Tag: Heart Research UK

Healthy Heart Tip: The Power of Gardening

Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by the Health Promotion and Education Team at Heart Research UK

Healthy Heart Tip: The Power of Gardening

It is National Gardening Day on 14th April in the UK and as the weather starts to (slowly!) warm up, it is a great time to get outside. Gardening is associated with many health benefits including improved physical, mental and social wellbeing.

Mowing the lawn, digging, weeding and other gardening tasks can help us stay active and hit our weekly exercise goal and simply spending more time outdoors has been shown to improve sleep. If you don’t have a garden, or outdoor space, you can still reap many of the benefits by planting in pots on windowsills or joining a local gardening group near you.

Read on for our top tips to get started and ideas of what to grow: 

Getting started 

Whether you are growing indoors or outdoors, a thriving plant starts with good soil. The surest way to make sure your plants get off to a good start is to buy a bag of compost and use this to start your seedlings; once they are well-established you can re-plant them into regular soil in your garden.

To save money on buying little pots, you can start your seedlings in clean yoghurt pots or any other containers you can save from your kitchen, just poke something sharp through the bottom to allow for some drainage. 

Grow heart-healthy herbs 

Eating too much salt can contribute to increased blood pressure, using herbs in cooking is a great way to add flavour without adding salt. Herbs are one of the easiest things to grow and great for beginners to try. They are a great choice for indoor growing as they do well in pots on a sunny windowsill.

If you’re planting them outdoors, choose the sunniest spot you can find. Chives, mint, basil, parsley, and thyme are just a few that are easy to care for. You can either grow from seeds or buy the small plants from the supermarket and re-pot them. 

Involve the whole family 

Gardening is a hobby for all ages, and it’s a nice activity to do with children. Children love to see flowers grow and growing vegetables together can be a great way to encourage them to try them, which is especially helpful if you have a picky eater.

It is also a great way to introduce a little responsibility in the form of caring for something else, let children choose what flowers and vegetables they want to grow and watch the sense of joy they get from seeing the fruits of their labour. 

To help keep your heart healthy, why not try out some of our healthy recipes from our website: https://heartresearch.org.uk/heart-research-uk-recipes-2/.

Healthy Heart Tip: Eggs & Heart Health

Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by the Health Promotion and Education Team at Heart Research UK

Healthy Heart Tip: Eggs & Heart Health

Eggs & cholesterol

Egg yolk is rich in cholesterol and therefore there has been some debate about whether people with raised cholesterol levels should eat them or whether they’ll considerably increase blood cholesterol levels.

However, experts agree that dietary cholesterol, such as that found in eggs, has much less of an effect on the level of cholesterol in your blood compared to the amount of saturated fat you are consuming.

How you eat your eggs matters

How people cook eggs varies widely and what people use to cook eggs in can differ too. We recommend poaching, boiling or baking your eggs to limit your use of oils and fats when cooking.

What we eat eggs with matters too, for example, consuming poached eggs with wholegrain bread and some vegetables is much more healthful than consuming them as part of a greasy fry up which lacks fibre.

The takeaway points

Eggs are an affordable source of protein and are rich in vitamins and minerals. It’s therefore perfectly healthy to include them as part of a balanced diet.

As with many diet recommendations, the key is moderation and not consuming one thing in excess. Specifically in relation to cholesterol, we should focus more on reducing our consumption of saturated fat rather than worrying about the cholesterol in eggs.

To help keep your heart healthy, why not try out some of our healthy recipes from our website: https://heartresearch.org.uk/heart-research-uk-recipes-2/.

Healthy Heart Tip: Meal Planning

Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by the Health Promotion and Education Team at Heart Research UK

Healthy Heart Tip: Meal Planning

It’s 6pm, you’ve just got home from work and are about to make your evening meal, you look in the fridge and find some mince and a pepper and decide to make a chilli. You open the cupboard, grab the kidney beans, and then realise you’ve run out of chopped tomatoes.

The chilli you planned on making is no more, you don’t have the energy to go shopping so you reach for your phone and order a takeaway. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Effective meal planning can make eating healthier easier, save money, time and reduce food waste.

Read on for some meal planning tips.

Plan in advance

Planning your meals in advance is one of the most effective things you can do to make sure you eat a healthy, nutritionally balanced diet.

Seeing your week’s food together in one place can help you identify anything you might be missing. For example, you may notice you haven’t included your two portions of oily fish and can re-design your meals to incorporate them.

A shopping list is key

Once you have your meal plan, you can get to work creating your shopping list. It’s wise to do this in your kitchen so you can check what staples you have in as you go.

If you find this task boring and time consuming, try creating a list of weekly staples that you can reuse each week. You can always cross things off you don’t need that week but it can save time to have a master list and then add things to it based on what meals you’ve planned.

