Do something for your HEART today!

Happy Friday! As February is drawing to a close (can anyone believe that???) I thought it was important to bring up heart health, since February is American Heart Month. I was reading through my SHAPE magazine for this month and saw that they had a couple of pages dedicated to heart health. 


92% of women are at risk for developing cardiovascular disease. That is a huge number! It is so important for people (especially women) to take care of themselves and to do what they can to reduce heart disease. The following are tips that you can incorporate into your life in a small way to make a big difference in the long run. Think about it, don't you want to make a change so you can be around for longer?


These are some of my favorite tips that SHAPE magazine included:
1. Eat less sodium and less processed foods. 80% of our sodium intake comes from processed foods. Eat more clean foods and your sodium intake will go WAY down. 
2. Hang out with your friends. It was found that lonely people had higher blood pressure than more social people. 
3. Try interval training. Instead of just going at one steady page once or twice a week alternate going all out for 30 seconds, followed by 1-2 minutes of rest. This can be done on any cardio machine.
4. Eat more beans. Eating 1/3 of a cup of beans can reduce your chances of having a heart attack by 38%.
5. Take Vitamin D. 75% of Americans are low in vitamin D. Vitamin D can reduce blood pressure and help absorb calcium. Read more about the great benefits of vitamin d here.

6. Eat your fruits and veges. The more of these you eat the more nutrients you will get and most likely the less saturated fat you'll eat.
7. Sleep! Try to get at least 7 hours of sleep a night to prevent calcium buildup in your arteries.
8. Drink your veggies. People who drink 2 cups a day lowered their blood pressure by up to 5 points after 3 months! It's also a great way to sneak in extra veges and nutrients! 

So we all should make an effort to take even better care of our bodies and hearts, even if that just means spending a little bit more time laughing with friends. Every little bit counts, small manageable changes now will make for a big change later.


Have a great Friday!