Your heart is working every second of your life.

It beats more than 100,000 times each day, delivering oxygen, nutrients, hormones, and immune support to every cell in your body. It adapts moment by moment to what you do, how you move, how you rest, and what you eat.

In this important and empowering episode of 1,000 Waking Minutes, Dr. Wendy Bazilian explores why heart health matters in ways that go far beyond avoiding disease. You’ll learn how your cardiovascular system functions, why vascular flexibility and circulation are essential to your overall health, and how daily choices influence your heart’s ability to respond and recover.

Most importantly, this episode highlights specific, science-supported foods that help protect cardiovascular health—including cherries, tomatoes, berries, oats, nuts, leafy greens, fatty fish, avocados, chia seeds, and dark chocolate—and explains how their nutrients support healthy blood vessels, cholesterol balance, inflammation regulation, and circulation.

You’ll also experience a guided breathing moment to connect with your own pulse and observe how responsive your cardiovascular system is in real time.

This episode brings heart health into focus not as a distant medical concern, but as a living system that responds to your choices each day—and gives you clear, practical ways to support it through your 1,000 waking minutes.

WE DISCUSS:

(0:00) How the heart is central to our lives - biologically, emotionally, culturally

(3:55) Why heart health is about daily physiology—not just avoiding heart attacks or disease

(6:36) How circulation, blood vessels, and vascular flexibility shape cardiovascular health

(10:38) The science behind “Eat Red”: cherries, tomatoes, berries, and their role in vascular function

(15:43) Key cardiovascular-supportive foods including oats, nuts, fatty fish, leafy greens, avocados, chia seeds, and dark chocolate

(22:21) How nutrients like fiber, omega-3 fats, polyphenols, nitrates, and unsaturated fats help support heart health

(23:12) A guided breathing moment to observe your heart’s adaptability and responsiveness

(25:15) Practical ways to support cardiovascular health through food, movement, rest, and daily choices

CONNECT WITH WENDY:

Follow me on Instagram: @1000WakingMinutes

Visit my website: wendybazilian.com

Email me topics you want covered on the podcast: 1KWM@wendybazilian.com

PLEASE SUPPORT:

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Subscribe to get new episodes as soon as they drop.

Rate & Review the show. Your feedback helps others find the podcast.

Comment & Join the conversation! Share your thoughts or questions by visiting wendybazilian.com or connecting with me on social media.

Thank you for tuning in to 1,000 Waking Minutes and being part of this journey–together. A huge thank you to our amazing collaborators including our production and marketing teams and Gabriela Escalante in particular. To the ultra-talented Beza for my theme music, my lifelong friend and artist Pearl Preis Photography and Design, to Danielle Ballantyne, Jen Nguyen, Joanna Powell, and of course, my family and everyone working tirelessly behind the scenes.

HEALTH DISCLAIMER:

The information shared in this podcast is for educational purposes only and should not be considered individual medical or health advice. Always consult with your trusted healthcare provider before making any changes to your diet, exercise, or medical treatment.

You might not think about

your heart every day, but

it's the reason you can

think clearly, move with grace

and strength.

It keeps your energy steady

and your body able to

do what you ask of

it.

How you care for your

heart shapes how you live.

We experience 1,000 waking minutes

on average every day.

How are you spending yours?

I'm Dr. Wendy Bazilian and

you're listening to 1,000 Waking

Minutes.

I can't wait to connect

with you here with practical

ways to eat well, move

daily and be healthy, to

optimize every waking minute you

live for a happier, healthier

life.

Thank you for sharing some

of your waking minutes with

me today.

Let's get started.

I'm saying yes to better

days.

Yes, I'm on my way.

Yes, I'm on my way.

It's going to be okay,

yeah.

Hello and welcome to 1,000

Waking Minutes.

I'm Dr. Wendy Bazilian and

I'm so glad you're here

with me today.

You know, it's February and

it is the month that

has a way of bringing

the heart into focus.

