How To Reduce Heart Risk
February is heart awareness month.
Today, heart disease and stroke take one life every 7 minutes and 90% of Canadians have at least one risk factor. www.heartandstroke.com
I choose to take the stairs each morning instead of the elevator. Eleven flights of stairs each morning gets my heart pumping and I feel alive, alert and ready to take on the day.
Risk Factors of Heart Disease
- High blood pressure
- High blood cholesterol
- Diabetes and pre-diabetes
- Smoking
- Being overweight/Obese
- Being physically inactive
How To Reduce Your Risk
- Eat Well
- Have a diet with fruits, vegetables, healthy fats (olive oil, coconut oil) lean meats. See Tips For Clean Eating for more info.
- Exercise
- Exercise helps lowers blood pressure, strengthen your heart and improves blood flow and oxygen delivery to your cells. Take the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator, go for a walk at lunch, choose the farthest parking spot at the grocery store.
- Sleep Well
- Get your seven to nine hours of sleep each night. See Healthy Sleeping Habits for more info.
- Eliminate Bad Fats
- Avoid eating margarine, vegetable oil and anything hydrogenated.
Common Myths About Heart Disease:
Myth: Only old people have heart disease.
Fact: Young children and adolescents can begin building plaque in their arteries.
Myth: If you have smoked for years, you can’t reduce your risk of heart disease by quitting.
Fact: The benefits of quitting smoking start the minute you quit, no matter your age, how long you have smoked, or how many cigarettes a day you have smoked. Only one year after quitting, your heart attack risk will have dropped by 50%; in 10 years, it will be the same as if you never smoked. — http://www.health.harvard.edu/
Myth: If you have heart disease, you need to take it easy.
Fact: The the vast majority of people with heart disease, being sedentary is a bad idea. It can lead to blood clots in the legs and a decline in overall physical condition,” says cardiologist Dr. Richard T. Lee, co-editor in chief of the Harvard Heart Letter. Physical activity helps strengthen the heart muscle, improves blood flow to the brain and internal organs, and improves overall health and well-being.
Myth: Heart disease is really a man’s problem.
Fact: Since 1984, more women than men have died each year from heart disease. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women over age 65, just as it’s the leading killer of men. — http://www.health.harvard.edu/
What are you doing to take care of your heart?
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Karen Fleury’s – Clean Eating With Benefits
Skype: k.fleury73
E-Mail: karen@cleaneatingwithbenefits.com
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