishinginsights.com or call us on 01224 969637.
 
 
 
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405587516300324
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18315516
Chen, W.L., Liu, G.J., Yeh, S.H., Chiang, M.C., Fu, M.Y., Hsieh, Y.K.(2012). Effect of Back Massage Intervention on Anxiety, Comfort, and Physiologic Responses in Patients with Congestive Heart Failure. J Altern Complement Med
Jamali S, Ramezanli S, Jahromi M. K, Zare A, Poorgholami F. Effect of Massage Therapy on Physiologic Responses in Patients with Congestive Heart Failure. Biosci Biotech Res Asia 2016;13(1)
University of Bonn. "Anxiety Linked To Blood Clots: Fear That Freezes The Blood In Your Veins." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 26 March 2008. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080325111800.htm>.
0 Comments

    Categories

    All
    Baby
    Cancer
    Children
    Christmas
    Defiant Beauty
    Dinner
    Echinacea
    Eczema
    Fairtrade
    Fertility
    Food
    Food Intolerance
    Gut Health
    Harriette
    Hay Fever
    Herbal Medicine
    Herbs
    Holiday
    Immune System
    Medicinal Mushrooms
    Multivitamin And Mineral
    Musculo Skeletal
    Nutritional Therapy
    Nutritional-therapy
    Organic
    Pets
    Pregnancy
    Probiotic
    Rest
    Sleep
    Stress
    Tea

    Amazon Associates Disclosure

    Nourishing Insights is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk.

    Archives

    August 2022
    June 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    August 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013

WHAT OUR CLIENTS ARE SAYING

“I did Nutritional Therapy with Beverley and it was life changing. I highly recommend it!”  Allison Blakely (Glasgow)
Picture
Picture

Contact Us

Email: info@nourishinginsights.com
Want to speak to us by phone? Book a call back here.



Nutritional Therapist, Functional Medicine, Infant reflux specialist, aberdeen

Photos used under Creative Commons from tnilsson.london, The Garden Smallholder
  • Home
  • Clinic Services
    • Nutritional Therapy
    • Testing
    • UTI Support
    • Group Programmes
    • Children's Nutritional Therapy
    • Fertility and Nutritional Therapy
    • Infant Reflux
    • Mentorship
    • Testimonials
    • Corporate
    • Podcast
    • Living Matrix
  • Meet the Team
    • Cancellation Policy
    • Ethics >
      • Privacy Notice
      • Cookie Policy
  • Courses & Workshops
    • Workshop
    • Membership Community
  • Blog & Podcast
    • Recipes
    • Podcast
  • Contact Us