Of course, we see it

everywhere in art, in conversation,

with all the red that

we see in all the

gift shops and even the

drugstores these days in anticipation

of Valentine's Day and in

reminders for us to wear

red for awareness for heart

health.

So I want to take

this into the heart health

arena.

And you know, the heart

is something that has always

had meaning in culture.

And I want to look

at it there because our

heart is a central focus

of our lives and what

keeps us alive, frankly.

So if you think back

or if you've read Shakespeare

anytime in the recent past,

any of the sonnets that

are, you know, so lovely

and have such a special

rhythm to them, Shakespeare wrote

about hearts that "loved and

bled in the same breath"

in one of the sonnets,

a heart that carries courage

and longing and devotion, representing

vitality in every single way.

It holds the grief and

the passion.

It holds the extremes of

emotion.

And if we think about

that, you know, that's not

the physiological that gets at

the feelings and our emotion,

the emotional core of the

body.

And if we look to

artist Jim Dine, someone I

have seen but was just

recently introduced to amazingly by

our elementary school art teacher,

and I had the opportunity

to be in with my

daughter in art class with

Mrs. Johanssen, she introduced us

to Jim Dine and his

fascination and portrayal of the

heart - again and again over

decades of his art.

I encourage you to take

a look at it if

you don't know it already.

You'll probably recognize some of

it.

And his art isn't like

the tidy Valentine's heart, although

it very often has, you

know, a very clear shape

of a heart, but it's

textured and layered, often imperfect.

And we got to do

that a little bit in

the class, or at least

I got to help some

of the students do it.

It's expressive and human.

And he seems to treat

the heart like a vessel

for experience to show us

that.

And so I think that

the image of the heart,

even though it doesn't look

like the fist size actual

heart with its chambers in

our body, it has real

impact and meaning and it

connects with us.

Because biologically, the heart is

not a symbol.

It's actually our movement.

It's a pump.

It's an organ.

And heart health is not

about primarily avoiding a single

event.

You know what I mean?

A heart attack or any

of those kinds of events

that we are trying to

stave off.

But it really is about

how the body moves through

life.

It moves through what it

needs.

It moves through today.

And while our heart is

pumping blood every single second,

whether you're awake or asleep,

through the network of vessels,

right to the edges of

your lips and the tips

of your fingers, everywhere, it

reaches every organ, every muscle,

every cell.

And that circulation, it delivers

life.

It delivers oxygen.

It delivers glucose, hormones, immune

cells, nutrients, you know, the

fighters that come in for

our immune defense.

And it also removes the

waste.

It is one of the

organs that helps remove waste

and bring things back to

other organs that help bring

it out of the body.

Our heart supports temperature regulation.

You know, the 98.6

or thereabouts, you know, it

literally helps us dissipate when

we have extra heat to

the skin and then we

sweat or it evaporates.

It supports our brain function.

Our circulation is smooth and

responsive.

If you have variations in

it, you feel it and

we worry or we check

it out.

When you run, it starts

to pump harder and you

feel it.

But the body works so

efficiently.

And when circulation is in

flow, the flow of circulation,

generally things are moving around

healthy.

But when it meets some

resistance, if our vessels get

stiff or if some arteries

start to have buildup of

plaque or narrowing, it makes

the flow a little bit

impeded or a lot impeded

over time, depending on our

health status and what doctors

and why they check out

the markers like lipids and

cholesterol and why sometimes they

have to dig deeper, so

to speak, with other kinds

of tests.

The body then has to

work harder to accomplish the

same thing.

And that's the piece we

don't always talk about when

we're trying to understand and

make sense of why cholesterol

matters or why some of

these matters.

Your arteries are not rigid

plumbing.

You know, they are living

tissue.

They expand and contract.

And guess what?

You have some say in

how well they do that.

And not just, you know,

in how well you've lived

forever, but what you do

today and over the course

of time.

And that's why typically you

can see change when we

make change if you need

to.

Our blood vessels even respond

acutely, meaning in a short

period of time, to nitric

oxide, which can be found

in certain foods.

And it's a molecule that

helps our blood vessels relax.

