February is American Heart Month.
The American Heart Association has started a movement called: Go Red for Women. It encourages everyone to wear red on the first Friday in February (that’s this coming Friday – get your outfit ready!) to raise awareness about heart disease in women so women can take action to fight for their health.
They highlight differences in how heart disease may present itself in women vs. men. (Did you know that jaw pain may be a more telling sign of a heart attack in women than chest pain?)
They have a really great video called, “Just a Little Heart Attack” with Elizabeth Banks that is definitely worth watching if you haven’t seen it.
Heart disease risk factors include:
High blood pressure, smoking, high cholesterol, a sedentary lifestyle, and blood sugar issues, like diabetes.
The good news is that these factors mentioned are modifiable. You can work to change them! Another bonus is that many of these go hand-in-hand.
(There are also “non-modifiable” risk factors, like age, race, gender, and family history.)
Reduce Your Risk
The most researched way to lower blood pressure through food is the DASH diet. DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. A DASH-style eating pattern has a focus on fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. Lean meats, nuts, and whole grains are also emphasized. These foods are high in potassium, calcium, and magnesium, which work synergistically to bring down blood pressure EVEN WITHOUT A REDUCTION IN SODIUM! (Though a greater result is seen if sodium is also reduced.)
If you’re incorporating more fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains, you’ll likely also see a decrease in cholesterol and a stabilization in blood sugar because of the increased dietary fiber. Being a little more active each day can help combat a sedentary lifestyle and also raise good cholesterol, not to mention help to regulate blood sugar.
I don’t really have much to add about the smoking, except for, if you do smoke, please seek support to quit. And, maybe quitting smoking could help to increase respiratory endurance while you’re becoming more active.
Take Action to Heart
So, this month, try to incorporate one or all of these changes –
- Choose one more fruit or vegetable each day
- Snack on yogurt with nuts or whole grain granola
- Be a little more active – park a little further away or take each pile of clothes upstairs individually instead of using the laundry basket. If you have the cheap Hulu package, like I do, walk in place during the commercial intervals. If you wear a pedometer or fitness tracker, try to increase your steps by 500 a day each month until you reach your ultimate goal. On the nice days like we had earlier this week, take a little walk around the block.
- Joyful movement should be activity that energizes you – not depletes you.
So, I encourage you to wear red on Friday and “wear red” through your actions this month and beyond.
How will you “wear red” this month?
If you have been struggling with blood pressure or less-than-stellar cholesterol labs, or blood sugar issues, please know you don’t have to fix them on your own. Reach out and we can work together to improve your health.