"Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead."
--Oscar Wilde
February
is American Heart Month. Being healthy
means being a good steward of your heart.
The fact
is that for half of people with heart disease, the first sign is often sudden
death. I remember a man I used to work
with in Palm Beach County, Florida. He was
the picture of health and an administrator for Florida Department
of Health. He was a runner, didn’t
smoke, and ate sensibly. He didn’t have diabetes. One day he had a heart attack and died.
Protect your heart. If you have diabetes, you have 4 times higher risk for a heart attack or stroke than someone without diabetes.
Commit
to healthy eating. Eat vegetables. Drink lots of water. Go easy on the saturated fats (found in foods
from animals). Make most of your fats
the good ones (unsaturated) like wild salmon, olive oil, avocados and
nuts. Enjoy a small piece of dark (70%) chocolate daily.
Commit
to your own fitness (more than 150 minutes a week). Take walks.
Skip. Ski. Jog.
Swim. Jump rope. Kayak. Anything that moves you!
Enjoy
your life. Eat dinner with friends. Laugh often. Repeat.
For
more information about heart health and preventable and treatable heart
conditions such as high blood pressure, go to www.heart.org
or click here.
Take care of your heart.
With
love and gratitude,
Nancy
L. Heinrich, MPH
Founder,
Growing Healthy Kids, Inc.