They adjust certainly to exercise,

you know, and they can

open up and become more

responsive.

And certainly our heart gets

pumping and the flow becomes

faster.

And they respond to stress.

Thankfully, when you get healthy

sleep or any sleep, they

recover as well.

The lining of our vessels,

which is called the endothelium,

it plays a central role

in cardiovascular health.

And when it's functioning well,

the blood flows easily.

So that's something you can

picture, sort of like the

highway, the highway under its

best conditions.

You're like, wow, this is,

you know, almost a pleasure.

I don't know if driving

is ever really a pleasure,

but almost when it flows

freely.

But when it's irritative or

there is a bottleneck, our

flexibility and also the flow

declines.

And that's why modern heart

science, cardiovascular science, looks beyond

the single cholesterol numbers and

looks broader now.

And it looks at things

like triglycerides, which are packages

or like sort of the

trucks that carry fat in

the bloodstream so that it

can, they can transfer it.

Because remember, fats, fat and

water don't mix.

So they have a transport

vehicle to help those fats.

So is how you work

with it.

You know, your movement, how

you eat, how you live,

all play an impact on

your heart health.

Of course, we do know

that age and genetics play

a role, family history and

other things.

But there's a lot that

we can do for heart

health.

Can we help control inflammation?

Absolutely.

Can we help the responsiveness

or the relaxation effect of

our blood vessels?

Absolutely.

Can we help the resistance

be less, less, less rigid

and more flexible?

Yes.

And can we help our

lipids get balanced in a

way that is more stable

rather than building up or

in flux?

Yes, we can.

Can we do that only

with lifestyle?

That depends.

Sometimes there's wonderful collaboration with

your doctor if you need

medical intervention, but that doesn't

take away the lifestyle part

of it.

They work in tandem all

the time.

And this is because our

physiology is dynamic.

So this should feel empowering.

I hope it does.

Because the way we move,

it absolutely impacts our vascular

flexibility and our sleep, working

on sleep, you know, an

eat well, move daily, be

healthy, the be healthy, the

sleep.

It helps regulate inflammation.

It helps regulate appetite hormones.

It helps regulate blood sugar

during the day after you

wake.

Working on stress management techniques,

whether it's meditation, being in

nature, a host of other

doing Tai Chi.

It helps influence blood pressure

and thereby our heart rate

and heart health as well.

And then there's our food.

And today I just want

to focus on a few

foods.

I want to keep this

simple.

Our food really shapes our

environment in which all of

this operates.

And it is the thing

that we do most of

us three times a day

or more in general.

So it's where I want

to spend a little bit

of time.

Years ago, I wrote about

the idea of wearing red

for heart health month and

eating red for heart health.

And I think the language

is pretty simple.

And the science actually supports

it.

The science has become more

refined, more robust.

But the framework, eat red,

works.

So I'm going to give

you some red foods to

focus on.

I'm going to expand that

list just a little bit

into the rainbow because I

want you just to take

a few things into your

life this month so that

you pay attention to them.

You observe them and hopefully

you ingest them as well.

So first of all, cherries.

We love cherries.

Cherries are a summer fruit,

right?

Yes, indeed.

Fresh cherries, but tart cherries

are also something that are

harvested in summer.

And unless you live in

a region like Michigan, and

I've had the pleasure because

I have family there and

I've met farmers up there,

I have a dear, dear

friend in Traverse City.

Unless you've been there in

the summer and you can

actually get fresh tart cherries,

you're going to mostly find

them as dried tart cherries,

also sometimes called Montmorency.

As tart cherry juice, you'll

find them frozen, but they're

very fragile.

And so most of them

become minimally processed, like flash

frozen or dried, so that

they get into the food

supply for us.

Fresh, frozen, dried, what am

I thinking?

There's some concentrates.

They are rich in anthocyanins.

They are rich in certain

compounds that are plant compounds

that have been studied for

their role in supporting blood

vessel function, helping moderate inflammatory

pathways and help with our

general heart health and also

recovery in sport.

They're also a source of

melatonin, so they may help

sleep, which also helps our

heart.

