Take care of your heart and you will have a fighting chance to see old age and be able to enjoy physical activity up to the end. People tell me they don’t want to live to be 100 if they are in and out of the doctor’s office and hospital for the last fifteen of those one-hundred years. They would rather die suddenly, in good health, from a heart attack. Sudden death from heart failure is rare. Fewer than a million of us Americans die of a heart attack each year, but heart disease claims 1 in 5 of us annually and has been the leading cause of death in the US for 100 years.

Doctors tell us what lifestyle changes we need to make. They are ready to “manage” heart disease with drugs. The problem is that most of us will not die suddenly. We will slowly sink toward death less and less able to live a physically active life.

February is Heart Health Month. Valentine’s Day brings our loved ones to mind. We want them to be part of our lives for years to come. The truth is that modern medicine can support us into very old age and many of us will reach 100. What will be the quality of those last twenty years? It is up to us. Not entirely. Many factors cause our health to deteriorate and not all of them are under our control, but we can do a lot to prevent heart disease.

Heart Disease Risk Factors

• High blood pressure. High blood pressure, or hypertension, has long been recognized as a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
• High cholesterol. Extra cholesterol can build up on artery walls and reduce blood flow to the heart.
• Diabetes. Adults with diabetes are two to four times more likely to die from heart disease as people who don’t have it.
• Depression. Adults with a depressive disorder or symptoms of depression have a 64% greater risk of developing coronary artery disease.
• Obesity. Being overweight is linked to several factors that increase the risk for cardiovascular disease, including diabetes and high blood pressure.

Heart Risk Behaviors

• Smoking. Smoking is a major cause of cardiovascular disease & causes around 1in 4 heart disease deaths.
• Eating a poor diet. A diet that’s high in fat, salt, sugar, and cholesterol can contribute to heart disease.
• Not exercising. Even though exercise reduces the risk for heart disease and early death, only about half of Americans get the recommended amount of aerobic activity.
• Drinking alcohol excessively. Heavy alcohol use can increase the risk for heart attack, heart failure, and death. Excess drinking can damage the heart before symptoms even appear.

Prevention

The good news is that heart disease is preventable. Controlling these risk factors can reduce a person’s risk for a heart attack and stroke by more than 80 percent.

Follow these six simple tips to keep your ticker ticking:

• Have no more than one to two alcoholic drinks per day for men, and one drink per day for women. One drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer (a bottle), 5 ounces of wine (a proper glass), and 1.5 ounces of spirits.
• Eat a diet that’s free of trans fats, low in saturated fats, cholesterol, salt, and sugar, and high in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, omega-3 fatty acids, and dark chocolate.
• Exercise at moderate intensity for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.
• Limit stress. Try meditating, spending time with people you love, getting enough sleep, and seeking counseling if you need it.
• Quit smoking today. Get help quitting here.
• Work with your doctor to manage your blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, and weight.

The cost of caring for cardiovascular disease is more than $351 billion per year. Nearly $214 billion pays for the care of people with heart disease, while more than $137 billion goes to lost productivity.

Heart attack is one of the most expensive conditions treated in U.S. hospitals. Its care costs an estimated $11.5 billion a year.

By 2035, more than 45 percent of Americans are projected to have some form of cardiovascular disease. Total costs of cardiovascular disease are expected to reach $1.1 trillion in 2035, with direct medical costs expected to reach $748.7 billion and indirect costs estimated to reach $368 billion.

                    This information comes from www.healthline.com

Protect Your Heart Health with Shaklee Vitamins and Supplements

A healthy diet, exercise, and positive changes to your lifestyle can make a difference. And support from our dietary supplements may help take you one step closer to reclaiming your heart health.

Promote Blood Circulation and Healthy Blood Vessels and Arteries*

Your heart is the most crucial piece of your biological puzzle, but it has tons of support. The heart is the pump that pushes blood, oxygen, and nutrients throughout your body. But it relies on your arteries and vessels to deliver them! Those pathways play an important role in your overall health.

One of the best ways to see improvements is to support that transportation system. By improving blood circulation, you’re putting less strain on your heart and allowing it to pump more efficiently*.

Our Blood Pressure supplement contains natural ingredients like beet powder, spinach powder, quercetin, and magnesium to retain your blood pressure and promote better blood flow. It’s a valuable source of dietary nitrates. The nitrates are vasodilators that dilate the vessels to allow more efficient blood flow.

We also offer CoQHeart® with Q-Trol®. CoQHeart prioritizes energy production and supports healthy arteries*. The main active ingredient is a blend of coenzyme and resveratrol. Coenzyme Q10 is the heart of the supplement.

But what is CoQ10? It is a powerful antioxidant. As is resveratrol. It plays a crucial part in cell energy production and overall maintenance. The coenzyme makes energy available to every cell, so it’s vital for supporting blood vessel health.

Unfortunately, CoQ10 levels decline with age. A supplement like CoQHeart replenishes your coenzyme supply, protecting your living cells and supporting your blood vessels.

Taking our supplements can make a noticeable difference. They help reduce how much work your heart has to do to pump blood throughout your body. You’re doing your heart a favor by supporting circulation.

May Reduce the Risk of Heart Disease*

Think of your heart as the battery that sustains life. Your heart is responsible for delivering blood, oxygen, and essential nutrients to every part of the body, supporting crucial biological functions to keep you healthy!

A focus on healthy eating and living is combating old habits. But it’s more important than ever to take action and protect the organ that keeps your body ticking.

To support heart health, many people resort to using everything from omega-3 fatty acids to vitamin E or vitamin B6 to solve the problem. Fortunately, we have potent supplements. Both the Blood Pressure and CoQHeart® with Q-Trol® supplements may make a difference. However, our Cholesterol Reduction Complex* can support heart health moving forward.

This product helps reduce cholesterol levels.

The Cholesterol Reduction Complex supplement provides 2,000 mg of plant sterols and stanols when taken daily. Sterols and stanols are naturally occurring compounds in plant cell membranes. More than 80 studies found that these compounds lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.

The sterols and stanols essentially compete for absorption in the intestines. They have a similar structure to LDL cholesterol.

Support Your Cardiovascular Function with Our Proven Ingredients

When you take our dietary supplements, you can rest easy knowing that you benefit from proven ingredients. It’s all heart-healthy ingredients backed by science. No one does it better than Mother Nature, and our nutritional supplements take full advantage of everything she has to offer.

Our products help you effectively support cardiovascular function in many ways. They’re easy to implement into your daily routine, and every supplement we offer is backed by trusted science. There’s no better time than now to take action and be proactive about keeping your body’s most important organ in good shape. Use these products as part of a healthy lifestyle, and you’re well on your way to achieving better heart health.

You can find the Heart Healthy products on my Personal Website, www.HiHoHealth.com.

Make the lifestyle changes and supplement with these products and I may see you around living it up for many years to come.

Be well, Do well, and Keep Moving! Betsy