In this wild and wonderful world, there are indeed many things over which we do not have control.

For example, if you read my recent newsletter, you’ll know that I’m expecting — hallelujah! — but that the beginning of my pregnancy was truly tumultuous. (Not signed up? Do so here.) I did everything in my power to feel better, from food to supplements to various hippie practices, but nothing seemed to work… except, well, time. Three months to be exact.

Of course, this was completely mind boggling to me, seeing as my entire pregnancy with Edgar was so smooth sailing. A classic case of “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference,” and a lesson in what every other woman with more than one child tells you, i.e. every pregnancy/baby is different.

Fortunately, however, other aspects of life are much more straight-forward.

One in particular is diet. And when it comes to preventing heart disease – today’s topic – diet is the all star. 

What we eat makes one of the hugest impacts on how we feel, our mental health, and our risk for disease. (Despite what the fatalists would have you believe, your health doesn’t have to be an entropic misadventure.)

So, the bad news is that heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States, a sinister doozy if ever there was one.

But, the good news?

Heart disease is a “lifestyle disease,” and therefore, largely preventable.

If I had a dime for every time I hear this…

Friends, due to the delightful science of epigenetics, we now know that it’s not so much that the disease runs in your family, more so that lifestyle habits run in families. Meaning that, even if you have the gene to get such-and-such, the gene will only be turned on if your lifestyle habits enable it to be turned on.

This is such good news!

Well, not for the fatalists, but for those of us who want to take responsibility for our life and health, it absolutely is the best. news. ever. We can make better choices and experience better outcomes – especially if we get started early enough.

(And you don’t have to take my word for this – I highly recommend you take a look into the fascinating science of epigentics for yourself. It’s empowering, and at the risk of sounding dramatic, it could save your life. Epigenetics and children. A deeper dive into epigenetics.)

Anyway, it turns out there’s some brilliant research out there on how to reduce your risk for heart disease.

Today I’m sharing Dr. David Jenkins’ The Portfolio Diet, which is filled with “special effect foods” specifically designed to lower your cholesterol.  What are these “special effect foods” and how can you easily include them in your diet? It’s all in the video, including a sample meal plan.

Let’s eat.

I sincerely hope that you found this video helpful! If you know someone who would benefit from this lil’ crash course in lowering cholesterol, I’d be thrilled if you’d share this post with them.

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead, and talk soon,