SARASOTA – Licensed Clinical Psychologist Dr. Eddy Regnier says since our hearts are out of sight, they’re often out of mind.
“We don’t see our heart beating; we don’t see our cardiovascular system in front of us. It’s invisible, and death from cardiovascular disease is without symptoms; we just one day collapse,” Regnier said.
He says the heart is easy to ignore, while unhealthy foods aren’t.
“The worst of it is very tasty and soothes us and removes anxiety; therefore, you have the perfect storm,” Regnier said.
It’s an invisible disease with a cause that’s hard for a lot of us to avoid, but what if there’s another factor that’s not in our chest, but in our heads?
“We don’t like to think about negative things that way, particularly things we can do something about,” Regnier said. “Also, ‘It won’t happen to me; it’ll happen to someone else.'”
That feeling of denial is standing between many of us and a healthy heart. Plus, Regnier says when we do diet, it’s typically not for the right reasons.
“It’s to get a quick fix on their appearance,” Regnier said.
For that to change, we need to change our mindsets.
“We need to make lifestyle changes, and that requires more thought; it requires planning; it requires thinking, and we live in a society that doesn’t give us a lot of time to think,” Regnier said. “We go from job to job, pick up the kids, run back, fix this, cook a quick meal, and the most unhealthy meals are the quickest to prepare.”
Our path to a healthier heart isn’t paved overnight.
“It requires a systemic thinking over many months to work out a good diet,” Regnier said. “That’s why we don’t do it.”
