This month we are surrounded by reds and pinks and heart-shaped everything. With all of this, one can’t help but to think about the heart. And what a coincidence – February is American Heart Month*. It’s never too soon to think about the health of our hearts and those of our loved ones.

The heart is a big muscle and pump. Through contracting and dilating of different chambers of the heart, it is able to receive blood and then pumps it out to the rest of your body once it has been oxygenated. With it serving such an important purpose, it’s absolutely necessary that we take care of this precious organ. A healthy diet and lifestyle are essential to heart health. There are dozens of little things you can do to keep your heart in top shape, but we’ll discuss just a few.

Diet

In Body+Soul we’ve talked, at length, about a healthy diet (if you didn’t read the article, go check out the archives!) so I won’t bore you by rehashing it. Just know that it’s best to cut back on foods that are high in sodium (salt) and cholesterol. Chronic conditions like hypertension, commonly known as high blood pressure, are birthed and aggravated by high sodium diets. Overtime, hypertension places a strain on the heart muscles themselves and vessels (which are highways for blood). High cholesterol diets mean an accumulation of cholesterol in your blood. This, in turn, leads to a buildup of cholesterol along the walls of your arteries. Imagine your arteries are like garden hoses. If there is too much gunk lining the inside of the "hose” (artery) this impedes the flow of "water” (blood). This can eventually lead to a heart attack, because there with be a portion of the heart muscle that isn’t getting blood the way it should.

You don’t have to stick to rice cakes, celery sticks and water for the rest of your life. But everything in moderation. Make sure your diet is a balanced one.

Exercise

As I said, the heart is a muscle. Like all other muscles in the body, it needs a work out so that it can be strong and do what it needs to do for you. The American Heart Association recommends:

• At least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity at least 5 days per week for a total of 150
   
  OR

• At least 25 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity at least 3 days per week for a total of 75; or a combination of the two
  
  AND

• Moderate to high intensity muscle-strengtheningactivity at least 2 or more days per week for additional health benefits.

This may be harder for some than for others. There are different factors in our lives – children, school, health issues, etc. – that may keep us from exercising as the AHA suggests. Just do what you can! Some exercise is better than none at all. Don’t be discouraged if you can’t do as much as you’d like.

Stress Control

According to the AHA, chronic stress leaves your body in a constant "fight or flight” state. Typically, when we are stressed, our body reacts by getting us in gear to handle it (through "fight or flight”). This means our blood pressure, respiration rate (the number of breaths you take in a minute) and heart rate rise. If this is a constant thing, it puts our heart and its vessels under a lot of strain. Remember the garden hose comparison? Imagine if the hose has to contend with water constantly flowing through it at a high pressure? After a while, the hose is going to breakdown; much faster than a hose that doesn’t have to constantly endure a high water pressure. So, woosah! Your heart needs the break!

Smoking Cessation

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know smoking isn’t good for you. Most of us know that it wreaks havoc on our lungs and can lead to illnesses like lung and throat cancers. But it does a number on our hearts as well.

Smoking can lead to atherosclerosis (buildup along the walls of our arteries). Studies also show that smoking causes coronary vasoconstriction, or the constriction of vessels that supply the heart muscle with oxygen. It can also raise your blood pressure and increase your risk of blood clots. The problem with blood clots (and clogged arteries) is that they block the flow of blood (thereby oxygen) to where it needs to go. This can lead to strokes and heart attacks.

These few tidbits of info can make a world of difference if we give them a chance. Keep that heart of yours as healthy as possible! You’re going to need it for a long time!

If you would like to make a donation to the American Heart Association, just check out their website: heart.org

*February is also Black History Month. I hope we’ve all taken time to express our respect and thanks to those who have sown, and continue to sow, into the Black community.

Shari Grant is a Registered Nurse in South Florida, where she was raised in a (very!) Jamaican home. Some of the loves of her life are words (both reading and writing them) and missions work. She enjoys spending time with friends and family while living for a good laugh - one that makes her belly ache and her eyes water. Her bottom line goal in life is to make the Lord smile and maybe even serve Him up a chuckle from time to time, too.