The Heart of a Woman

February is National Heart Month, and it is also what many consider to be a romantic month, when one gives or receives heart shaped gifts, or boxes of candy.

The beautiful flowers you see here are the heart shaped "Bleeding Heart", courtesy of Wikipedia and used under the Creative Commons License.

A Woman's emotional heart is touched by receiving beautiful things on Valentines Day, but her physical heart is touched by the way she treats her own heart and body each and every day.

What are some of the things a woman can do to take care of her own heart, prevent heart disease, and live a healthy life in general?  Some of them are not new, but we do need reminders, don't we?

1. Eat a healthy diet - Yes, I know, you've heard that before more times than you'd like to mention, but it is so key.  Those who live a low heart-risk lifestyle eat a diet rich in vegetables, fruit, whole grains that they are not allergic or sensitive too, fish and legumes.
2. Do not smoke - so many toxins are expected to filter through the lungs of the smoker.  So much work for your beautiful, clean lungs to do, blackening them over time and remember, there is a big connection between the heart and the lungs.  It just doesn't make any sense at all to smoke if you take any time at all to consider what it is doing to your body.
3. Drink Alcohol in moderation - Small amounts of red wine rich in antioxidants may actually be beneficial to the heart.  But excess drinking is not good for the body or mind.
4. Maintain proper body weight - You don't have to be skinny-thin to be healthy, a small bit of extra weight might be beneficial according to recent reports, but being overweight taxes the heart by increasing the blood pressure and requiring more work of the heart in general.
5. Exercise - Do something active each day, even if it's "just" taking a walk, like I am about to do as soon as I finish typing this.

Updated 11/21/18