Fighting Heart Disease – Diet

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for Americans, and has been for many years. There are a lot of reasons for this – some of which have been discussed in previous posts. One of the contributing factors in heart disease is diet. You have to remember that food is the fuel your body runs on – cheap, processed food is even worse for your body than E85 gas would be for your Ferrari (I don’t have one either, but you’ll remember the image).

Americans have a terrible diet. The cheapest food available to us is the worst for us – but we know that if you’re feeding three kids dinner and you have $10, you’re hitting the fast food. In a more heart-healthy world, the cheapest food would be the freshest, and the drive through would be cost-prohibitive.

There are about three billion blogs about food out there, so you go find recipes you like and we won’t add to the pile.  We’ll keep it pretty simple:

All things in moderation, and the fresher the better. 

Students often tell me that they don’t know where to begin to improve their diets – I tell them to eat 10% cleaner. You can cut 10% of the junk out of your diet – use skim instead of cream in your coffee, or eat an apple in the afternoon instead of a candy bar. Make one meal a week with turkey instead of beef – or veggies instead of meat, brown rice instead of instant or regular white rice – these small changes can help improve your health. Once you’ve done it for a month…do it again. It’s a pretty painless way to improve your overall health. Obviously, if you have a specialized diet – if you have high blood pressure or diabetes, you should continue to follow that diet even as you clean it up.

Packaged foods – especially “healthy” frozen meals, are not very helpful. Flavor in processed food only comes from salt, fat or sugar. When they remove the fat, the salt content skyrockets. You can learn more about reading nutrition labels at Nutritiion.Gov. 

To learn about changing your family’s eating habits, check out our friends at Revitalized Nutrition.

If you combine your dietary improvements with moderate exercise and appropriate medical care for any underlying medical conditions, you’ll be well on your well to better health. 

50 Reasons to Exercise

In case you needed a reason above and beyond the heart disease list:

 

Special thanks to meanrat.com

Fighting Heart Disease – Underlying Medical Conditions

There are several medical conditions that can increase your risk of having a heart attack. One of them is heart disease, which is phrase that includes several things we’ll discuss in a minute.

Uncontrolled diabetes can significantly increase your chance of having a heart attack. If you have heart diabetes and control it, your chance of having a heart attack is moderately higher than someone of your age and condition.

If you have diabetes and don’t know it or don’t control it – your chance of having a heart attack is significantly higher than that of others of your age and condition.

The same holds true for blood pressure – with an added wrinkle:  high blood pressure usually doesn’t show any symptoms.  We call it “the silent killer” for a reason.

So what can you do? Make sure that you go and get a physical. It doesn’t matter how old you are – you should start in your twenties to make sure you have a baseline.

If you don’t have access to a physical for whatever reason than we recommend that you get a screening – high blood pressure and diabetes are easy enough to detect with inexpensive, easily available tests.  Local hospitals, health cares, community fairs and the like often offer free screenings.

Heart disease can include high blood pressure, but also high cholesterol and other issues. There are many treatments available. Follow the suggestions of your physician and make sure that you take your medication as prescribed to you.

Diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure have one more thing in common – your diet can have a huge impact on the severity and management of these diseases. You need to follow the suggestions of your healthcare provider, and do some research on your own.

Most people know that diabetics shouldn’t eat sugar – so they use artificial sweeteners and eat sugar free chocolate. What a lot of people don’t know is that certain foods, white bread is one example, are essentially sugar in your system. If you are a diabetic, simple carbs are bad for you.

There are a lot of options for finding this information, including meeting a dietician or going to meetings. There’s also a lot of research that is easy to find.

We’ll talk more about diet and heart disease in another post.

Remember, if you would like a class in CPR or First Aid in South Florida, please contact me to set it up. If your local non-profit would like a short, free presentation on heart attack symptoms or risk factors, please let me know and we’ll see of we can arrangement.

All of these disorders need to be evaluated and treated by a medical professional.

Book a Class in First Aid/CPR/AED

To book a class in First Aid, CPR/AED or Bloodborn Pathogens, or to request a talk on heart disease, heart attack recognition or another related topic, please send a note to CPRB2B@gmail.com or comment here. We serve the South Florida area.

We also have partners who offer nutrition counseling, personal training and swim/bike/running coaching.

Fighting Heart Disease – Exercise

As discussed previously, there are a number of risk factors that increase your chances of developing heart disease. Some of those factors can’t be changed (genetic predisposition, age), some can be modified (controlling underlying medical conditions, like high blood pressure) and some that can be changed (lack of exercise, stress, weight).

Today we’re going to talk about one of the things you can change- inactivity.