Utilise your freezer

Plans can change and using the freezer wisely can help. Take stock of your fridge every few days and freeze anything you’ve not ended up using. You can always cook meals you haven’t used and freeze them for a convenient meal another day.

It’s a good idea to have some basics in the freezer like frozen vegetables and cook-from-frozen fish. With basics like rice and pasta in the cupboard you can make unplanned meals easily.

For more tips on how to stay healthy, sign up for our weekly healthy tips at www.heartresearch.org.uk/healthy-tips.

Healthy Heart Tip: Spring Cleaning

Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by the Health Promotion and Education Team at Heart Research UK

Healthy Heart Tip: Get your spring clean on!

Spring is the season of fresh starts. This week, we wanted to shine a light on good old-fashioned spring cleaning and the potential health benefits it offers.

Cleaning counts towards our daily movement goals, lighter tasks like dusting can burn around 160 calories an hour, and more heavy-duty tasks like washing windows or scrubbing can burn around 350 calories an hour!

In addition, having a clean and tidy home can improve our mental health, and making sure our kitchen is clean and organised can have a positive impact on our motivation to eat healthy foods and cook from scratch.

Get prepared

To ensure you have a successful and stress-free spring clean make sure you have everything you need before starting.

Set up a ‘cleaning station’ at a central point in your house with all the things you will need and only take one thing at a time. Doing it this way rather than using a cleaning caddy or bucket to carry things from room to room means you will end up moving more which will get your heart pumping.

Turn up the volume

Whether its jazz, pop, hip hop or rock, having upbeat music playing while cleaning can improve our mood, energy, and motivation.

You could take the time to listen to a podcast or audiobook on a subject you want to learn more about, or enjoy the silence, anything that helps make the task more enjoyable.

Declutter

Set aside some time to declutter your house too, donating or selling things you no longer need or use. Having less clutter makes it easier to keep your house and possessions clean and organised.

Spring is also a good time to think about your mental health and assess things like your work-life balance and how much time you spend doing the things you enjoy. Embrace this season of new beginnings by starting a new activity or hobby and saying goodbye to habits that no longer serve you.

To help keep your heart healthy, why not try out some of our Healthy Heart recipes from our website: https://heartresearch.org.uk/heart-research-uk-recipes-2/.

£15,000 grants available for Healthy Heart community projects across UK

Community groups that are helping local people look after their hearts can now apply for a grant of up to £15,000 from national charity Heart Research UK. Grants will be awarded in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England.

The grants are available for new and effective projects working with adults to promote healthy hearts with the aim to reduce the risk of heart disease in their community.

Cardiovascular disease is one of the world’s biggest killers, and the Healthy Heart grants aim to work preventatively within communities that may be marginalised or not have much access to health resources.

Projects should deliver health initiatives mainly focusing on one or more risk factors for heart disease, such as nutrition and healthy eating, physical activity, smoking, or alcohol.

The grants are available to registered charities with an annual income of less than £1m.

Opening dates for applications for each region will be staggered, with Wales being the first to open on the 30th of March with a closing date of the 27th of April.

Since 2001, Heart Research UK has awarded over 300 community grants, directly benefiting the hearts of over 70,000 individuals and countless wider community and family members across all regions of the UK.

Kate Bratt-Farrar, Chief Executive at Heart Research UK, said: “We’ve seen amazing results from our Healthy Heart Grants over the years and are thrilled to be able to continue to award these in 2023.

“We know it’s a challenge to try and change your life for the better when it comes to things like eating and exercising, and through these grants we’ve seen what a massive impact grassroot community projects can have in providing resources, knowledge and tools and motivating people to look after their hearts.

“We’re now looking for new and innovative projects that really will have an impact, especially if they aim to improve the health of at risk or hard to reach communities.”

To see the full list of opening and closing dates for applications, please visit:

https://heartresearch.org.uk/healthy-heart-grants/.

Hydration for a Healthy Heart

Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by the Health Promotion and Education Team at Heart Research UK

Healthy Heart Tip: Hydration for a Healthy Heart

Nutrition and Hydration Week is an annual event that aims to educate and celebrate improvements in the provision of nutrition and hydration.

When thinking about heart health, we often think about nutrition and the impact this can have, but we can forget to consider how inadequate hydration levels can negatively impact our cardiac health.

This week’s Healthy Tip is all about hydration, and how it’s an essential component to our health and optimal functioning of our cardiovascular system.

Why is hydration important?

Water accounts for about 60% of our body weight, and every single cell in our body needs to be properly hydrated to work well.

Water performs many roles in the body, such as regulating body temperature through sweating, lubricating joints, and removing waste products via bowel movements and urination. If we don’t drink enough fluids the amount of blood circulating in our body decreases. When this happens the heart must beat faster and our blood pressure may be affected, which can increase our risk of a cardiac event.

