02/15/2024
February is American Heart Month!❤️ It is so important to keep your heart healthy and strong. With all the nutrition trends going around, let’s not forget how nutrition affects the heart 💕
1. Healthy fats 🥑 Eating foods rich in “healthy fats” helps prevent heart disease, stroke, and heart attacks. These fats are called unsaturated fats or omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. These fats are found in avocados, olives, olive and avocado oil, nuts and seeds, salmon and other fatty fish, seed oils, etc. Make sure to decrease the amount of saturated fats throughout the day.
2. Fiber🥬 eating foods rich in fiber helps to lower inflammation, lower “bad” cholesterol, and helps improve good cholesterol levels! Women need 22-25 grams of fiber and men need 28-34 grams of fiber per day (DGA 2020-2025).
3. Engage in movement🏃♀️the AHA recommends getting 150 minutes of vigorous activity per week (~30 minutes 5 days/week). This can look like brisk walks, running/jogging, HIIT, dancing, biking, climbing stairs, hiking.
4. Get enough sleep 😴 poor sleep habits can increase the risk for heart disease, high cholesterol, blood pressure issues, etc. It’s recommended to get 7-9 hours of quality sleep per night.
5. Stress management 🧘♀️High levels of chronic stress can also increase the risk for chronic disease. It is important to engage in activities that help you to destress (taking a bath, meditation, journaling, hiking, painting, etc.)
Information is from the American Heart Association and Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025.
