Shedding Light on Latino Heart Health - Valentine's Day Wish

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Today we celebrate all things love and matters of the heart. But have you thought about how much your heart matters to your overall health? Heart disease is the leading killer in the United States, and according to the American Heart Association, US Latinos in particular are vulnerable to risk factors that contribute to poor heart health,  from 2015 to 2018, 52.3% of Hispanic men and 42.7% of Hispanic women aged 20 years and older had cardiovascular disease (CVD). Excess weight, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes all can lead to poor heart-health outcomes. Heart attack and stroke can lead to problems with Dementia, as well as problems with the function of all our other organs.

Americans, and Latinos in particular, must be more conscious of proper diet and nutrition, the importance of taking prescriptions for maintaining healthy blood pressure and glycemic levels, and one we all sometimes want to overlook …. exercise. It can be easy to say, “I’ll go to the gym manana,” or “I’ll start eating healthy tomorrow after my Valentine’s Day feast,” or a host of other things we have all uttered at one or another to put off doing what doesn’t seem like “fun.”

Part of making a heart-healthy lifestyle fun is looking at it through a different lens. While our moms might have used lard and cooked with a lot of pork and red meat, we can substitute heart-healthy olive oil and use poultry, fish, or plant-based proteins. There are many blogs and websites out there with recipes and ideas for making healthier versions of our traditional foods.

Who doesn’t like to talk to our friends and catch up on the latest gossip? How about instead of inviting your friends over for a cafe or vino you go out for a walk with them? It’s a great way to get your steps in while you’re catching up on the latest chisme. If they’re not in your town, call them up and walk while you talk to them. Just like that, you have an exercise accountability partner. And while you’re dishing the latest dirt, why not encourage your friends and family to go to the doctor for regular check-ups to make sure their prescriptions are still maintaining healthy blood pressure and glucose levels? You can also keep track of your personal stats between doctor visits with various apps on your smartphones or inexpensive blood pressure monitors.

Let’s commit to showing our love for one another and our culture this February for American Heart Month by instituting heart-healthy habits in our own lives. If you have a product or service that can help in our heart-health endeavors, set up a free consultation with The Imagen Group to find out how we can partner and reach our diverse communities.