So there's a lot going

on with cherries and you

can get them year round.

So how do we add

them?

Well, of course, we can

add them to our oatmeal

in the morning, another heart

healthy food we'll get to.

Our yogurt, you can drink

some juice or make a

juice spritzer if you're doing

sort of the dry or

less alcohol in your life.

It's a really colorful way

to have a mocktail.

I don't know if I

like the word mocktail anymore.

I think we need to

come up with something else.

It's cocktail that doesn't have

alcohol in it, I guess.

And of course, you can

blend them into a smoothie.

They're super practical.

Trail mixes are great with

dried cherries as well.

Another food that's red, of

course, maybe this comes top

of mind to you, are

tomatoes.

Again, tomatoes, you know, depends

on what part of the

country you live in.

You might not be getting

them at their peak ripeness

in your area, but tomatoes

are now widely available year

round.

There's hothouse tomatoes, there's tomatoes

that are shipped to you.

But guess what?

Tomatoes that are cooked, so

the canned tomatoes or processed

in some way in sauces

like pasta and pizza sauces,

those are the ones that

are the best sources of

lycopene because lycopene, which is

incredibly important and powerful plant

nutrient, it actually increases in

concentration when heat is applied

to it.

So this is a great

time of year, you know,

to have your tomato sauces,

tomato paste, tomato in cans,

the tomatoes that are still

semi-whole that you can

put into dishes.

And lycopene has been associated

in large population studies with

healthier cardiovascular outcomes.

So when tomatoes are cooked

and then paired with olive

oil, I just want to

add a little another heart

healthy nudge there, your body

actually absorbs more of this

lycopene.

So nutrient synergy, I love

to talk about it.

You probably know that is

another way that we can

get great nutrition in that

impacts our heart.

Another one is red grapes,

red grapes and berries.

So let's look at berries

as well.

Strawberries.

There's a lot of research

on strawberries, raspberries and red

grapes.

They are rich in polyphenols

and other plant nutrients that

help support vascular flexibility.

They help healthy cholesterol metabolism.

So keep some red fruits

like grapes.

And these are the ones

that you rinse and pop,

you know, the ultimate popables,

I call them.

Love blueberries for this reason

too, but we're talking about

red right now.

But red grapes, strawberries, raspberries,

rinse and eat.

You know, there's so many

ways to consume them, but,

you know, keep them in

your rotation on the regular.

And just an idea about

thinking about red as a

guide this month, since we're

seeing red, we're wearing red,

now we're eating red.

But just a few more

foods because I want to

make sure that we round

out some of our staples

in our diet that really

have some strong cardiovascular impact.

So we don't have to

stick with just red, of

course.

Oats.

I've already mentioned oatmeal, but

they really deserve a place

at the table.

Oats can be integrated into

things, ground into flours.

They have soluble fiber, specifically

beta-glucan.

It helps regulate that LDL

cholesterol, helps bring it down

according to research.

It influences how our bile

acids are recycled over time.

And over time, this helps

support healthier cholesterol, whether or

not you're helping modulated and

moderate your intake in other

ways.

And if you're on a

medication, oats in some way,

shape or form have lots

of research supporting cardiovascular health.

And oatmeal is frankly one

of the easier breakfasts to

produce and make in the

morning.

It's not super fancy, but

it's a steady, balancing, great

start to your day.

Another one, nuts.

I will do a whole

episode about nuts at some

point, but especially walnuts.

But all nuts have shown

to have, you know, there's

a lot of research on

the cardiovascular benefits of nuts.

In particular, they have unsaturated,

polyunsaturated fats that have shown

when they're swapped in for

some saturated fats and that

they help with the blood

vessel flexibility.

They also have fiber and

they also have antioxidant nutrients.

Some of them vary.

Pistachios have lutein, the green.

Walnuts have different polyphenols.

And then walnuts in particular

have the plant-based ALA,

the omega-3 ALA, and

that's the only nut with

an excellent source of it.

But all nuts are good

for cardiovascular health.

Certainly, it's a pantry staple

that you can have all

the time.

