It's All About Heart

My mom at sunrise on Mt LeConte
two years before her stroke.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States; more than 2200 Americans die of heart disease each day and stroke accounts for 1 in 18 deaths.  These numbers carelessly wash through your mind until your sister, father, or best friend makes them personal.  In May of 1997, it was my fifty-year-old mother who became my face for cardiovascular disease with a massive right-brain stroke.  Though her stroke was caused by a virus that weakened her heart, the National Stroke Association estimates that up to 80% of cases of heart disease and stroke are preventable.

The Center for Disease Control recommends the following four ways to greatly reduce your chances of suffering a heart attack or stroke:

Do not use tobacco: no matter how long or how much you have smoked, it is never too late to stop.  Within a single year of being tobacco free, your risk of developing heart disease drops dramatically.  As a parent, ending your reliance on tobacco is twice as important, as not only does it increase the chances that you will be there as your children grow up, but it also saves their heart and lungs from your second-hand smoke.

Be physically active: People who lead an active lifestyle are 45% less likely to develop heart disease than those who are sedentary.  The CDC recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week, which is as few as thirty minutes per day, five days per week.  If you find something that you love to do, your time will fly, but you will never find it sitting on the couch.  Ask a co-worker and walk after work, try free passes at gyms until you find one that offers a variety of classes you enjoy, or call a running shoe store and ask for names of local walking or running groups.  An awesome group that is getting women moving all over the nation is Black Girls Run; check out their website to find a group near you. 
Being physically active will help control your weight, especially if combined with a healthy diet, but it also reduces your chances of developing high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.  The best long and short-term benefit of exercise is that it reduces stress and simply makes you feel good.  The best news is that if you do not have thirty consecutive minutes each day to exercise, three, ten minute mini-workouts are just as beneficial.  An added bonus is that if you are a parent, your activity sets a powerful example for your children about the need to care for thier bodies. 

Maintain a healthy weight: a study presented last week at a conference for the American Stroke Association reported a 51% increase in strokes among men ages fifteen through thirty-four, a 17% increase among women in the same age range, and a 30% increase in strokes for boys and girls ages five to fourteen. Though urging caution in the interpretation of the data, some researchers attribute this increase to the growing obesity epidemic in the United States, as being over-weight is a major risk factor for stroke.
With close to one-third of children aged 2-19 being over-weight or obese and over one-third of adults being obese, the United States is battling a serious health problem that stems in part from over-eating, choosing the wrong foods and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle, but the good news is that even taking off a few pounds can improve cardiovascular health.

Make healthy food choices: a healthy diet comes in many shapes and forms but some heart-healthy basics include the following:
limit saturated and trans fats: limit fats that are solid at room temperature (butter, margarine, shortening, and animal fats) and cook instead with olive or canola oil. 
rethink protein: protein sources like fish (choose those high in omega-3 for a boost in heart health), legumes (a.k.a. beans, peas, and lentils), and nuts are great alternatives to meat.  Dairy products are another source, with Greek yogurt packing a protein punch, but be sure that you choose 1% or non-fat dairy products, except for children under the age of one (consult your pediatrician).  When you do eat meat, choose lean cuts of your favorites and avoid frying as your cooking method.
eat your fruits and veggies: do not roll them in sugar, cover them in salt, bath them in sauces, or fry them to death.  Instead find fruits and veggies that you love, and prepare them simply.  Make sure that you stock up on a variety every week and keep them in sight, as just as you are more likely to eat the enticing cake when it is left on the counter, you may increase your fruit and veggie intake by up to 50% simply by keeping them in a prominent place.
choose whole grains: elect whole grain breads, pastas, and cereals, but remember that you have to read the food label to know what you are getting, as, if the first ingredient does not contain the word "whole," it is NOT a whole grain.  If you are not a fan of whole wheat, do not be deterred, as first, wheat is not the only grain, and second, if it is the taste or texture of wheat, try white whole wheat for sandwich bread and even baking.
reduce your sodium: Nearly 90% of Americans consume too much salt, and though you can reduce temptation by keeping the shaker away from the table, research has shown that it is the salt that is already in many staples of the American diet which is causing the problem, with breads being the worst culprit (see the Top 10 Sources of Salt in Your Diet).  But there is hope in numbers: if all Americans cut a single gram of salt from their diet each day, it is estimated that this one action could result in 250,000 fewer new cases of heart disease and over 200,000 fewer deaths over a decade.
Computer models suggest that the amount of salt that manufacturers would need to remove from many processed foods would be so small that it would not affect most food's taste, but, for now, change will have to come from the choices of individuals, such as replacing one salty, processed snack each day with fresh fruit or veggies and leaving the turkey or ham in the bag a few times per week and enjoying a veggie sandwich in a pita or on whole wheat bread, both of which have less sodium than traditional white bread, loaded with pepper, tomato, avocado, onion, and for a sweet punch and crunch, thinly sliced apple.  Finally, try the low sodium version of some of your favorite canned soups, cheeses, condiments, chips, and crackers, as you may find a healthier way to enjoy some of your favorite foods.
control your portions: portions are hard to gauge, especially in our supersized society.  Since most of us do not carry a measuring cup to every meal, a great exercise is to take fifteen minutes to read the labels of common foods in your diet, determine the serving size, and then actually measure it.  Finally, pour that amount into the bowl or cup from which you most commonly consume that item and take a metal snap-shot of how full the bowl is.  This is particularly revealing where you serve yourself from a larger container, but never make assumptions about small items either, as that single-serving bottle of juice in the convenience store may contain as many as 2.5 servings and all the calories that come with them.  Knowing how to read labels is an invaluable tool, so please visit our crash course in food labels, if you are not familiar with them.
By serving yourself the proper portion, you make it easier to eat what you should, as most people will eat all that they are served, and if you are still hungry, enjoy a piece of fruit.  Not only can these changes reduce your caloric intake, but they also reign in the servings of saturated and trans fats, not to mention sodium, that are super-sized with your portions. 

For many, these may seem like over-whelming changes, but they are insignificant compared to the changes brought by the loss of a loved one.  So this Valentine's Day, become the hero of your own story or that of someone you love by committing to the health of your heart.  Make the powerful choice to be one less victim of this silent killer and give the gift of your presence today and for many years to come.