Look after your heart this Valentine's Day.

Are you stuck for ideas on what to give your loved one this Valentines Day?

It seems that every high street shop has their special promotions planned and heart shaped decorations directed at cashing in on us clueless guys in our attempts to show our love to either our wives or girlfriends or both in some cases!

The beauticians are promoting their pampering products, the flower shop is stocking up on red roses, the confectionary store is crammed full of heart shaped sweet delights and the local restaurant has created a special Valentines menu.

What do you do?

Well here’s a novel suggestion. Instead of just giving a simple gift that will end up being thrown away, used up or eaten why not give something a lot more lasting….. If you really want to give your heart to that special someone then why not give them a very healthy heart?!

Did you know that heart disease still kills more people in the United Kingdom than any other condition? National statistics showed one in five men and around one in six women died from heart disease, including heart attacks, in 2005, and around 2.7 million People are estimated to be living with coronary heart disease in the UK and this number is rising each year.

The majority of us lead a lifestyle which encourages an unhealthy diet, excess alcohol consumption, lack of sleep, a stressful working environment and a serious lack of physical activity. I can almost guarantee that you will have at least one of these factors in your life at the moment.

Unfortunately most people know that they have an unhealthy lifestyle and as a result an unhealthy heart but refuse to change their lifestyle until they are either forced to or it’s too late!
Statistic show that more people than ever are living with coronary heart disease but fewer people are dying from it. So we’ve found medication to slow down the death rate but what quality of life does that leave sufferers with?

Obviously hereditary conditions account for a number of cases but a huge number of cases are self inflicted through poor choices on the individual’s part. Most heart disease is avoidable if we take simple measures to improve our lifestyle. Too many people in the UK are exercising too little, eating diets too high in fat, salt and sugar, and consequently, becoming overweight or obese.

Physical inactivity and unhealthy diets remain a major problem. Only 37% of men and 25% of women take the recommended 30 minutes of moderate exercise at least five times a week. 88% of men and 83% of women consume too much saturated fat and salt intake is excessive in 85% of men and 69% of women.

This all adds up to increasing levels of overweight and obese people. In the last ten years, the percentage of obese adults has increased by more than 50% - from 14% of the population to 22%.

Another huge factor that we allow into our lives to cause damage to our heart is stress. Stress is the way we all react to change. It includes our mental, emotional and physical responses to the pressures of everyday life.

The pace of our lives in the 21st century is getting faster and faster. Consequently it seems to be harder to find the time to exercise or cook well-balanced, healthy meals. We rev our engines with stimulants like caffeine and nicotine but then need depressants like alcohol to slow us down again.

Instead of sitting down to eat fresh fruits and vegetables we stuff ourselves on the go with junk foods that are low in fibre and good fats, but crammed full of refined carbohydrates and saturated fat.

We may be living longer on average than our ancestors, but many of us spend our older years in chronic poor health, taking multiple medications to lower blood pressure and cholesterol and keep our blood from clotting.

Change is a natural and normal part of life, and therefore a moderate amount of stress is part of normal living. The problem comes with the way we choose to control and manage our stress, in whether it has a positive or negative effect on us.

Your reaction to acute stress is important to protect your body and improve your performance. For example your stress reaction helps you manoeuvre through a dangerous traffic situation or play well in a competitive game. However, chronic stress can have a harmful effect on your body.

Chronic stress requires you to suppress your natural “fight or flight” reaction over hours, days or even years. It may be triggered by demanding jobs, family problems, marital problems, money worries or feelings of inadequacy or loneliness.

Excess amounts of chronic stress in our lives can narrow your arteries, increase your blood pressure, increase your heart rate, worsen your sleep, affect concentration, cause stomach problems, headaches and back and neck pain.

Stress is also associated with depression and anxiety disorders and can reduce the amount of pleasure you get out of life. Chronic stress can numb you to feelings of satisfaction and accomplishment. Eventually, this numbness could have a negative impact on your work and your relationships.

How do we change and create long term health benefits?

The simple answer to long term health is long term practice. Unfortunately as stated earlier we live in a world that runs at 100 miles per hour and we want everything now. Therefore we look for the quickest possible way to achieve our desired results.

These usually include prescription medication. If you listen to the pharmaceutical companies then you will hear that their medication works in reducing blood pressure, blood cholesterol or blood clotting and in theory they do.

What they don’t tell you is that these medications only mask the underlying problems and that every drug has a side effect and a negative impact on the human body, and are you really taking control of your own health by taking a pill? There are other ways to look after your heart that are much more effective, long lasting and enjoyable.

1. Exercise
Even a brief amount of exercise each day will enable your metabolism to start functioning more effectively. It will reduce excess body fat, stabilise blood sugar levels, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, strengthen the heart an it is a fantastic way to alleviate stress.

2. Take control of your diet
People talk a lot about reducing the amount of fat in your diet and to an extent this advice has been taken a bit too far. Saturated fats WILL increase the clogging of the arteries but Omega 3 oils and essential fatty acids are crucial for the body to survive a healthy existence.

The big change that needs to be made in the majority of diets is a reduction in the amount of refined carbohydrates. Consuming these types of foods not only causes bloating and poor digestion, they also raise blood sugar levels, which stimulates the production of insulin.

Unfortunately we are extremely misinformed about what we eat. Food companies are allowed to exploit our naivety and as a result consumers are unaware of what foods are actually good for them and those that are actually causing more harm. The key is to eat real foods preferably organic as often as possible.

3. Relax
We need to slow down our body’s adrenal system, turn off the fight or flight response and learn to relax, replenish and recharge. Simple processes such as cutting out the amount of stimulants we consume and learning to breath properly get a higher quality a quantity of sleep and take time to switch off each day.

So this Valentine’s make plans to look after your health and give your loved one a healthy heart for years to come, - but probably go with the flowers as well to avoid ending up in the doghouse!

David Osgathorp - Owner, All About You Performance & Wellbeing. 3 Broadbent Close, Highgate, London, N6 5JW. 020 8348 9706. www.aayou.co.uk