Padre Medical Group

February is the Heart Healthy...

As hearts beat stronger in the season of love, Padre Medical Group is here to make sure the heart is in good condition. According to the American Heart Association, there are seven simple heart healthy factors.

1. Get Active: It is important to get at least 150 minute of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise. Aerobics generally considered the better exercise for the heart. By getting active, you as a person will have more energy, lower blood pressure, increase HDL, control blood sugar.

2. Control Cholesterol: 75% of cholesterol comes from your liver and other cells in the body and the other 25% comes from the food you eat.LDL is bad cholesterol and HDL is good cholesterol. You are at risk when the LDL is over 200 mg/dL.

3. Eat Better: Vegetables and fruit are high in vitamins, minerals, and fiber low in calories A recommendation from the AHA is to eat fish two times a week.Planning your food is also a good way to make sure that you are eating healthy.

4. Manage Blood Pressure: With high blood pressure, the blood moving through your arteries flows with much too force and puts pressure on your arteries.Stretching past their healthy limit causes tears. To repair body makes scar tissue which traps plaque and white blood cells which creates blockage. The goal is then to decrease blood pressure.

5. Lose Weight: When overweight and obese, there is a higher chance of heart problems. To find out if you are in trouble do not just use BMI include body measurements. Most of the time for woman BMI is incorrect. Go to your doctor for more information.

6. Reduce Blood Sugar: With high blood sugar, your body can become insulin resistant. Insulin resistance is the first step to becoming diabetic.

7. Stop smoking: Smoking decreases your ability to do physical activity and increased blood to colt. There are many organizations that help to stop smoking along with medications to help quit.

Valentines is on Sunday February 14, 2009 so stay away from the milk chocolate and update to dark chocolate or even to a sensible fruit basket. Strawberries are the new love food.