Love your Heart

For all you ladies out there, especially those in the US but also all over the world, today is National Wear Red Day. This day was designed to bring about awareness that heart disease, not cancer, is the #1 killer of women in the United States (I'm not sure about other countries, but if anyone has that information to share, that would be wonderful). The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute is sponsoring Heart Truth, dedicating the entire month of February as American Heart Month, to remind women all over to take care of their hearts. This cute little red dress is the symbol that they have launched to inspire women to take action and protect themselves - by being aware, by educating themselves on the symptoms and what they can do to prevent heart disease, and to show their support for the movement. You can buy it here, if you'd like, to support the movement. Or you can just don your reddest of red shirts/pants/scarves/dresses to show your support. But most of all, I just want you to be aware.

This is probably especially important for those of us, like myself and I'm guessing most of you, who love to eat food like perfectly marbled beef, rich desserts and crisp bacon (Oh, Lord, how I love bacon!). If I had known all of this before I saw it on CNN this morning, I'd have cooked or baked something heart-healthy and/or red to showcase on here today, but alas, I was not "in the know." So, please, my women friends (and men, tell your women friends, spouses, loved ones and coworkers!), not just those in the US, but all over the world, when we're cooking and baking wonderfully delcious delicacies - think about your hearts too. Learn more about it, get enough exercise, eat things that aren't so heart-happy in moderation (of course we can still have them!), and eat lots of heart-healthy goodies! Remember to make your over-all diet low in saturated fats, trans fatty acids, and cholesteral and high in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and low-fat versions of dairy products (or at least moderate amounts of full-fat versions (like an excellent cheese)...yeah, yeah, I know you've heard it all before...but this is important!

Note that this is also, in part, selfish - I want to be reading all of your blogs for years and years and years to come!

Here's a few websites to get you started:

The American Heart Association - especially knowing the numbers important to your heart health, and getting them checked, if you haven't

National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute

Health-Heart.org