It goes in things, on

things, and you can even

cook with them as well,

and baked goods as well.

They all help shift the

lipid balance in a favorable

direction for our heart.

And a small handful is

what's determined to be enough

to start showing benefit.

Couple more foods for you

to remember.

We've got the red.

We've got the oats.

We've got the nuts.

Fatty fish, you've heard this

before probably, like salmon, but

also sardines, trout, mackerel.

They have the long chain

omega-3s.

And very often we hear

about it for our brains,

but especially and particularly for

our hearts since we're talking

about that.

These fats literally incorporate into

our cellular membranes.

I probably mentioned this before,

but years ago when I

was working on some research,

I remember a faculty member

said, you know, the fat

you eat is the fat

you wear.

And I thought, well, that's

an odd thing to say

to someone at first, you

know, that we don't want

to be fat shaming people.

The fat you eat is

the fat you wear.

What he really meant is

he was talking about the

cellular lining, which is called

the phospholipid bilayer, and you

can literally see what types

of fats you eat in

the diet.

They become the types of

fats that surround your cells.

The fat you eat is

the fat you wear.

So this is an important

thing.

Two-ish servings a week

is what has been shown

for cardiovascular benefit.

About two servings of fish

a week, a reasonable target

for most people.

Some people eat more, but

two-ish servings a week

is the recommendation.

Leafy greens.

I'm going to go to

green for just a moment.

Spinach, kale, arugula, romaine, they

contribute vitamin K, which helps

with normal clotting regulation, blood

clot, blood clotting regulation, the

normal healthy kind, and helps

with our blood clotting to

be healthy.

Folate they contribute as well,

which helps regulate homocysteine balance

as well.

They have some potassium that

helps with blood pressure support,

and they have natural nitrates,

which help our blood vessels

relax.

I mean, do we need

another reason to eat our

greens?

Our nitric oxide, again, helps

our blood vessels relax.

Relaxation!

Isn't that great?

It's good for circulation.

And just three more here

I'm going to talk about.

Avocados.

Gotta talk about that green,

beautiful fruit.

They bring in monounsaturated fats.

They are a fruit that

also has fiber and also

has plant nutrients.

So you get monounsaturated fats

along with some potassium, and

replacing butter or mayonnaise, according

to some research, has seen

some small but compounding effects

for heart health.

And so there's a lot

of research on avocados and

health, but including them on

a regular basis on your

avocado toast, which we're hitting

the 20th anniversary of avocado

toast as we speak this

year, but on your avocado

toast, on your sandwiches, replacing

some of the butter-saturated

fats in other areas, and

just enjoying them with a

spoon, which is one of

the ways I like to

enjoy them most, is a

great approach.

The final two are chia

seeds and dark chocolate.

So I wanted to end

with a sweet treat there,

even though dark chocolate's a

little bitter.

Chia seeds.

You're seeing them show up

in media.

You're showing them in great,

important ways because there's a

lot of research.

And probably the strongest research

currently is on cardiovascular health.

There's also research on diabetes

risks, on brain health and

cognition, on a variety of

areas.

But those tiny little seeds

that take in a lot

of water, you know, when

you soak them up to

12 times their weight, they

may be tiny, but they

are rich in plant-based

omega-3s that I mentioned

that walnuts have for cardiovascular

health.

They're a very good source

of fiber.

They have soluble and insoluble

fiber, and they can support

cholesterol balance, help stabilize blood

sugar, and have shown to

have overall heart health benefits

and effects.

And finally, that dark chocolate.

70% or higher is

what is generally recommended because

when it's a lower percent,

that means there's more of

something else, which is typically

sugar and fats.

But the higher the dark

chocolate, the more flavonols that

are in there, which is

a plant nutrient that supports

endothelial function.

So fitting chocolate in, is

that a stretch for some

of you?

I doubt it.

Intentionally, but it can fit

beautifully into a heart-healthy,

heart-smart, and heart-supportive

eating pattern.

So what all ties this

together is like the structure,

the matrix of the food.

