heart health

It's almost Valentine's Day, and that may mean you've got chocolate on your mind. Though you may be fearing the amount of calories in those heart-shaped boxes, there are many reasons to love Valentine's Day sweet treats. In fact, here are five healthy reasons to eat dark chocolate.

1. It helps you exercise longer: A recent study found that eating a tiny amount of dark chocolate before a workout helps fight fatigue, which means you can go that much further during your workout. The amount that worked in the study was tiny — just half a square — but if it's good quality chocolate, a small square will go a long way.
2. It's stress relieving: And not just when you're PMSing. A study found that when highly stressed participants ate an ounce and a half of dark chocolate (the equivalent of a Hershey's bar) a day for two weeks, the level of stress hormones in their bodies dropped significantly. While eating a candy bar a day can contribute to a whole new set of stresses if you're watching your weight, it's nice to know that dark chocolate has a measurable effect on stress levels.
3. It's heart-healthy: A study found that dark chocolate increases blood flow, which helps keep your ticker in top shape. Those who ate a small amount of chocolate a day had increased blood flow due to more-dilated blood vessels as well as better heart function.
4. It's good when you're sick: If you can't get the rest you need because of a nagging cough, try dark chocolate. The theobromine, an ingredient in dark chocolate, has been proven to suppress a cough, but just be careful — if you're trying to go to sleep, remember that a dark chocolate Hershey's bar has 30 milligrams of caffeine, which is the equivalent to a cup of tea.
5. It lowers blood pressure: Increasing blood flow also helps your heart in another way. A study found that eating a small square of dark chocolate a day helps regulate your blood pressure by increasing blood flow as well as dilating blood vessels and releasing nitric oxide. If you're managing your blood pressure levels, a daily, small dose of dark chocolate may help.

Source: Flickr User el patojo

With more and more younger women having heart attacks, it's more important than ever to develop new rules to live by for optimal heart health. These three simple habits are easy to incorporate into any lifestyle and will help keep the heart healthy and free from disease.

Learn to love fish: One study found that younger women who didn't eat fish and other sources of omega-3s had the highest risk of developing heart conditions. Even eating fish once or twice a week is enough to reap all its healthy benefits. If you love to cook, try one of our healthy fish recipes. For anyone who doesn't like cooking seafood at home, make a point to order fish whenever out for dinner. For the vegetarians out there, don't fret: there are plenty of animal-free omega-3 sources out there like chia seeds, flaxseed oil, and edamame.

Start meditating: If it's not enough that meditation can improve your brain function and stress levels, multiple studies have shown that it can improve your heart's function, even among the younger generation. High blood pressure can affect your heart's health, and meditation has been proven to significantly lower blood pressure. Not convinced? Celebs like Katy Perry and Oprah Winfrey believe in the power of meditation!

Find an alternative to diet soda: Even with all the health warnings, the number of young women that continue to regularly drink diet soda is surprising. Besides causing weight gain, drinking diet soda may increase the risk of heart attack and stroke by 44 percent. Try seltzer with a splash of fresh juice for that carbonation fix, or a green tea in the afternoon to beat the slump.

February marks a month of heart health awareness campaigns, and there's good reason for it. Read on for five important reasons that women, old and young alike, should pay attention to heart disease.

1. It's the No. 1 killer of women: Breast cancer may get the attention (and is also a serious and potentially deadly disease), but far more women die each year of heart disease than breast cancer: while one in 31 women will die of breast cancer, the American Heart Association reports that one in three women will die of heart disease.
2. Young women are having more and more heart attacks: A recent study that tracked over a million women for 12 years found that women were having more heart attacks at a younger age. The study also found that the women experienced atypical heart attacks with symptoms that were different than what we think of as normal heart attack symptoms (see below).
3. 90 percent of women have at least one risk factor for heart disease: Even if you are seemingly young and healthy, factors like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and genetics can contribute to your risk of developing heart disease.
4. You may not have symptoms: Heart attack symptoms in younger women include shortness of breath, fatigue, nausea, and back or jaw pain — not the normal striking chest pain that we think heart attacks should be like. But it's not just subtle symptoms; most women who die of coronary heart disease don't experience any symptoms at all.
5. More women than men die of heart disease: It's a trend that's been continuing since 1984.

For more on heart health, check out the American Heart Association's Go Red For Women campaign, and read our tips for avoiding daily habits that are bad for your heart here.