Signs of dehydration

Dehydration occurs when we lose more fluids (through urination and sweating) than we replace with the fluids from the food and drinks we consume.

Symptoms of moderate dehydration include not urinating much throughout the day, dark yellow urine, muscle cramps, thirst and a dry mouth. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms often, it’s a good idea to increase your fluid intake.

Ways to drink more

Drinking water is the easiest and cheapest way to ensure you stay properly hydrated, but there are other drinks that count towards your liquid intake such as herbal teas, sugar-free juice and low-fat milk.

The NHS recommends drinking 6 to 8 cups or glasses of fluids every day, which is about 1.5 to 2 litres.

Fruits and vegetables also contain water, so increasing the amount you consume can improve your hydration levels. Some great options include cucumber, tomatoes, apples, watermelon and peaches.

For more tips on how to stay healthy, sign up for our weekly healthy tips at 

www.heartresearch.org.uk/healthy-tips.

Healthy Heart Tip: Sleep is Essential for Health

Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by the Health Promotion and Education Team at Heart Research UK

Healthy Heart Tip: Sleep is Essential for Health

It’s World Sleep Day on 17th March and the theme this year is ‘Sleep is Essential for Health’.

Poor sleep can negatively impact our heart health, along with many other areas of our physical and mental wellbeing. Prioritising your seven to nine hours shut eye every day is one of the best things you can do to support your health.

During sleep, our body gets to work helping us to recover both mentally and physically, which helps us feel energised, alert, and ready for the day.

Sleep isn’t something to overlook, so here are some tips for helping to improve your sleep:

Limit caffeine

Who doesn’t love a morning cuppa? Whilst a small amount of caffeine early in the day is unlikely to impact our sleep, caffeine can stay in our blood stream for many hours after consumption. This can negatively impact the quality of our sleep and ability to fall asleep. So, say no to caffeine after lunch!

Turn off the screens

Melatonin is our sleepy hormone, and we need to allow our body to produce lots of it to ensure a good night’s sleep. Bright lights in our environment can reduce the production of melatonin, specifically the blue light from computer screens, tablets, and mobile phones. Try switching off screens an hour before sleep time and read a book or have a bath instead.

Spend time outdoors

Research shows that simply being inside during the day, rather than spending time outdoors, reduces our melatonin production at night by 50%! Grab your trainers and hit the pavement for a walk or run outdoors for at least 20 minutes every day.

Create a routine

Humans are creatures of habit, and we thrive on routine. Creating a bedtime ritual can help signal to our bodies that it’s time for sleep. Try to choose low stimulation activities like reading, listening to music, or even having a cup of (caffeine free!) tea such as camomile.

For more tips on how to stay healthy, sign up for our weekly healthy tips at www.heartresearch.org.uk/healthy-tips

Healthy Tip: Women’s Heart Health

Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by the Health Promotion and Education Team at Heart Research UK

Healthy Tip: Women’s Heart Health

It’s International Women’s Day on 8th March and we want to take the opportunity to talk about women’s heart health. Heart disease is not just a man’s disease; 23,000 women die from coronary heart disease (CHD) every year in the UK, which is double the number of women who die from breast cancer.

This week’s healthy tip aims to inspire women to make positive lifestyle changes to support their heart health. 

Get tested 

Knowing your cholesterol and blood pressure levels is important for understanding your risk of CHD. 

Even if you feel completely healthy, it’s important to have these tested and then make healthy lifestyle changes to support your heart. If you’re aged between 40 and 74 years, you can request blood pressure and cholesterol tests as part of your free NHS health check. 

Prioritise yourself 

As women, we often take care of everyone else and fail to look after ourselves. If you have a responsibility for caring for others, you need to be healthy to do this and it’s important to prioritise your own health and wellbeing.

This might look like planning a balanced, nutritious meal for yourself rather than eating on-the-go or, if you’re a parent, filling up on the kids’ leftovers. It could look like taking some time out to do something that really relaxes you and reduces your stress levels. 

Menopause 

A woman’s risk of CHD increases as a result of the menopause. If you’re a woman of menopausal age, pay particular attention to consuming calcium rich foods, such as low-fat milk and yoghurt, fortified plant-based milks, cheese, kale and small fish (including the bones).

You can also support your cardiovascular system by consuming heart-healthy fats from unsalted nuts and seeds, olive oil, avocado and oily fish, such as salmon and sardines.

If you want to learn more about this subject, please have a look at our HER disease campaign. 

For more tips on how to stay healthy, sign up for our weekly healthy tips at www.heartresearch.org.uk/healthy-tips.