The CDC currently suggests 150 minutes a week of moderate activity, like walking a 15 minute mile or raking the lawn. If your heart rate is up, but you can still carry on a conversation, you’re doing great. That 150 minutes a week can sound daunting – but it’s 30 minutes 5 days a week. It doesn’t even need to be 30 minutes straight – you can take 3, 10 minute walks, if you like.

What does exercise have to do with preventing heart disease? A few things. Your heart is a muscle, and like all muscles, it needs exercise to be strong. Regular exercise can encourage better circulation of blood through the heart. It can lower blood pressure and high cholesterol, too.

Exercise also offers two other cardiac benefits – it reduces stress and it can help maintain or regulate your weight.

Reducing stress reduces levels of certain hormones that can be damaging to your vascular (blood vessel) system.

Maintaining a healthy weight can reduce your chance of developing Type 2 Diabetes and can help you control your high blood pressure.

So, there are a lot of good reasons to exercise – but how do I start to exercise?

There are a lot of ways to start moving. First things first, though – check with your doctor and make sure you’re healthy enough to start.

Do you have to spend a lot of money? Absolutely not. You can increase your activity by changing some of your habits. See if you can walk to some of your errands instead of driving. If you can’t do that, park at the far end of the lot at the grocery store. Go for a bike ride with your kids, walk through a local park. Check around the neighborhood, with your church or service organization or with your friends and see if anyone has a walking group you can join.

The author working hard to improve her cardiac health.

The secret to sticking to an exercise plan is pretty straightforward – find the active thing you love and go! Hike, bike, dance, swim, garden, run through sprinklers – whatever you enjoy is the thing the most likely to get you out of the house. Don’t be afraid to try different things – ask your friends what they do and see if you can work out with them. Check your local Park & Recreation department – many of them offer a variety of programs – and they’re usually reasonable priced. Exercise shouldn’t be a chore – it should simply be a part of your day.

 

Enjoy!

 

Health Links

I work with several businesses and agencies on safety and health, both personally and professionally.  if you are looking for information or training – please try the following people:

If you’re looking for high-quality personal training in Broward County, try Trainer Michelle at www.EmbraceFitness.co Her expertise can help you reach your next fitness goal – from a beach body to improving your athleticism. Your goals are her goals.

If you are looking to improve your life through better nutrition, or seek to understand the pitfalls of modern food products, contact Tammy at Revitalized Nutrition.

Relaxation is a big part of heart health. If beautiful things relax you, go check out this lovely blog.

Why Should I Train in CPR?

A friend and student tagged me in a FaceBook post yesterday:

“Omg! Just had the worst scare. I am at work. And the one year old that I am watching put this tiny black plastic thing in her mouth and was chocking on it. I thought at first she was chewing on her tongue. Because she does that a lot. But nope omg! That was super scary. Good thing. I had great CPR and first aid training! Nicole Goldstein

It was just so random her room is so baby proofed. It is so weird. That tiny little piece of plastic. We have no idea where it came from. But I stayed calm and just did what you taught me.  And it worked!  Thank you. It was very scary. But I knew by overreacting could be dangerous.”

We train in CPR and First Aid because these moments are common. They are always terrifying. Knowing what to do ahead of time, training against the possibility of the unthinkable can keep emergencies from turning into tragedies.

The skills we teach save children from choking, and adults from heart attack deaths. They help with cuts and scrapes and larger traumas. The skills you learn with us can help save the lives of those you hold dear.

Book a class with us today – cprb2b@gmail.com

 

 

Heart Disease Basics

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for American adults, and it has been for many years. Although we are all familiar with the words, there are a lot of things about heart disease that most people don’t know. It turns out that there are risk factors for heart disease that you can change, and risk factors for heart disease that you cannot change.

Does heart disease run in families?

Yes.  If people in your immediate family have been diagnosed with heart disease, than you have a higher risk of having heart disease, as well. People with this risk factor should get an overall check and be screened for high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol at least every year.

I have diabetes or high blood pressure. Should I be worried about my heart?

Yes. Having diabetes and/or high blood pressure significantly increases your risk of having a heart attack. If you have one (or both) of these disorders and control it well than your chance of having a heart attack is only slightly elevates. We recommend regular screenings for high blood pressure and diabetes, and a treatment plan that includes diet and exercise as well and taking the medication you are given when you’re supposed to take it.

I’m getting older. Does that increase my risk of having a heart attack?

Yes. Your risk of having a heart attack increases with age. That said, younger men are more likely to have heart attacks than younger women. Women almost never have heart attacks before menopause.

This is all very grim. Do you have any good news for me?

