As well as being the month for Valentine’s fun, February is also National Heart Month, with lots of fundraising activities taking place to raise awareness of the fact that cardiovascular disease is our biggest killer here in the UK, accounting for a quarter of all deaths each year.

Heart attacks, heart failure, and stroke – all these conditions relate to how healthy your heart, blood vessels and blood flow are.

If your heartbeat is too weak, blood will not flow properly; if your blood pressure is too high you risk damaging your blood vessels and developing a blood clot. It is a delicate system and, unfortunately, frequently neglected.

In traditional Chinese medicine the heart is connected with emotions of joy, warmth, love and passion; a lack of these feelings is seen as part of the picture of heart problems.

Western medicine has established links between depression and heart disease, with depression sufferers often showing greater risk of developing heart problems.

This all makes for very depressing reading and I don’t wish to be the harbinger of doom, so let’s look at some simple steps you can take every day to show your heart you love it as much as your Valentine:


Get a grip on fats

Avoid low-fat foods like the plague – they are packed with sugars and thickeners to make up for the lack of fat.

Butter has been vilified for years because of its saturated fat and cholesterol content, yet your body knows exactly how to deal with butter – it hasn’t a clue how to handle margarine!

Make your own spreadable butter by mixing a spoonful of olive oil into an ounce of butter. Save plant and seed oils like sunflower oil and olive oil for salad dressings or very low temperature cooking and use coconut oil for baking and stir frying. It is cholesterol-free and stable at high temperatures, making it healthy heart oil.

Oily fish, nuts and seeds are rich sources of those all important omega-3 oils which we know are excellent for maintaining healthy blood flow and dealing with inflammation. Mother Nature is very clever; in natural foods she combines healthy fats with vitamins and minerals that benefit your heart and circulation.

In nuts and seeds, for instance, you find the fats alongside vitamin E and zinc which protect your blood vessels from damage and help your blood to flow smoothly.


Reach for a rainbow!

Fruits and vegetables are myriad colours because of the different antioxidants in them. Antioxidants protect your body from damage and ageing and are crucial for heart health. Each day, aim to eat as many brightly coloured fruits and vegetables as possible – make 5 a day your minimum!


Stay well watered!

Not drinking enough water causes your blood to become thicker and stickier. The caffeine in tea, coffee and energy drinks is bad news if you have high blood pressure and excessive alcohol is another risk factor for heart disease. Gradually reduce your caffeine drinks and switch to herb teas, water and redbush tea instead.


Sally is a York-based nutritional therapist who enjoys helping people make positive changes to their health and wellbeing with foods, supplements and lifestyle changes.

Find out more at nutritioninyork.co.uk, where you can get her free information-packed report Your 3 Easy Steps To All Day Energy, and start feeling better today.