When we think of February, we think of heart-shaped chocolates, flowers, and proclamations of love for that special someone in your life. Along with getting in touch with your feelings, February is national heart month, so show your heart some love as well.
Heart month brings attention to the importance of cardiovascular health and how we can reduce our risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.
Here are a few facts to bring to your attention:
- 1 in 12 Canadian adults ages 20 and over live with diagnosed heart disease.
- About 14 Canadian adults aged 20 and over with diagnosed heart disease die every hour.
- Men are two times more likely to suffer a heart attack than women.
- Men are newly diagnosed with heart disease about ten years younger than women (55-56 vs 56-74).
The excellent news is that you can take preventable measures to reduce risk. Heart disease numbers have been decreasing in Canada, but there’s still more we can do to get that number down further.
Show yourself some love this month by auditing your health and seeing how you can continue to decrease your risk.
Reduce your risk by:
- Being smoke-free.
- Staying physically active.
- Maintaining a healthy weight.
- Limiting alcohol use.
- Eating a healthy diet.
We have compiled a list of hearty ingredients to incorporate into your daily meals that are both in season within Southwest BC and will elevate your heart health.
Fresh vegetables and fruits:
- Apples
- Cabbage (Savoy, Red)
- Cucumbers
- Kale
- Leek
- Onion (Red, Yellow)
- Parsnip
Storage/dried/frozen ingredients:
- Beans
- Beets
- Cabbage (Green)
- Carrots
- Garlic
- Potatoes (Red, Russet, Yellow)
- Rutabaga
- Shallops
- Turnip (white)
Donate Food to Quest Food Exchange
Despite our model and others like it operating across British Columbia, thousands of pounds of good, nutritional food still needs to be used simply because it is part of a surplus that cannot be sold or because it is oddly sized, blemished, or nearing its best-before-date.
If you’re a food producer, distributor, commercial market, restaurant or local grower, we’re interested in connecting with you!
Please email us at jmartin@questourtreach.org with your expression of interest or call at 604-602-0186 Ext: 3109.
What are you waiting for? Become a Quest Food Partner today!
