Diet, exercise keep heart healthy

Did you know that cardiovascular or heart disease claims more women's lives each year than the next five leading causes of death among women? We're talking half a million women a year!

While these statistics may sound scary, there is some encouraging news. Heart disease is mostly preventable. Your healthy lifestyle (or lack of it) will make a huge difference. How do we love our hearts to keep them strong and healthy?

The answer is twofold. And it goes back to that same old song and dance: diet and exercise. Or as I like to say, healthy food and loving movement.

We have to understand that inactivity is one of the major risk factors in developing heart disease. Our antidote to the inactivity problem is establishing a new habit of movement. We have been moving for 15 minutes each day. That 15 minutes of moving is going to affect every muscle in your body, especially the most important muscle of all — your heart. That little bit of movement each day is like investing a portion of your paycheck every month into a savings account so you can have something for retirement. By the time you need your little nest egg, it will be built up and provide you the comfort you need. That's what movement will do for your heart.

But what does that look like? We all know that toned muscles are stronger than untoned muscles. We've all seen pictures of body builders and know what toned muscles look like (not that I'm saying your muscles need to be that toned!). Movement helps your muscles to grow, your body fat to diminish and your heart to get stronger. Cardiovascular exercise — that would be walking, jogging, running, swimming, dancing, mowing the lawn — is what builds healthy heart muscle. (The way to exercise your heart is to make it beat a little faster.) My favorite cardiovascular exercise is turning on some disco on the stereo and dancing my buns off till I'm all hot and sweaty. I do this when no one is home and have fun, all by myself!

Likewise, food has a big impact on the health of your heart.

Until I did the research, I didn't know how huge the need was. I thought it was mostly older men, type A personalities who had the heart problems. They do, but so do we! Taking care of our hearts through loving movement and healthy food has reached a critical point in our culture.

Here is the Heart Healthy Menu-Mailer Recipe. If you have concerns about your cardiovascular health or someone in your family, this might be just the ticket. We use the American Heart Association guidelines to make up these menus:

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Grilled Salmon With Dill Sauce

1/4 cup nonfat mayonnaise

1/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt

2 green onions, sliced

1 lemon, juiced

2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped

4 salmon fillets

1 16-oz. bag mixed salad greens