How To Save Your Life Part 2

One of my readers was kind to give another healthy tip I will share with you today:

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  Besides the tip I gave you yesterday that can save your own life if you are experiencing a heart attack, you can also bear down as if you are having a bowel movement and cough.  This 'bearing down' is called the Vasalva Movement and can help to invigorate the vagus nerve which is crucial for heart health.  Another way to help prevent heart attact is to eat healthy, maintain a healthy weight and exercise daily.

Heart Disease Facts and Women

Ok, read this blog today and pass it on to everyone you know; it could save your mother, sister, wife, girlfriend, BFF and anyone else who's female...

1.  Heart disease is the number 1 killer of women age 20 and over.  Heart disease kills one woman every minute.
2.  More women die of cardiovascular disease than the next four causes of death combined, including all forms of cancer.
3.  1 in 30 women die of breast cancer.  1 in 3 women die of cardiovascular disease.
4.  ONLY 1 in 5 women believes that heart disease is her greatest health threat.
5.  90% of women have one or more risk factors for developing heart disease.
6.  80% of cardiac events in women could be prevented if women made the right choices for their hearts involving diet, exercise and abstinence from smoking.
7.  Hispanic women are likely to develop heart disease 10 years earlier than non-Hispanic white women.
8.  More than 8% of Hispanics age 18 and older have heart disease.
9.  African-American women are at greater risk for heart disease, stroke andother cardioascular diseases than Caucasians.
10.  African-American females have higher death rates from heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases than white females.
Courtesy:  GoRedForWomen.org

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  Ladies, if you experience chest pain, dizziness, shortness of breath, pain down your arm or up your neck or nausea...don't give in to the silly assumption that you are a hysterical female having an anxiety attack.  Making a trip to the emergency room with the complaint of chest pain will have you seen immediately and this could save your life....you could very well be having a heart attack.  Don't be stupid, be smart!!!!  Find out more at the American Heart Association website today and get yourselves heart healthy!

February is Heart Month, So Watch the Salt

Processed foods, fast foods and anything you eat in a restaurant contain a tremendous amount of salt that you most likely don't taste because you are accustomed to salty foods in general. Yes, there is such a thing as 'salt addiction'. Just look at some people who, before even tasting their food, reach for the salt shaker and pour it on. Salt conceals the real taste of many foods, and if you don't add salt to your meals, you'll actually taste what all that stuff on the plate is supposed to taste like! If you're trying to wean yourself off salt, try some fresh lemon or lime over your food. You'll be getting a little bit more Vitamin C and your food will be fresh and tasty. To wean yourself off salty nuts, try doing half salted/half unsalted and reduce the amount of salted nuts until you're only having the unsalted nuts. Nuts do contain healthy fats and proteins...it's the salt that will kill you.


Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day: There are many people out there who are highly sensitive to salt and those with congestive heart disease, high blood pressure and other maladies who cannot tolerate salt. Be kind, be salt sensitive and be smart....switch to sea salt and don't cook with a ton of salt...allow your tablemates to choose their own taste at the table. After all...nobody forces you to eat your peas if that's not your thing...don't force others to eat salt. You could be making them very, very sick at the end of the evening!

Congestive Heart Failure...Something You Should Know About

Today is the 12th anniversary of my father's demise.  He died slowly and painfully of complications from smoking cigarettes and eating too much salt and sugar.  The end cause was congestive heart failure.  So, I thought I'd share some valuable information with all of you today so you know what this condition is and the symptoms involved.  This information could save you or a loved one someday.
What is congestive heart failure?

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a condition in which the heart's function as a pump to deliver oxygen rich blood to the body is inadequate to meet the body's needs. Congestive heart failure can be caused by:
diseases that weaken the heart muscle, diseases that cause stiffening of the heart muscles, or diseases that increase oxygen demand by the body tissue beyond the capability of the heart to deliver.

What are the symptoms of congestive heart failure?
The symptoms of congestive heart failure vary among individuals according to the particular organ systems involved and depending on the degree to which the rest of the body has "compensated" for the heart muscle weakness.  An early symptom of congestive heart failure is fatigue. While fatigue is a sensitive indicator of possible underlying congestive heart failure, it is obviously a nonspecific symptom that may be caused by many other conditions. The person's ability to exercise may also diminish. Patients may not even sense this decrease and they may subconsciously reduce their activities to accommodate this limitation.
As the body becomes overloaded with fluid from congestive heart failure, swelling (edema) of the ankles and legs or abdomen may be noticed.  In addition, fluid may accumulate in the lungs, thereby causing shortness of breath, particularly during exercise and when lying flat. In some instances, patients are awakened at night, gasping for air.  Some may be unable to sleep unless sitting upright.  The extra fluid in the body may cause increased urination, particularly at night.  Accumulation of fluid in the liver and intestines may cause nausea, abdominal pain, and decreased appetite.
Courtesy:  Medicine.Net.com
Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  You only have one heart, so be nice to it.  Feed it, exercise it, rest it and love it...just like your favorite pet.