FEBRUARY AMERICAN HEART MONTH

"Main Organ That Beats 3 Billion Times"

"Heart" 

 

 

 

    Why not celebrated it!  Everyday is a blessing.  Your heart beats 100,000 times a day and 35 million times a year.  An average human life can beat about 3 billion times.  You got to love the heart.

Facts about the heart. 

• Located almost to the center of the chest and between the lungs. 
• The aorta largest artery in the body.
• Pumps about 1 million barrels of blood during the average lifetime.
• Two stages of the heart beat - Systole and Diastole.
• Pumps blood through the blood vessels called the circulatory system.
• Three main types of blood vessels - Arteries, Capillaries, and Veins.
• The major blood vessels that enter the heart - Superior vena cava, Inferior vena cava, and Pulmonary veins.
• The pulmonary artery and aorta exit the heart and carries oxygen blood to the whole body.
• Heart is the size of a fist.
• There are four valves - Mitral, Tricuspid, Aortic, and Pulmonic valve.

Problems of the heart and circulatory system.
Over 64 million Americans have some type of cardiac problem.

• Congenital heart defects (common sign a heart murmur).
• Arrhythmia.
• Cardiomyopathy.
• Coronary artery disease *most common heart disorder in adults caused by atherosclerosis.
• Hypercholesterolemia * high cholesterol.
• Hypertension *high blood pressure.
• Kawasaki disease (affects the mucous membranes, skin, and the lymph nodes).
• Rheumatic heart disease (complication of untreated strep throat infection).
• Stroke *occur when blood supply to the brain is cut off or blood vessel in brain bursts.

     The heart organ works so hard to give us the breath of life.  A complication to the heart affects it tremendously and it has to work overtime.  A main reason why we all need to take care of our bodies so we can have those billion heart beats.  Every year a birthday comes around we celebrate it.  Why? Birthdays are a blessing.  A day that you make it to another day to another week another year it needs a celebration.  A day to sit or stand at the table to hear everyone sing and shout your name, to laugh, and embrace the love is a wonderful moment of blessing time.  A time not to waste.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!

EVERY BREATH TO BLOW

Another years of celebration ...

Another...

and Another...










        
        Tips for a HEALTH HEART.

1. Exercise! Exercise! Exercise! You must keep moving.  Walk, jog, jump rope, treadmill, zumba, yoga, swim, roller skate, bicycling, etc.
2. Enjoy nature.  Reduce the stress. Sit in the park, take up gardening, go to the beach, etc.
3. Connect with loved ones and friends.
4. Laugh, smile, play.  Heart will be at ease.
5. Get at least 6-8 hours of sleep.
6. Eat more heart-friendly foods.

• Omega 3 (wild salmon, flax seed)
• Oatmeal (steel oats or old fashion)
• Nuts (raw almonds, walnuts)
• Beans (black beans, pinto beans)
• Brown/Wild/Black rice
• Fresh vegetables (dark leafy greens- kale, dandelion, mustard, swiss chard, turnip, spinach, broccoli, brussel sprouts, asparagus, beets(greens), Japanese yams, sweet potatoes)
• Fruits (tomatoes, berries, apples, pineapples, watermelons, oranges, bananas, avocado)
• Fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, tarragon, oreagno, watercress, garlic, sage, basil, parsley, cilantro)
• Whole grains

      7.  Reduce salt intake.
      8.  Eat in moderation.
      9.  Create a daily menu or plan.
    10.  Take a CoQ10 coenzyme 100mg a day.

Avoid the following:  (Read labels)

• White rice
• White breads
• Process foods
• Trans fat (partially hydrogenated oils "man-made fats"- known to clog arteries)
• Butter, lard, bacon fat, shortening, cocoa butter, hydrogenated oils
• Meat skin
• Fried foods
• Nitrates, preservatives, cured meats * cause stomach cancer
• Can foods
• Limit dairy
• Artificial colorings
• Reduce as much red meat as possible

Now you know what a healthy heart entails and how the heart works.  Will you be ready for that time to come around again to see and blow another years of candles?



HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
AND
MANY RETURNS!!!!!!

                                                                                                          Namaste