While hearts are associated with romantic love – red and pink heart-shaped cards and balloons abound around Valentine’s Day – it’s life itself that the heart really symbolises.
There’s nothing seasonal or paper thin about the hard-working muscle that pumps 100,000 times each day, sending 7,200 litres of blood through a 19,000-km network of our veins and arteries.
Some 42 per cent of all deaths in the European Union are due to heart disease, which shows that it’s not just those with obvious health issues such as obesity that are at risk. Heart disease is often a silent killer, striking without warning.
Perhaps, then, we should take time this Valentine’s Day to improve the state of our working heart. So few of us do so until we have health problems. And we should also extend this care to those we love. This includes our children as heart disease can and does start early.
The good news is that while there are, for a few people, genetic factors at stake, most heart disease is preventable, being largely a result of an unhealthy lifestyle. For those who already suffer from the disease, it can be reined in and controlled.
Diet needs to be addressed and not just until we’ve shifted a few kilos. With around 10 per cent of the Maltese population suffering from type 2 diabetes (largely brought on by being overweight) and with childhood obesity levels among the highest in the world, there needs to be a major overhaul of the way we eat.
Salt and saturated fats are the main culprits when it comes to heart disease. We eat far too much of both. Processed foods are largely to blame – ready-made meals, and pies, pastries, hard cheeses, chocolate and crisps are all laden with high levels of salt and/or saturated fats.
But it is both vital and possible to cut back. Limit the amount of processed foods consumed and never add salt to cooked food. When cooking, don’t add salt. When it comes to fats, cut down on bad fats (saturated) and replace with good, non-saturated fat that is found in avocadoes, unsalted nuts and seeds.
Instead of reaching for junk, fill up on fruit and vegetables. We should all consume at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day (a portion is the size of your own fist).
Exercise is also essential, not something that we fit in if we have time. Try looking at it this way: if we don’t find the time, we’ll literally run out of it.
While experts once thought doing 30 minutes of exercise three days a week was enough to improve the health of our hearts, new guidelines state that we need to be doing moderate intensity exercise at least five times a week. Moderate exercise means getting slightly out of breathe, so a stroll along the front with friends doesn’t cut it.
These 30-minute sessions can be divided into blocks of at least 10 minutes. Try walking or cycling to work, taking the stairs at all times, jogging on the Wii, or doing step exercises when watching TV. Mix things up as exercise needs to be fun, not a chore.
Women need also to be aware of their shape, not just their weight. Those with an apple shape (where the weight sticks around the waist area) are more at risk of heart disease than those who are pear shaped and whose excess fat congregates around the hips. When exercising, target the waist area.
Quitting smoking is essential. Smokers are twice as likely to have a heart attack than non-smokers. It’s never an easy thing but quitting today means that come next Valentine’s you will be half as likely to have a heart attack as a smoker, adecidedly impressive turnaround.
Those with type 2diabetes are also at great risk of heartdisease as are those with high blood pressure – particularly dangerous as often there are no symptoms.
Those suffering from high blood pressure are three times more likely to have heart disease than those without. Once again, a healthy diet and regular exercise are key when it comes to eliminating these debilitating (and deadly) illnesses.
Stress is linked to high blood pressure and therefore to heart disease. Exercise helps with stress as does meditation. Experiment and find out which works better – simply sitting there bottling up stress, hoping it goes away, is the worst thingto do.
Drink moderately, not just because alcohol has calories andincreases your likelihood of putting on weight, but because excessive drinking or binge drinking damages the heart muscle.
Women should aim for no more than one to two units of alcohol per day; men two to three units. Don’t get into the habit of opening a bottle of wine every evening, instead try to limit drinking to just one or two evenings a week.
It’s not easy making changes to the way we think about food and exercise, but sticking to a healthy lifestyle plan can mean the difference between life and death.
Ensuring that we and those we love have healthy hearts is the best gift for Valentine’s.