Healthy Tip: Maintaining a Healthy Weight

Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by the Health Promotion and Education Team at Heart Research UK

Healthy Tip: Maintaining a Healthy Weight

Maintaining a healthy weight has many health benefits and reduces your risk of heart and circulatory diseases. When we consume more calories than our body needs, we store the excess as fat. The two fat types we want to reduce in order to lose weight and improve heart health are subcutaneous fat (the fat under the skin) and visceral fat (the fat around our waist and abdominal organs).

While it is a good idea to weigh yourself to track progress, we encourage you to focus on the lifestyle and health behaviours you can adopt, rather than obsessing over the numbers on the scales.

Below we outline three such behaviours that promote weight loss that you can start doing straight away: 

Move more 

Taking part in physical activity makes our body use more calories; the more we move, the more calories our body uses.

To lose weight, we need a calorie deficit, meaning we consume fewer calories than our body uses, this promotes weight loss and it’s why exercise is an important factor for losing weight.

For ideas on how to increase your activity levels, read the Healthy Tip on sustainable daily movement. 

Eat protein 

Protein is the most satiating macronutrient, meaning it makes you feel full. Make sure you include a protein source at every meal.

Healthy low-fat options include white fish, skinless chicken and turkey, beans, lentils, eggs, tofu and low-fat dairy products (milk, cheese, yoghurt). Adults should aim to consume at least 0.75g of protein per kg of bodyweight per day, on average this is 56g of protein for men and 45g for women, but check your body weight to work out your recommended intake. 

Avoid UPF’s 

UPF’s or ultra-processed foods are food products that usually contain long lists of ingredients and couldn’t be made at home in your own kitchen. Examples include carbonated soft drinks, pre-packaged snacks, cakes, biscuits, and instant soups/noodles.

While eating these foods occasionally isn’t necessarily a problem, many of these types of foods are specifically manufactured to make you want to eat more of them.

The calories per portion may be low, but you may find yourself more likely to overeat these foods in comparison to homecooked alternatives. Try cooking meals and snacks from scratch at home as much as possible. 

For more tips on how to stay healthy, sign up for our weekly healthy tips at www.heartresearch.org.uk/healthy-tips.

To help keep your heart healthy, why not try out some of our Healthy Heart recipes from our website: https://heartresearch.org.uk/heart-research-uk-recipes-2/.

Or have a look through our Healthy Heart cookbook filled with recipes from top chefs, celebrities and food bloggers: https://heartresearch.org.uk/heart-research-uk-cookbook/.

Healthy Heart Tip: We Love Fibre

Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by the Health Promotion and Education Team at Heart Research UK

Healthy Heart Tip: We Love Fibre

In this week’s Healthy Tip, we show our affection for fibre (it is nearly Valentine’s Day after all) and discuss why it is such an important part of a healthy diet. We also give you some ideas on how you can increase the fibre content of your food intake.

Most of us know that fibre prevents constipation, but did you know that eating a high fibre diet can lower your risk of heart disease and stroke? Fibre is found in the plants we eat, such as fruits, vegetables, wholegrains, beans and nuts. We dig a little deeper into fibre below.

A high fibre diet

Adults should aim to consume 30g of fibre per day, yet the average fibre intake for adults in the UK is 18g – only 60% of the recommended daily intake. Diets that contain 30g or more of fibre per day are considered ‘high fibre diets’.

Try tracking your consumption for a few days to understand how much you’re eating and come up with a plan to eat more if needed. When reading food labels, a food is considered high fibre if it contains at least 6g of fibre per 100g. Opt for these foods where possible.

Fibre for a healthy gut

We tend to think about bacteria as harmful, however there are many bacteria that are good for our health, and lots of these live in our digestive systems. Did you know the number of bacteria living in your gut is almost ten times more than the number of cells you have in your body?

The good news is, many of these bacteria use fibre as food and it keeps them healthy, which in turn keeps you healthy. Make sure you eat a variety of different fibre-rich foods to feed the good bacteria and keep your gut happy.

Increase your intake

Aim to slowly increase your intake of fibre to at least 30g per day to help protect against cardiovascular disease and stroke. It’s a good idea to do this gradually to avoid any unpleasant symptoms such as bloating.

Make sure you are drinking plenty of fluids (6-8 glasses per day) when adding more fibre to your diet to keep everything moving nicely through your digestive system. See the chart above for some ideas to increase the fibre content of your usual meals.

For more tips on how to stay healthy, sign up for our weekly healthy tips at www.heartresearch.org.uk/healthy-tips.

To help keep your heart healthy, why not try out some of our Healthy Heart recipes from our website: https://heartresearch.org.uk/heart-research-uk-recipes-2/.

Or have a look through our Healthy Heart cookbook filled with recipes from top chefs, celebrities and food bloggers: https://heartresearch.org.uk/heart-research-uk-cookbook/.