February marks Heart Health month so we thought we’d take this opportunity to share some important information about how to improve your heart health and how to make healthy living a priority!
The Heart and Stroke foundation reports that 9/10 Canadians have at least one risk factor for heart disease and stroke but, the good news is that almost 80% of premature heart disease and stroke can be prevented through healthy behaviors.
Physical activity is a must for a healthy lifestyle! Adults should accumulate 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity aerobic physical activity per week, in bouts of ten minutes or more. If you don’t have a big chunk of time, you can do short bouts of exercises throughout your day. When choosing your activity be sure to choose a variety and include activities that you enjoy. Try to include endurance activities such as cycling and walking, strength activities including carrying groceries, heavy yard work and weight training and flexibility and balance activities to keep your muscles relaxed and your joints mobile.
Another way to improve your heart health is through a balanced diet. Eating a variety of proteins like fish, beans, poultry and nuts will help protect your heart. Aim for 7-10 fruits and vegetables each day to benefit from the heart healthy vitamins and nutrients they contain.
Keeping up with daily physical activity and balanced eating will help you to maintain a healthy weight. Unfortunately, 60% of Canadian adults are either overweight or obese. Carrying extra weight can lead to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and sleep apnea which greatly increases your chance of heart disease.
Smoking and heavy drinking significantly increase the risk of dying from heart disease or stroke so if you need help quitting smoking or reducing your alcohol intake please make use of one of the many resources available on line or see your doctor.
Let’s all take time this month to learn about the risk factors for heart disease and what we can do to protect ourselves and our loved ones!
