Many people, both in Great Falls and throughout the rest of the country, ring in the start of the year by coming up with a New Year’s resolution. However, sometimes setting a lofty New Year’s resolution puts added stress on our lives, especially if we don’t meet our goals or realize soon after that the resolution we set is out of reach. And with stress levels in the U.S. continuing to rise – recent data shows that nearly half of all Americans report frequently experiencing stress – we may want to ask ourselves why we’re adding to our plate when we should be trying to alleviate the pressure.1
This year, rather than thinking of a New Year’s resolution, why not think about ways to alleviate stress by tuning into your heart health? By taking advantage of personalized heart health strategies available at Great Falls Clinic Heart Center, you can work toward something that will make your life more enjoyable while supporting an organ that gets the gold star for being “always on” – your heart.
How Stress Hurts Your Heart
Stress causes heart rate to increase and blood pressure to rise. Chronic stress that goes on for weeks, months, or years can be especially harmful because the sustained release of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol puts the body in constant “fight or flight” mode, which over time leads to plaque buildup in arteries, irregular heart rhythms, and increased risk of heart attack or stroke. You may not realize that the stress you are experiencing today may result in long-term cardiovascular issues down the road.
Being in constant “fight or flight” mode can lead us to unhealthy lifestyle behaviors through a desire to decrease the unpleasant cortisol and adrenaline levels through “quick fixes” that make us temporarily feel better. These “quick fixes” release dopamine, a chemical that makes us feel good. Examples of these fixes might include eating junk food – or foods high in fat, salt, or sugar content – smoking, or binge-watching TV. In fact, watching TV that you enjoy for long periods can lead to a drug-like high.3 While these habits may help us feel better temporarily by increasing dopamine, they can do more long-term harm than good.
Tips for Lowering Stress
To lower stress in the new year, consider speaking with our team of specialists at Great Falls Clinic Heart Center to determine if there are small lifestyle changes that could make a big difference. While it’s always best to speak with your doctor before making any changes, here are a few ideas related to sleep, nutrition, and exercise that you could bring to your next appointment for discussion:
- Sleep: The CDC recommends that adults get at least seven hours of sleep a day.
- If you struggle to clock this many Z’s, consider going to bed 15 minutes earlier each night to gradually add to your restful hours.4
- Many people have trouble winding down in the evenings due to the negative impact that blue light – or the type of light on most TVs and smartphones – has on the body’s normal rhythms. To ready your body for sleep, experts recommend being screen-free for 2-3 hours before bed. If this seems like a tall order, many people find it helpful to wear blue-blocking glasses or install an app that filters the blue/green wavelength at night. Or, consider swapping your nighttime screen time with reading a hard copy book or doing a light stretching routine.
- Nutrition: While “dieting” is always a buzzword around the new year, rather than throwing yourself into a fad diet that will be unsustainable long term, try incorporating smaller swaps in your daily life that support healthier nutrition. For example:
- Instead of snacking on chips when watching TV in the evening, reach for an apple with nut butter or some air-popped popcorn.
- Rather than eating a candy bar for a snack, try some Greek yogurt with blueberries.
- Enjoy flavored sparkling water rather than a sugary soda.
- Exercise: Experts currently recommend 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week.5
- If you have a desk job where you spend most of the day sitting, introduce a ten-minute walk over your lunch break to incorporate more movement into your day.
- If you’re new to structured fitness routines, refer to yoga or low-impact cardio videos on YouTube. Many trainers offer free classes that take as little as 15 minutes.
- If you prefer a group setting, invite a friend to a workout class at a fitness center near you. A lot of places offer free trials or lower introductory rates.
All of these behaviors can help lower stress while also keeping your heart healthy.
Why You Should Seek Preventive, Personalized Cardiovascular Care
While incorporating small changes into your lifestyle can go a long way, it’s also important to balance lifestyle choices with personalized, preventive care from a cardiology specialist. This can tip the scales in favor of your heart health. Our specialists at Great Falls Clinic Heart Center work closely with patients on comprehensive cardiology services including heart evaluations, ongoing management of heart conditions, and personalized treatment plans tailored to each patient’s needs and preferences. This new year, why not schedule a consultation to discuss how stress might be impacting your heart health? It’s not unusual for people to delay cardiology visits due to a lack of symptoms, fear, or the assumption that stress is just something that “everyone deals with.” However, early intervention for heart health can play a huge role in heart disease prevention.
By meeting with a cardiologist atGreat Falls Clinic Heart Center, you can feel confident that you’re doing what you can to better manage the stress that might be sneakily hurting your heart. The reassurance of knowing you have a trusted cardiologist in your corner may even provide some stress relief.
Ready to schedule a consultation? Call us at 406-454-2171 or visit gfclinic.com/heart-center
to learn more. We look forward to serving you.
References
1. Fioroni, S., Foy, D. (2024). Americans Sleeping Less, More Stressed. Gallup.
2. (2025). Stress and Heart Health. American Heart Association.
3. (2024). Binge Watching and Your Health. Northwestern Medicine.
4. (2024). FastStats: Sleep in Adults. CDC.
5. (2023). Adult Activity: An Overview. CDC.