7 Ways to Take Care of Your Heart This Valentine's Day

It’s February and we all know what that means! Heart shaped cards, flowers, and chocolates galore! These cards and gifts have been popular in the United States since the mid-1800s. While many feel it has been over commercialized, Valentine’s Day can still be an opportunity to rekindle love or remind your sweetheart just how much you truly care for them. Love isn’t always easy and many will agree that at times it just takes work. Sometimes it is easier to follow commercialized traditions than to take the time to slow down, put in the work, and truly express love in a way that is meaningful to those closest to you. After many years of marriage, celebrating Valentine’s Day may seem unnecessary or simply a waste of money. Instead of focusing on just one day to demonstrate your love, why not spread the sentiment (and possibly the cost) over several weeks. Perhaps you have heard of the 40-day love dare or the 90-day romance your marriage challenge, among many others. Challenges such as these are an excellent way to celebrate Valentine’s Day with your spouse on a much deeper level than a box of chocolates. 1) Another way to love your Valentine this year is to love their physical heart. Heart disease has become the number one cause of death for both men and women in the United States. Some of the primary risk factors include unhealthy eating, sedentary lifestyles, and obesity. Instead of tempting your favorite person with treats that could increase their risk of heart disease, try some ideas to treat their heart well. 2) Similar to the previously mentioned challenges, caring for your loved one’s heart shouldn’t be just a single day of health, but rather a lifestyle of health. The most common risk factors for heart disease are related to our lifestyle. Thinking about heart health on Valentine’s Day is a terrific opportunity to begin heart healthy habits. There are many ways we can significantly decrease our risk for heart disease through lifestyle changes. 3) As you may have guessed, your nutritional intake is one of the major ways you can reduce your risk of heart disease. All around the world, the populations with the lowest rates of heart disease follow a primarily plant-based eating pattern. While these eating patterns are diverse and reflect each culture, they all revolve around plant foods in many combinations, but particularly including legumes. Try incorporating beans, peas, or lentils in your Valentine’s Day meals. 4) Hydration is an additional dietary factor that is important for heart health. Dehydration increases stress on the heart by decreasing blood volume, forcing the heart to beat faster in an effort to compensate for the lower volume. Drinking plenty of water throughout the day helps manage blood pressure, reducing stress on the heart. If plain water becomes boring, try infusing your water with fruits and vegetables such as berries, cucumbers, or mint. 5) Another way to reduce your risk of heart disease is by having an active lifestyle. Yes, exercising! While many groan at the idea of exercising for the sake of exercise, it doesn’t need to be that dull. Simply being more active throughout your day can reduce heart disease risk. Think about ways you could be a little more active during your waking hours. Simple things like taking the stairs, parking further away from the store or your office, taking a walk instead of watching another TV episode, riding your bike instead of driving, or taking your kids to a park instead of playing video games. The ways to be more active while still accomplishing your to-do list are nearly endless. Consider using a wearable or an app to tangibly track your activity. With these devices you can see your success, set goals to beat your personal bests, or earn in app badges! 6) Possibly a more interesting way to stay active is to play games or sports. An active lifestyle doesn’t have to be monotonous; it can be fun as well as reduce heart disease risk. Join a local recreational league or engage your family or friends in sports on a regular basis. This type of activity is often more enjoyable for those that do not enjoy exercising simply because they are supposed to for their health. 7) If your Valentine brings you a box of sweets this year, all is not lost! Extend your enjoyment and appreciation of their thoughtfulness by freezing some of the treats. Then you can enjoy them in small portions over several weeks. Each time you savor a bite you can be reminded of the love your Valentine has for you and love your heart at the same time. This Valentine’s Day, show your sweetheart how much you love them and their heart using some or all of these tips. Discuss your favorite ways to care for your heart with your loved ones and make a plan to keep your heart healthy all year long! Wishing you a happy and healthy Valentine’s Day, from my heart to yours. Making lifestyle changes takes a commitment. Be strong and courageous. It will be worth the effort. *If you have any questions about diet, exercise or nutritional supplements that can help your heart; ask one of the doctors at our office. Source: 2/14/19, Article courtesy of Christian Care Ministry's Medi-Share, a health care sharing ministry through which members voluntarily and directly share each other’s medical bills. Since the program’s inception in 1993, Medi-Share members have shared more than $2 billion in medical bills. And because of access to an extensive network of more than 700,000 health care providers, members have saved an additional $1.3 billion in medical costs during that time. Medi-Share has over 400,000 members in all 50 states. More than just health care, Christian Care Ministry is a community of people who share their lives, faith, talents and resources and pray for and encourage one another. For more information, visit Medishare.com."

