TAC Board: The Alaska Club Blog

Did you know that heart disease is the number one cause of death in the US? One person dies every 36 seconds from this condition.

Many people watch their waistlines and experiment with different fad diets to lose weight. While there are anecdotes galore of short-term success, these efforts generally end in weight regained and frustration. Instead of following one of the many crazy diets for temporary weight loss, try the following tips:

Your cup of coffee is not only giving you the caffeine that you need for a quick pick-me-up.” In fact, the effect of caffeine doesn’t last for long. For some people, caffeine may even increase blood pressure temporarily. But coffee is not only about caffeine, it is actually rich in some antioxidants that promote health. Some of the health benefits include increased cognitive function, increased physical endurance and decreased risk for diabetes type 2, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, depression and memory loss.

February: it’s the month cupid has everyone shuffling, either to find their Valentine the right gift or just to find a Valentine. But what if we shifted our focus from winning over someone’s heart, and instead focused on keeping our own heart healthy? In honor of Heart Health Month, we encourage everyone to make a healthy heart more of a priority, which can ultimately prevent heart disease, the number one killer of women. In fact, heart disease is such an epidemic, 1 in 3 women dies from heart disease a year. That’s approximately one woman every minute. Specific to Alaska, heart disease and stroke are the second and fourth leading causes of death. In 2014, heart disease took the lives of 19 percent of Alaskans, according to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. And while there are some factors you can’t control when it comes to heart diseases, such as age, gender, heredity, and race, there are many factors you can control through a healthy diet and exercise.

According to 2015 CDC[1] data, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Every year about 735,000 Americans suffer a heart attack. Risk factors include hypertension, elevated cholesterol levels, diabetes, weight gain, inactivity, excessive alcohol intake and smoking. You can significantly decrease your chances of having a heart attack by improving your diet and being more physically active.

Chevy Chase. Beyonce. Napoleon. The lunch lady. Bruce Lee. Grumpy Cat. This random assortment of humans (and one animal) all have something in common: hearts. They each have one. February and hearts go together like PB&J (clearly we’re referring to the greatest love story from The Office, Pam Beesly & Jim…) but we’ll let someone else handle the gooey relationship stuff (we’re looking at you, Russell Stover commercial). So while February 14th is a reminder to make plans for your figurative heart, the whole month of February is a good chance to think about taking care of your actual, physical heart. You know, that silent partner that is constantly working to keep you alive. Yeah, we’d say it’s worth showing some love. But you can’t appreciate your heart (or why it’s worth taking care of) without a quick refresher of how it fits into the whole “staying alive” (ah, ah, ah, ah, staying alive, staying alive) scheme.