Show Your Love with a Heart-Healthy Lifestyle

At the center of all those big bear hugs, warm hands, and pounding beats at the sign of first love is your heart of course! Keeping blood circulating and carrying vital nutrients and oxygen to our entire bodies leaves our heart working full-time. This Valentine's Day, why not give your loved ones (and yourself) the gift of a healthy heart?

Heart health issues have become far too common today and there is nothing loving about that. A healthy heart is the start to full body wellness, and improvements don't take much more than being conscious about your diet and lifestyle.

Here are some Tips for Heart-Healthy Living:

• Cut out health-damaging trans-fats by reading labels. Avoid foods containing hydrogenated and partially-hydrogenated oils (these products are safer left on the grocery shelf). Continue to support your heart by avoiding processed foods and limiting sodium and saturated fat.

• Stick to lean protein sources such as chicken, fish and legumes. Once a week aim to make a vegetarian dish.

• Take advantage of wild salmon's Omega-3s—another heart helper. Walnuts are also rich in healthy fats, so add some to your spinach salad today!

• Blueberries are packed with disease-fighting antioxidants and fiber-rich oatmeal has been shown to lower cholesterol levels. This is just the beginning of the superfoods that can make your heart a happy one!

• Lifestyle changes might include getting active and reducing stress. Find yourself stressed most days? Try some journal writing or have a warm bath followed by some stretching.

• Showing affection by touching, hugging, or just holding hands keeps us social, and science shows that being connected to others like this lowers blood pressure. Now what is there not to love about that?

Embarking on the journey to total health might start with your heart and can continue well into other aspects of your life. This Valentines Day, eat well, love big, and check out how to maintain a healthy heart well until next February with all the great resources on Naturally Savvy. There are recipes and articles that will help get you on track for heart healthy living.