Every February during American Heart Health Month, the importance of cardiovascular health is often discussed, but understanding how hard the heart works — and what to feed it — will give you the knowledge to keep it healthy.

The heart is responsible for pumping about 2,000 gallons of oxygen-rich blood out to the body, beating an average of 100,000 times each day to get the job done. Before each beat, it fills up with blood; this blood moves to the lungs, where it becomes rich in oxygen. Your arteries transport the blood out to the rest of your body, and the veins transport the old blood back to the heart for renewal. Then, the whole process starts again — without any breaks! If the job your circulatory system has sounds as exhausting to you as it does to me, then you'll agree that it's about time to give your heart some love right back.

Keep reading for four simple ways to feed your heart well.

Whether you're Irish or not, many of us will be celebrating St. Patrick's Day by knocking back some Jameson whiskey and a pint or two of Guinness — and don't forget the Irish soda bread! Before you start feeling too bad about the alcohol and carb overload, you'll be glad to know that all those ads from the 1920s that read "Guinness Is Good For You" had some truth to them.

Researchers from a University of Wisconsin study discovered that drinking Guinness reduced blood clots and the risk of heart attacks. Like red wine and dark chocolate, and unlike other beers, Guinness also contains immune-boosting antioxidants. Some other reasons you may want to enjoy a pint of beer on St. Patty's Day: better bones, weight management, and a better memory. This is not a license to go out and get blitzed though. As always, everything is better in moderation, but if you end up kicking back a few too many, check out these hangover cures.

Source: Flickr User Stijn Debrouwere

You may think that heart attacks happen when you're older, and when they do, the sudden, gripping pain in your chest will be all you need to know that you're having one. But a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has found that in reality, women are getting heart attacks younger and without the normal symptoms we think are the signs of a heart attack.

The study, which followed 1.4 million heart attack patients for 12 years, found that 42 percent of the women experienced a heart attack without any chest pain, compared to 30 percent of the men in the study. Heart attacks also led to death in more of these women — possibly because they didn't think they were having a heart attack in the first place, and therefore put off going to the hospital. Also worrisome was the fact that most of the women with these atypical symptoms were younger (less than 55 years old).

Knowing what symptoms other than chest pain you should look out for may help you get the timely care you need. Read on to find out the common heart attack symptoms in younger women.

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Fitness Magazine here on FitSugar!

Esquire magazine once named actress Minka Kelly the “sexiest woman alive," so walking in the Heart Truth’s Red Dress Fashion Show to raise awareness for women’s heart health should be a breeze, right? Not quite. “I’ve been nervous all week!” Kelly said when we got the chance to chat with her on her new ambassador title with Diet Coke. We caught up with the brunette bombshell hours before showtime to get the scoop on how she lives a heart-healthy lifestyle, the exercises she swears by, and more.

Tell us about your partnership with Diet Coke and Heart’s Truth Red Dress Fashion Show. What made you decide to get involved?

Before I started working with Diet Coke as an ambassador, I wasn’t even aware that heart disease is the number-one killer for women. I figured this would be a chance for me to use my voice and let other women know how important it is to eat right and exercise to keep your heart in good health.

How do you manage to stay in shape, especially with such a busy schedule?

I try to do yoga every morning at 7 a.m.; it’s good to get your workout out of the way early. I also work out with my trainer Gunnar Peterson two days a week on top of that. I owe him a lot of credit for the shape I’m in because I love to eat! I have to work out extra hard to balance my love for food out.

Keep reading to learn how Minka Kelly is trying defying gravity.

Collectively, we really love our salt. We eat so much more than we should, often because of high levels of sodium hiding in many of our favorite foods. A new report released by the Centers For Disease Control identifies the top 10 saltiest foods, and some may surprise you.

Paying attention to the amount of salt hidden in your food is important because too much sodium in your diet can lead to diseases like hypertension, heart disease, and stroke. The recommended daily intake of salt is 1,500 milligrams to 2,300 milligrams (about a teaspoon), depending on your risk factors. But most Americans (about 90 percent of us) eat more than 3,300 milligrams a day. Want to know which foods are the worst to eat if you're watching your salt intake? Read the list below.

The 10 saltiest foods are:

10. Snacks like potato chips, popcorn, and pretzels
9. Meatloaf and other "meat-mixed" dishes
8. Pasta dishes
7. Cheese
6. Cheeseburgers and sandwiches

Read on for the top five saltiest foods.