Blog

Dec 20

Around this time last year, we used "Holiday Heart Syndrome", the seasonal uptick of heart-related problems this time of year, to illustrate one of the most critical themes in thriving - sudden & heavy loads, no matter the type, leave us exposed to risk.

The idea is pretty simple - our biology (like all living creatures) is built for efficiency. Below the surface of our thoughts and like a seasoned holiday traveler who meticulously packs to avoid the pitfalls of "checking a bag", our body is constantly working to interpret our past experiences in order to anticipate our future needs and ultimately to "bring only what we need to survive". As unique individuals, we each interpret the statement differently, as this scene in a 1987 classic makes clear, but any way you slice it, wasted energy is biologically expensive, so we try to avoid it. 

Since our predictions, with a little buffer built in, are usually right, we get home about the same way we left...but not always. The trouble comes in when a sudden or heavier-than-expected load pushes us beyond the buffer. We scramble to deal with it, but the extra energy required puts us in a risky spot until we can recover. The type of load doesn't really matter. Whether it is a sudden temperature spike in the early summer before we've acclimated, a sudden sleep disruption from "springing ahead" or a sudden increase in the alcohol we consume because it's part of our holiday tradition this time of year, the risk is real. Thanks to a team in Germany whose dive into the cardiac physiology of Oktoberfest was published this month, we are now closer to understanding why.

Here are the basics: When we consume alcohol our system works harder to process it. Counterintuitively, and despite it being a depressant, our heart actually beats faster and our nervous system revs up toward fight/flight/freeze, an effect which took as long as 48 hours to resolve. In about 5% of the people studied the heartbeat became irregular enough to cause more serious problems (called atrial fibrillation). While, it may be easy to dismiss "only" 5 of every 100...when we consider this is about 10X typical, it's a risk worth managing. Here are 3 simple strategies:

1. Know thyself - if you are at heart risk or have been particularly stressed, overtired, or are fighting something else recently (e.g. a cold or other infection), the risk is higher, cut the consumption way back (or out entirely).

2. Counter the Salt - it's not just the alcohol this time of year, it's also the food, which is often packed with salt. While sodium is not inherently "bad", it plays a major role in our muscles' ability to contract, including the heart muscle. Getting too far out of the sweet spot can lead to heart conduction disorders like a-fib, as shown in this 2021 study. If you are surrounded by highly processed food this time of year, make sure to counterbalance with some fresh fruit and veggies (as well as nuts and seeds) which naturally have higher concentrations of potassium and magnesium, which can get depleted.

3. Monitor hydration - we may not be sweating like the summer, but it always matters. Even in young, well-trained athletes, dehydration alters the heart's ability to perform. The further we are from young or well-trained, the greater the risk. This can also compound the salt imbalance and can be accelerated by the diuretic effects of alcohol.

It's the beginning of the peak and it's easy to get beyond the buffers when traveling light. Have fun...but not too much. :)

Have a great weekend,
Mike E.