Fall Asleep Faster (in as little as two minutes)

An estimated 70 million American adults have a sleep disorder, the most common of which is insomnia — the inability to fall asleep, or waking up one or more times during the night. If you’re in this category, despair not, because the list of strategies to improve your sleep is long. While most sleep problems are tied to lifestyle choices such as spending too much time indoors during daylight hours, and/or excessive use of technology and chronic exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs), which will require you to make (perhaps significant) changes to your lifestyle, a number of tips and tricks can be useful in the short term. A method developed by the U.S. military, revealed in the 1981 book, “Relax and Win: Championship Performance,” claims to have a 96 percent success rate after six weeks of consistent implementation. Military Method Preps Your Body for Sleep The method centers around preparing your mind and body for sleep by deeply relaxing for about two minutes. The following summary of the process was recently published in the Evening Standard: 1. Relax your whole face, including your tongue, jaw and the muscles around your eyes. 2. Drop your shoulders and relax your arms. 3. Relax your chest as you breathe out. 4. Relax your legs, from your thighs to your feet. 5. Relax and clear your mind, then picture yourself in one of the following scenarios: a. You’re lying in a canoe on a calm lake with nothing but blue sky above you. b. You’re snuggled in a black velvet hammock in a pitch-black room. c. Simply repeat “Don’t think, don’t think, don’t think” for 10 seconds. Additional Strategies to Help You Fall Asleep Faster Medical News Today also recently published a list of “21 Ways to Fall Asleep Naturally,” which included the following: 1. Create a consistent sleeping pattern by going to bed and getting up at the same time every night. 2. Make sure your bedroom is as dark as possible. If you don’t have blackout shades, use an eye mask. 3. Avoid taking naps during the day or too close to bedtime. 4. Exercise regularly. 5. Minimize cellphone use and use of other blue light-emitting devices. 6. Read a book to relax before bed. 7. Avoid caffeine and other stimulants at least four hours before bed. 8. Meditate or practice mindfulness on a daily basis. 9. “Count sheep” by slowly counting downward from 100 to zero. 10. Avoid eating at least three hours before bedtime. 11. Lower the temperature in your bedroom; an ideal temperature for sleeping is around 65 degrees. 12. Use aromatherapy; lavender is relaxing and may help induce sleep. 13. Find your most comfortable sleeping position. I would suggest you try sleeping in a neutral position. a. On your back with a pillow supporting your neck and a pillow under your knees. b. On your side with your knees slightly bent and a pillow between your knees. 14. Listen to relaxing music before bed. 15. Use the bathroom before you get into bed. 16. Take a hot shower or bath before bed. 17. Avoid e-books, as the blue light from the screen will impede melatonin release. 18. Try a melatonin supplement. Another effective alternative is 5-HTP, which is a precursor to both serotonin and melatonin. 19. Invest in a comfortable mattress. A medium to firm mattress offers the best support for your spine. 20. Minimize noise; use ear plugs if environmental noise is unavoidable. 21. Avoid alcohol. Avoid Nighttime EMF to Improve Sleep Quality While avoiding cellphones and other devices with electronic screens is important to protect your melatonin production. There’s actually evidence showing EMF exposure reduces melatonin production just like blue light from cellphones, tablets and computers do, making it particularly important to reduce EMFs in your bedroom. EMF exposure also triggers neuronal changes that affect memory and your ability to learn, and harms your body’s mitochondria by producing excessive oxidative damage, so “marinating” in EMFs all night, every night, can cause or contribute to virtually any chronic ailment, including premature aging. One of the easiest ways to avoid or radically limit your nighttime electric field exposure at night is to remove all electronic devices and wireless devices from your bedroom. Another potentially important step could be to turn off your Wi-Fi at night. Try it for a few nights to see if this step helps you to physically and mentally disconnect. You could even hard wire your home so that you have no Wi-Fi 24/7 in your home. Sleep is an important yet all too often overlooked factor in health and well-being. If you’re still skimping, thinking you’ve managed to get by OK so far, I urge you to reconsider and give sleep the attention it deserves. You can do everything else right, but if you’re not sleeping enough, or not sleeping well, many of the benefits of your healthy lifestyle will be lost. *If you have any questions about sleep or nutritional supplements that can help with your sleep; ask one of the doctors at our office. Source: Medical News Today, 2/2/19.