Each year we celebrate Heart Month during February. It is an opportunity to raise awareness of heart disease and the steps we can each take to try to decrease our risk. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States and most of us know someone who has struggled with heart disease before. The good news is we can choose healthy behaviors that make it less likely we will develop heart disease. Here are a few recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• Choose healthy foods and drinks including high fiber foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
• Limit alcohol and foods high in sugar, saturated fat and salt (sodium).
• Get regular physical activity, 2 hours and 30 minutes per week for adults and 1 hour per day for children.
• Don’t smoke.
• Maintain a healthy weight.
• Seek screening for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Follow your health care provider’s instructions related to managing these conditions.
• Look after your mental health and learn strategies to handle stress in a healthy way. The American Heart Association has valuable resources to help with this. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-lifestyle/mental-health-and-wellbeing

You can also learn skills to help those around you. Performing CPR quickly after someone suffers a heart attack can more than double their chances of survival. Have you been trained? The Spend Smart. Eat Smart. team participated in CPR and AED training last spring, and I encourage you to look into it. You can learn more here: https://cpr.heart.org/en/.

Take Care!