Of course. Those are risks that are hard to change. The best thing you can do about them is be aware, get your screenings and work to control any underlying conditions.

There are risk factors we can change?

Sure.

Diet is a huge contributing risk factor for heart disease and heart attacks. It turns out that the cheapest food available is usually the worst for us – and an awful lot of people have no idea how much salt, sugar and fat they eat.  Since I can’t tell you that you can never have another french fry – I will suggest this:

Can you eat 10% better? Can you get 10% more of your calories from fresh food? Can you get 10% fewer of your calories from a box or a drive-through window? Just 10%?? Most of our students think that’s a really doable goal. Do 10% better for a month, then do it again. You’ll be happy with the result.

Lack of exercise is an important risk factor as well. Your heart is a muscle, and like all muscles, it needs to exercise to be strong.

Exercise has other benefits. It can lower blood pressure and cholesterol. It can also if weight is lost, help control adult-onset diabetes. Also, many people report that when they exercise more they crave bad food less (I just did all that work – I don’t want a burger).

Exercise also reduces stress, which is the third controllable risk factor in heart disease.

The current guidelines for exercise from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are pretty modest. They’re looking for 20-30 minutes of brisk walking 5 or 6 days a week. That’s  150 minutes a week with an increased heart rate. If you want to do 3, 10 minute walks or circuits, that’s fine.  They are also encouraging adults to do 2 days a week of resistance work (with stretch bands) or weight lifting. Again, CDC isn’t looking for power lifters, just moderate resistance exercise.

Why? The aerobic exercise strengthens the heart, and occasionally encourages it to develop secondary blood vessels around any that might be blocked.

The weight training helps in a variety of ways. Developed muscles burn fat faster, helping people maintain a healthier weight. People who lift weights or do resistance work also have better bone density, better balance, and improved flexibility.

Read this:  http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/adults.html

for more information and discuss appropriate exercise with your doctor.

We know from our own experience that most people will only do exercise they enjoy. If you want to walk for fitness, but can’t always get out the door, ask a friend or neighbor to go with you. If you love to dance, turn up the radio and shake it out in the kitchen.  Personally, I respond to group fitness because I enjoy the team aspect, so martial arts and Master’s Swim programs are a good fit for me.

Once you find something you really enjoy, the fitness part of it will become much easier.

Will all of this stuff prevent me from having a heart attack?

I can’t promise that. I can tell you that being mindful of the first three and getting check ups and screenings will certainly help. Acting on the second three will keep you healthier for a lot longer.

If you would like more information, strategies and tips, please look at the following sites:

http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/GettingHealthy_UCM_001078_SubHomePage.jsp

If you would like me to come and talk to your church, group or organization about this, or to come and teach a CPR or First Aid class, please let me know: CPRb2b@gmail.com

First Aid Class FAQ

Why take a First Aid class?

People take First Aid classes for a variety of reasons. Some are required by their jobs, by OSHA or a state safety agencies. Lots of people take First Aid so they can better care for their families, especially if there are small kids in the family.

What do we learn about?

In First Aid we discuss appropriate treatment for common and potentially life-threatening injuries. Scrapes, cuts, bruises, burns, fainting, dislocations, sprains and strains, sudden illness, choking, poisoning and some other topics.

Sounds cheerful. 

Don’t worry. Our classes are fast-paced, interactive and entertaining.

How long does it take?

About 3 hours, usually.

Where is your training center?

My training center is your home or office – or anywhere else you’d like to hold a class. I come to you.

Is it expensive?

No. It’s $35 per person for a 2 year certification. I have a 5 student minimum.

Can I combine it with CPR training?

Of course. If we do both pieces in one day, the charge is $60 per person.

 

CPR Class FAQ

Why take a CPR class?

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for American adults. Sudden cardiac arrest, heart attacks and strokes happen every day.

These cardiac events are usually quick and terrifying to witness- but with early recognition, access and treatment, many of them are survivable.

In this class, you will learn how to recognize and respond to a life-threatening emergency.

What else will we learn?

You will learn how to treat conscious and unconscious choking patients, recognize a heart attack, stroke and shock, CPR, how to use an AED, and the confidence to act in an emergency.

Do we get a certification?

Yes. The certification is nationally recognized and valid for 2 years.

How long is the class?

The class is only 3 hours.

You do this kind of thing often?

Yes. We have been teaching CPR since 1992. Our interesting, informative class will teach you life-saving skills (and a little biology). Your instructor has done CPR as a lifeguard, an EMT and a bystander and has taught thousands of people this vital skill.

Anything else we should know?

Wear comfortable clothes and be prepared to move around a bit.