We've got fiber that comes

in to help regulate cholesterol.

We've got the unsaturated fats

to help with lipid balance,

omega-3 fats in some

of the foods, in the

fish, in those forms, EPA,

and in the plant-based

forms like walnuts and chia.

They influence the rhythm, inflammation,

and other parts of our

heart health.

Polyphenols, which are antioxidants that

help support our endothelial responsiveness.

What else did I talk

about?

Potassium and nitrates that help

regulate blood pressure and the

relaxation effect in our vessel

tone.

So this isn't about chasing

superfoods, though you know I've

spoken about and written about

the so-called superfoods before.

But it's about maintaining flexibility

in the system and in

your diet.

So I want to just

bring this back to you.

As you sit upright, we

talked about posture in a

recent episode, notice your breathing.

Gently find your pulse at

your wrist or neck.

You've probably done that before.

You know, you take your

two fingers together and you

sit them, situate them underneath

your jaw in the soft

spot where you can find

your wrist pulse.

And let's take five slow

breaths together where we take

in and we lengthen, we

make longer our exhale.

So it's not going to

be a full Mindful Minute

like we sometimes do.

We're just going to sort

of focus on this.

Take some breaths.

In and out.

Longer.

In and out.

Notice how your heart rate

might be responding.

It is for me.

It'll shift.

It might settle.

In.

Give it an extra beat

at the end.

And in.

And out.

And one more.

And really let the last

one linger.

That adaptability on the spot,

I wonder if it happened

for you, is exactly what

happens.

It's our ability in an

acute way, a day to

day, a minute by minute.

It's why heart health matters

and why what you do

matters.

It's our ability to respond

and recover.

That is cardiovascular health in

action.

I don't know why I

get sort of like emotional

thinking about that.

That was a moment I

needed.

Hope you did too.

So our heart and our

blood vessels are constantly adjusting

to the environment.

I hope that you can

prove this to yourself as

you enter through your day.

When you move, you strengthen

that adaptability.

When you do exercise and

strength training, you actually work

on making that pump and

the muscles that are associated

with them stronger.

When you eat to support

vascular function and health, you

reinforce it.

And when you rest well,

you protect it.

So heart health influences much

more than the heart itself.

It affects every organ in

our body.

It touches everything and it's

foundational.

So I hope you'll add

some of these foods into

your rotation.

I hope you'll continue to

move your body daily.

I hope you'll breathe deeply

and exhale and let that

linger a little bit.

And I hope you'll rest

intentionally.

So wearing red this month

is a good thing because

it might remind you also

to match your foods to

your outfits and let it

be a reminder like that.

But build in patterns that

also support that flow.

So your heart is not

just a symbol of love,

though I love it for

that reason, that very reason.

I hope you give yourself

some love through what you

do for yourself and what

you do for others and

how you treat yourself through

your food and your lifestyle

supporting behaviors this month.

And thank you for sharing

some of your minutes with

me today.

If you found this episode

helpful, I hope you did.

Please, you know, rate, write,

share it with a friend.

You can always find me

at wendybazilian.com.

I'm on Instagram at @1000WakingMinutes.

Waking Minutes.

And I am just so

grateful for you being here

with me and this community

that we're forming around making

the most of our waking

minutes each day.

Eat well, move daily, be

healthy.

And until next time, be

well.

Thank you for tuning into

1,000 Waking Minutes.

A huge thank you to

our amazing collaborators, including our

production and marketing teams and

Gabriela Escalante in particular.

To the ultra talented Beza

for my theme music, my

lifelong friend and artist, Pearl

Preis Photography and Design.

To Danielle Ballantyne, Jen Nguyen,

Joanna Powell, and of course,

my family.

And everyone working tirelessly behind

the scenes.

And to you, our valued

listeners.

I so appreciate your support.

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1,000 Waking Minutes each day.

I'm saying yes to better

days, yes, I'm on my

way, yes, it's gonna be

okay, yeah.

I'm saying yes to better

days, yes, I'm on my

way, yes, it's gonna be

okay, yeah.