The month of February brings many things to our minds; chocolate, roses, teddy bears and hearts. Let’s talk about hearts. Your heart is so important to not only your health, but your survival. Your heart is so important that they made February American Heart Health Month. Showering your loved ones with boxes of chocolates is heartwarming, but make sure to show some love to your heart, too. Cardiovascular (or heart) Disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women in the United States. About 1 in every 4 deaths is caused from cardiovascular disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). There are three key risk factors that contribute to this disease; high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure and smoking cigarettes. Don’t think those are the only risk factors though. Lack of exercise, an unhealthy diet, stress, and excessive alcohol consumption can also lead to an unhealthy heart as well.

Prevention, Prevention, Prevention!

The biggest way to avoid heart disease is to prevent it from even becoming an issue. Buckle down and focus on nutrition, physical activity and stress management and you too can have a healthy heart! We got the inside scoop from AFM’s own Wellness Coach, Eva Cassel, on her tips to achieving a healthier heart.

Nutrition: We are always told to “eat a well-balanced diet,” but what exactly does that mean? A well-balanced diet includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats (poultry and fish), other forms of protein (beans and nuts), fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products. It’s important to limit intake of foods high in Saturated and Trans fats, cholesterol, salt and added sugars. It is also important to stay within your daily caloric needs in order to maintain a healthy weight. Eva suggests to eat as little added sugar as you can and as few highly processed/refined foods as possible. Instead, replace these with unprocessed plants in your life. She also suggests you make sure to limit the amount of saturated fats you eat (these mostly come from animals and animal products). And don’t eat trans fat. Just don’t do it! Anything that says “partially hydrogenated ____ oil” in the ingredients is not worth the health risk! Instead she suggests to replace these with healthy fats from foods like sustainable fish, nuts, seeds (especially flax seeds), olives and avocados. It’s also extremely important to drink enough water (half of your body weight in ounces) every day.

Physical Activity: While any type of activity is good for you, it’s important to focus on aerobic or endurance activity. This type of activity makes your heart and lungs work harder and as a result, it will help make them stronger and eventually work better. The best part of aerobic activity is there are varying intensities, meaning you don’t have to run a marathon to strengthen your heart! Here are some examples of aerobic activities.

• Pushing a grocery cart in a store
• Taking the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator
• Gardening
• Walking/hiking/jogging/running
• Swimming or water aerobics
• Biking/skateboarding/rollerblading
• Jumping rope
• Dancing
• Any sport (team or individual)

Cassel also says it’s very important to avoid sitting/not moving for extended periods of time. Remember the “60:3” principle. For every 60 minutes of sedentary time, get up and move around (this doesn’t mean just stand still) for 3 minutes. Set a timer every hour to get up and walk around. Remember, this is important EVEN for people who are getting (or exceeding) the recommended amount of exercise each week! Remind your body that you’re awake and living so it will continue to operate as such instead of shutting down important processes that we don’t use when we’re sleeping. That’s right, sitting/lying still makes your body think it doesn’t need to do more than it would if you were sleeping but without any restorative benefits! Remember 3 minutes per hour, how easy is that?!

Stress Management: Another contributor to heart disease is stress. Stress can lead to high blood pressure and unhealthy habits to help cope with stress, such as, over eating/eating “comfort food”, drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, or abusing other substances. “First, I think it’s important to point out that contrary to what it can feel like in our present-day society, stress is NOT a badge of honor” says Eva. “Over-committing and over-scheduling are not something we should be proud of or brag about, but it has become common practice. When people ask us how we’ve been, how do we typically respond…? “Oh, you know, just busy busy busy…” It’s a mindset that is killing us.” With our world becoming more fast paced and let’s face it, more stressful, it’s important to take responsibility for how we manage our stress. Eva suggests to create a stress-in-action AND a stress-recovery plan. You can think of this as the 4 R’s: Reduce, Restructure, Recover, Replenish.

REDUCE: Remind yourself why you do what you do, and decide if there might be some areas to start directing more attention in your life. This can help reduce areas of stress and prioritize what is more important in your life.
RESTRUCTURE: Change the way you think about some stressful events to make it feel less like stress and more like a choice. With that being said, we all definitely have some unavoidable stress. We just need to have a plan for how to cope with it in healthy ways that don’t destroy our health.
RECOVER: Create a stress-recovery plan for yourself in the midst of stressful situations. Taking slow deep breaths, using positive self-talk (saying “yes I can do this” instead of “no I can’t”), count to 10 before you speak or react, and if the stress is not urgent, take a break from it. If you don’t know where to start, or you need more help, ask for help from your primary care provider who can give you ideas for some in-the-moment stress reducing techniques, as well as a proactive plan to help increase your resiliency.
REPLENISH: Take time to schedule replenishing activities into your life. Make it something healthy and rejuvenating. Maybe it’s a relaxing bath, reading a good book, taking a relaxing walk, coloring, gardening, cuddling with your pet, etc. Make it something healthy, and choose something that you find yourself being fully absorbed in and helps you feel like your tank is less depleted afterward.

Reducing your stress can have a huge impact on your health and happiness. If you are struggling to find ways to help reduce your stress, talk to your primary care provider and come up with a game plan to best tackle your stress.

The Smoking (pun intended) Gun

Now, let’s talk about smoking cigarettes. Eva says “stopping smoking is one of the single most important things you can do for your heart – and the hearts of those around you as well.” Smoking cigarettes is bad for almost every organ in your body but it especially wreaks havoc on your heart and lungs. Smoking can raise triglycerides (a type of fat in your blood), damage cells that line the blood vessels, and make your blood sticky, making it more likely for you blood to clot, which can block blood flow to the heart and brain. And sadly, the list doesn’t stop there. Not only does smoking cigarettes harm you but it can also harm your loved ones (I’m looking at you secondhand smoke!). Breathing secondhand smoke interferes with how your heart, blood and vascular system usually function, increasing your risk of having a heart attach or stroke.

We know that quitting smoking can be extremely difficult and frustrating. Have you tried quitting in the past but it just never stuck? “Don’t assume if you’ve tried to quit in the past you aren’t able to quit. There’s no place for feeling ashamed, guilty, or disappointed in yourself when it comes to making this work.” says Eva. “Ask for help from trusted resources (like your primary care provider). You might need a combination of things to get the job done, but the most important thing is to just decide it’s important enough for you to work on this. Make sure any plan you decide to try includes strategies for managing stress and dealing with cravings in the moment. It’s probably not going to be easy, but YOU CAN DO THIS!”

Social Connections

And no, we are not talking about how many followers you have on Instagram or sending your friends funny memes. Eva says it’s important to take the time to nurture ALL of your social connections. Make a phone call to someone you’ve been meaning to connect with, send a card to an old friend or make a lunch date with a relative. Don’t have anyone you can/want to connect with or looking to expand your social circles? Check out groups that meet with your interests on Meetup.com, sign up for a class, join a faith community, introduce yourself to a neighbor, or volunteer somewhere that has meaning for you. Making new friends as an adult can feel difficult, but it’s important to feel like you have a supportive network in your life. Maintaining our relationship is such an important factor in our long-term health. Also, bonus points if you can connect with someone who makes you laugh! Get your happy on, be connected, and enjoy a healthier heart as a result!

Heart disease affects thousands of people each year in the United States alone. We know life can get stressful and it can be difficult to manage your nutrition intake, your physical activity and your stress but you are not alone.  AFM is here for you and your family to help manage these factors and give you the resources to live your best life!