Improve your heart health – on a budget

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 1 Comment

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

Is it possible for us to follow a heart-smart lifestyle and still stay within a tight budget? What if we can’t afford to join a pricey gym? And can those of us counting pennies still afford to purchase those heart-healthy but expensive foods every day? Here are tips from two savvy experts who say YES to all of the above:

According to Canadian dietician Cara Rosenbloom:

“It just takes a little bit of extra planning and a little bit of extra thought to eat healthy while still saving money.”

Rosenbloom’s advice includes: click to continue reading

Can exercise trigger a heart attack?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 13 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

Last winter, I heard about four men in Ottawa – ages 45-72 – who had heart attacks, all on the same afternoon and all while shovelling snow.  Despite news reports like this, it is not true that Ottawa men will do just about anything to get out of doing their chores.

Nor is it true that exercise all by itself will trigger a heart attack.

According to Mayo Clinic cardiologist Dr. Sharonne Hayes:

“All heart attack patients have had an underlying condition that caused the attack.”  

Most heart attacks, in fact, are 20-30 years in the making.

About half of all heart attack survivors, however, mistakenly blame the attack on one specific event – such as extreme exertion.   Continue reading “Can exercise trigger a heart attack?” →

An open letter to all hospital staff

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 13 Comments

hospital

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

Dear hospital employees,

After a particularly bizarre experience undergoing a treadmill stress echocardiogram at your hospital recently, I decided to do something that I have never done before.  I called the Cardiology Department manager to complain about her staff.  (Incidentally, a recent opinion survey of international travellers found that Canadians were #1 in only one category:  “Least likely to complain when things go wrong” – so you can appreciate that lodging an official complaint is a fairly Big Deal here!)

In my best PR fashion, I told the manager how distressing the appointment had been for me because of the behaviour of the two cardiac technicians in the room.  Continue reading “An open letter to all hospital staff” →

Food trends: why we eat the way we do

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 5 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas

Some anthropologists believe that the evolutionary pressure that led to bi-pedalism (walking on two legs) was just our hairy ancestors’ adaptation to a changing world that required more far-reaching travel in search of food.

We’ve been obsessed with searching for food ever since those hairy ancestors took that first upright walk and dug up some lovely potato-like tubers for dinner.

The trouble is that food trends in the Western world have strayed so far from what our bodies actually need that our heart health is now seriously compromised by what we put into our mouths every day. read more about how food trends have changed