Heart Week – Helping you have a healthy heart

It's Heart Week (3-9 May). Heart Week is a great time to remember the importance of things you can do to keep your heart healthy. Hwa Rang Taekwondo is committed to helping our members better understand the importance of maintaining a healthy heart. Why? Because heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women, accounting for 46,000 (or 34 per cent) of all deaths in Australia.

Also, cardiovascular disease kills one Australian nearly every 10 minutes and also prevents 1.4 million people from living a full life because of disability caused by the disease.

Know your numbers - Blood Pressure and Cholesterol

Blood pressure: High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease. High blood pressure rarely gives warning signs and can be a silent killer. Doctors are now detecting high blood pressure earlier and treating it more effectively than before, which is why it is important for you to have your blood pressure regularly checked by your doctor.

Cholesterol: Cholesterol is the fatty substances found in the blood. High cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease as it can gradually clog the blood vessels supplying the heart and other parts of the body. This can reduce the blood flow to the heart and lead to a heart attack. Ask your doctor to check your cholesterol levels, at your next visit.

Nourish your heart

Enjoying a variety of foods from the different food groups is the key to healthy eating and maintaining a healthy heart.

Five things to do:

• increase fruit and vegetable consumption to the recommended daily amounts of two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables per day
• have fish (any type of fresh or canned) at least twice a week
• snack on plain, unsalted nuts and fresh fruit
• select lean meat (meat trimmed of fat and chicken without skin). Try to limit fatty meats, including sausages and delicatessen meats such as salami
• incorporate dried peas (e.g. split peas), dried beans (e.g. haricot beans, kidney beans), canned beans (e.g. baked beans, three bean mix) or lentils into two meals a week.
  

Maintain a healthy weight

Being overweight is a risk factor for heart disease and also contributes to high blood pressure. If your weight is a health risk, or it's affecting your enjoyment of life, then you need to do something about it.

To achieve a healthy body weight, balance the kilojoules (energy) coming into your body through food and drinks with the energy being used up by your body through regular physical activity.

Fad or crash diets are often unhealthy and are not helpful with losing weight and keeping it off in the longer term. Remember that the health benefits and what you can gain from your life make the effort worth it!

Five facts to remember:

• healthy weight loss takes time - so give yourself time
• small amounts of weight loss, or stopping weight gain, will have a big impact on your overall health
• take small steps - don't try and do everything at once
• don't be put off by slow progress, you may lose weight one week, then go for a few weeks without losing any
• changes need to be for the long term - make changes to your eating patterns and physical activity levels that you can live with for the rest of your life.
  

Why does weight matter?

The problem with carrying too much body fat or being overweight is that it can increase your risk of a number of health problems. These include:

• coronary heart disease
• diabetes
• high blood pressure and cholesterol
• joint problems e.g. gout, arthritis and joint pain
• sleep problems e.g. sleep apnoea
• certain types of cancer.

Be active

Regular, moderate physical activity is good for your heart. The Heart Foundation recommends you include at least 30 minutes or more of moderate physical activity (such as training) on most or all days of the week for health benefits.

Five things you can do:

• walk instead of drive
• meet a friend for a walk rather than a drink or a meal
• get off the bus early and walk a couple of stops
• take the stairs instead of the lift or escalator
• wear a pedometer and try to increase your daily step average to the recommended 10,000 steps a day.