February is Heart Month.

On Wellness Wednesday yesterday on CHTM, Bruce Krentz with the Northern Health Region addressed some factors where we can take action to help our heart health, especially if we have a family history of heart disease or heart conditions.

“Some of the things that you can do to lower your risk of heart disease is to consider the risk factors that comes with diabetes, looking at your smoking habits, quitting smoking if you can or cutting down, obviously will help your overall heart health. Checking your cholesterol, making sure you’re getting some exercise, checking on your blood pressure and your diet too.”   

Regarding diet, Krentz noted that we should have half our plate filled with fruits and vegetables, avoid saturated fats, limit alcohol and limit our salt intake.

Research shows that men 45 and older and women 55 and older are at higher risk of heart disease, so it’s important to take steps to improve our lifestyles early on.