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Wiggle your toes for a healthy heart
Plus eating eggs for cardiovascular death and an essential heart enzyme.
Issue 46 | February 14, 2025
image credit: freepik
Happy Valentine’s Day!
♥️ Today is the day of love…amore, amour, kärlek, liefde and more. Keep reading for a special edition of heart-healthy science and strategies.
In today’s issue:
Wiggling your toes for circulation
An (egg)cellent heart
Essential heart enzymes
and more…
We love to hear from you—our community. Please share your feedback, stories, questions, testimonials, ideas, and more with us at [email protected].
👁️🗨️SPOTLIGHT
Wiggle your toes for your heart
image credit: freepik
Strategically wiggling your toes improves low body circulation and reduces risk of heart disease.
🦶These toes are not just meant for walking. Wiggling them can have cardio-protective effects, according to a recent article.
“Wiggle your toes for 30 seconds every hour—especially if you’re sitting or traveling for long periods of time,” says registered nurse Karen Stockdale, MBA, BSN, RN, in the article.
Wiggling stimulates lower body blood flow and it prevents blood pooling in the legs, a condition that puts pressure on the circulatory system and can contribute to deep vein thrombosis and cardiovascular risk.
Even better? Become a fidget sitter
A 2016 University of Missouri-Columbia study shows that fidgeting while sitting can have multiple protective benefits. 🪑
For three hours, participants intermittently tapped one foot while leaving the other still.
The fidgety leg had healthy blood flow, while the still leg suffered from a reduction in blood flow.
Fidgeting even protected the functioning of the arteries in the lower body, which relieves strain on the heart and promotes long-term cardiovascular health.
When’s the best time to wiggle?
Toe wigging, fidgeting, and small movements do not replace the cardiovascular benefits of exercise, but they are a great exercise to do when sitting for a long time.
➕ LIVE MORE
WELLNESS WATCH - Nutrition
Eggs lower risk of cardiovascular death
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Even people with high cholesterol benefitted from eating eggs.
A new study supports the ‘eggs are healthy’ argument, as regular egg consumption (one to six eggs per week) is associated with a 29% lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related dealth in older adults, according to research led by experts at Monash University in Australia.
Among adults aged 70+ years, regular egg consumption was also linked with 15% lower risk of death from any cause compared with eating eggs rarely, or never.
They also seem to be most healthy for adults who already have a moderate- or high-quality diet, researchers write.
Moderate-quality diet: 33% reduced risk of CVD-related death
High-quality diet: 44% reduced risk of CVD-related death
What about people with high cholesterol?
"Previous research has observed a higher risk of mortality with egg consumption for those who have high cholesterol,” explains one author.
But results from this study actually suggest that eggs lower risk of CVD-related death 27% more in people with high cholesterol, compared with those who rarely (or never) ate eggs.
The rebuttal
Strong arguments oppose eating eggs due to their high cholesterol content.
Michael Greger, How Not to Die author and an upcoming speaker at the Livelong Experience, says egg consumption is associated with worse cholesterol, diabetes (a precursor for CVD), and even cancer.
It seems—at least for now—that eggs can be considered part a healthy, longevity-forward diet.
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
The essential heart enzyme
image credit: freepik
Low levels of an enzyme called ubiquitin-specific peptidase 5' (USP5) is linked with an increased risk of heart failure, according to researchers at King’s College London.
🗑️ Clearing the junk away: USP5 seems to clear away the build-up of old proteins ("junk" proteins, as study co-author Mathias Gautel, a professor at King’s College, calls them) in heart muscle cells. Too much of this ‘junk’ is shown to increase risk of heart disease.
New therapeutics might consider targeting USP5 to slow the progression of heart disease and other conditions caused by a build-up of old proteins.
Quick reads
LONG-LEVITY
Cultivate Self-love this Valentine’s Day
image credit: freepik
Self-love isn’t just a superficial word to reconcile wanting to feel happy when you feel down. It is a way of being, of knowing how to support yourself for your well-being and fulfillment—in good times and bad.
Consider these ideas to promote self-love on Valentine’s Day.
💝 Gift yourself: Getting gifts triggers the release of ‘happy hormone‘ oxytocin. But rather than gift yourself ‘things,’ consider gifting yourself an experience that connects you with others, yourself, or the world around you.
🫧 Clean: It is an act of service (one of five love languages) that promotes mental and physical well-being. Put on music and make it fun!
✍️ Write affirmations: They shift your focus to “sources of positive value," which increases resilience, feelings of self-worth, and reduces stress.
💃 Dance: Not only does it improve cardiovascular fitness, but studies show it encourages better self-esteem and self-image.
🦉 WISDOM FOR LIFE
Love doesn’t make the world go ‘round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.
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