What is HRV and what does it say about your health?
To start, HRV stands for heart rate variability, and it represents the fluctuations of time (milliseconds) between each heartbeat.
How does heart rate variability work?
Your heart beats at a specific rate all throughout the day and never stops. That rate changes depending on what you’re doing at the time. When you are relaxed or resting, a slower heart rate is more likely than when in a stressed state, with a faster heart rate. There is variability in your heart rate based on the needs of your body and your respiratory patterns.
As research has looked further into HRV, many medical professionals are now using it as a biomarker to assess a person’s health status. The variability of the heart reflects how adaptable the body is. High variability means the body can adapt, while low HRV is associated with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, inflammation, obesity, and psychiatric disorders.
“Fight or flight” or Zen
Many of us have heard of fight or flight and how it causes both the heart and blood pressure to rise. In this situation, our sympathetic nervous system is triggered, and our heart rate variability has more extreme variations. After a period of stress, the parasympathetic nervous system kicks in and decreases heart rate cause HRV to has less intense variations.
Diet and HRV
A diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins, probiotics and polyphenols support a healthy HRV. This means incorporating more foods such as grass-fed beef, salmon, olive oil, yogurt, kefir, fruits and vegetables.
When it comes to foods that don’t support HRV, the main one is alcohol. Alcohol disrupts sleep and makes it hard for the heartbeat to stabilize adequately. Other things such as high intakes of saturated fat, trans fat, and high glycemic carbohydrates can favor stress and elevated heart rate in the body.
Low HRV can be caused from:
- Hot sleeping environment
- Eating too close to bedtime
- Illness
- Overtraining
- Dehydration
Other ways to improve your HRV:
- Exercise regularly to support your cardiovascular health.
- Prioritize mental health as stress, anxiety and depression negatively affect your heart rate.
- Adopt a meditation practice so you can master your breath and learn how to control your heart rate better.