Heart disease remains the leading cause of death for women across the world but for women of color, the danger runs even deeper. Despite decades of awareness campaigns, countless women in Black and Brown communities continue to be underdiagnosed, undertreated, and underserved when it comes to cardiovascular health.
As a wellness advocate and member of the Ravoke Wellness community, I’ve seen firsthand how racial health disparities, cultural misunderstanding, and limited access to culturally competent care leave women vulnerable to preventable illness. It’s time to change that.
This is more than a conversation about heart disease it’s a movement for health justice, education, and empowerment.
The Hidden Epidemic: Heart Disease in Black Women
While rheumatoid arthritis and heart disease affects all demographics, its burden is not equally shared. According to the American Heart Association, nearly 50% of Black women over 20 have some form of heart disease, yet many don’t know it.
Why? Because the warning signs often go unnoticed or are dismissed by both patients and healthcare providers.
Common Warning Signs Often Missed:
Shortness of breath or unusual fatigue
Chest discomfort or tightness (not always sharp pain)
Dizziness or jaw pain
Swelling in legs or feet
These symptoms can easily be mistaken for stress, exhaustion, or anxiety especially for women balancing family, career, and community roles.
Systemic Challenges:
Underdiagnosis: Black women are less likely to be referred for advanced cardiac testing.
Bias in care: Studies show racial bias affects how women’s pain and symptoms are perceived.
Access barriers: Many women of color lack consistent access to preventative healthcare or affordable heart screenings.
Addressing heart disease in Black women isn’t just a medical issue it’s a health equity issue.
Racial Health Disparities and Health Justice
The term health justice goes beyond treating disease; it’s about dismantling barriers that prevent people from achieving optimal health.
When we look at racial health disparities, we see a clear pattern: socioeconomic inequality, environmental stress, and lack of culturally competent care all intersect to increase the risk of chronic illness particularly heart disease.
“Black women are more likely to experience hypertension at earlier ages, and less likely to receive timely treatment,” says Barbra Tyson, founder of the Heart Health for Women of Color initiative at Ravoke Wellness. “We can’t talk about prevention without addressing access, trust, and representation in healthcare.”
This is where functional heart health practices come in focusing not just on treating symptoms but on understanding root causes like inflammation, stress, diet, and hormonal imbalance.
Functional Heart Health: Treating the Whole Woman
Functional heart health takes a holistic approach, connecting the dots between physical, emotional, and social well-being. It recognizes that heart disease doesn’t develop overnight it’s the product of lifestyle, environment, and systemic pressures.
Core Pillars of Functional Heart Health:
Nutrition: Focus on anti-inflammatory, fiber-rich foods such as leafy greens, berries, olive oil, and salmon.
Movement: Moderate exercise (like walking, yoga, or dancing) supports circulation and reduces stress.
Mind-Body Connection: Chronic stress increases inflammation and heart disease risk; mindfulness, prayer, and community support lower cortisol levels.
Regular Screenings: Blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, and inflammation markers should be checked annually especially for women over 35.
At Ravoke Wellness, we empower women with the knowledge and tools to integrate these practices daily because preventative health isn’t just medical, it’s cultural.
Inflammation and Heart Disease: The Silent Link
We often think of cholesterol and blood pressure as the main culprits behind heart disease, but inflammation plays an equally critical role.
When the body is under chronic stress whether from poor diet, environmental toxins, racism, or lack of sleep inflammation becomes systemic. This damages blood vessels, raises blood pressure, and accelerates arterial plaque buildup.
Ways to Reduce Inflammation Naturally:
Eat foods high in antioxidants (berries, turmeric, leafy greens).
Limit refined carbs, sugar, and processed meats.
Get consistent sleep (7–9 hours).
Practice stress management techniques (deep breathing, gratitude journaling, or therapy).
As Barbra Tyson explains, “Inflammation is both biological and social your body keeps score of the stress you carry. Healing the heart starts with acknowledging that truth.”
Heart Disease Prevention: Small Steps, Big Results
You don’t need a medical degree to practice heart disease prevention just intention and awareness. Start with the basics:
1. Know Your Numbers
Track your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels. Knowledge is prevention.
2. Eat Smart, Not Perfect
Replace refined carbs and fried foods with colorful, whole-food options. The low-glycemic Mediterranean or DASH diets are proven to improve cardiovascular outcomes.
3. Move With Joy
Exercise doesn’t have to mean the gym. Walk, dance, garden, or stretch daily whatever keeps your heart happy.
4. Prioritize Rest
Sleep deprivation increases stress hormones and raises heart disease risk by up to 30%.
5. Build Community
Social isolation is a lesser-known but powerful heart risk factor. Shared wellness spaces like Ravoke Wellness help women stay motivated and supported.
Culturally Competent Care: A Call to Action
To truly advance women’s heart health, healthcare systems must embrace culturally competent care understanding patients’ cultural values, communication styles, and lived experiences.
For Black and Brown women, that means being heard, seen, and believed. It also means having more representation among clinicians, cardiologists, and health educators who understand the unique challenges women of color face.
At ravoke.com Wellness, our mission is to bridge the gap between medicine and community by integrating cultural understanding with science-based prevention.
Because healing the heart isn’t just physical it’s personal, historical, and deeply human.
The Future of Women’s Wellness
The next chapter in women’s wellness must be inclusive, data-driven, and equitable. Empowering women of color to take charge of their cardiovascular health will require:
Accessible education on risk factors
Affordable preventative screenings
Nutrition programs rooted in cultural foods
Ongoing advocacy for health justice
As Barbra Tyson puts it, “Every woman deserves a heart that beats strong not just for survival, but for joy, legacy, and freedom.”
