February is National Heart Month. Whoever decided that, must have looked at the calendar and saw that February 14^th is Valentine’s Day. There are a lot of hearts seen during February when a family goes shopping, eats heart-shaped chocolate, and opens valentines that arrive in the mail. As fun as celebrating is, it is sobering that real heart issues are the leading cause of death in both men and women. What encouraging is that people can reduce the risk for heart disease by making some easy changes in their lives. The primary three factors to focus upon for heart health are a healthy diet, exercise, and a low-stress lifestyle.

Personal Story

Learning about health topics has been an interest of mine since high school. I read a book about the benefits of the Mediterranean diet on heart health and began to make changes in our diet. I believe the Mediterranean diet has stood the test of time and still is recommended as a superior way to eat for good health.

Education

Factors that a person can control in terms of heart health are: elevated serum lipid levels, hypertension, cigarette smoking, diabetes mellitus, sedentary lifestyle, stress, obesity, and the excessive intake of saturated damaged fats, simple carbohydrates, and salt.

In this post, we will look at three of these: healthy diet, exercise, and a low-stress lifestyle.

Healthy Diet

Data has shown that the southern Mediterranean, Anti-Inflammatory, and Indo-Mediterranean diets support heart health.

Here is a quick summary of a heart-healthy diet:

• vegetables
• fruit
• olive oil, used liberally
• garlic
• legumes
• whole grains, rather than flours
• omega-3 oils
• protein- high fish, low red meat
• low sugar

Try to eat low to moderate amounts of carbohydrates to keep blood sugar steady.

Exercise

Exercising daily is good for heart health.

• Exercise goal would be thirty minutes of an aerobic workout, three to five times a week. Aerobic exercise, rather than resistance training, helps hypertension, high blood pressure.
• Resistance training is a good complement.
• Stretching and flexibility are encouraged, but not to take the place of aerobic workouts.

Exercise does not need to be continuous to benefit. Exercising short intervals throughout the day is fine.

Low-stress Lifestyle

Reducing and managing stress may have a positive effect on the heart. Stress can lead to behaviors and other factors that could increase the risk of heart disease:

• High cholesterol levels
• High blood pressure
• Overeating
• Physical inactivity
• Smoking or drinking too much alcohol can increase blood pressure and might damage the walls of the arteries.

Practicing time management as a lifestyle can help reduce stress. Other stress management techniques include: praying, listening to music, meditating, taking a walk, deep breathing exercises, and journaling.

Action

A healthy diet, exercise, and a low-stress lifestyle are heart-healthy things to focus on this month, and always. Decide to take care of your heart today.

May God bless your healthful endeavors!

Joni

P.S. What do you think?

Resources:https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/stress-and-heart-health