Heart Healthy Facts

• Being sedentary (not exercising) increases a woman's risk of osteoporosis (weak bones).
  Walking 4 hours per week (or biking, jogging, swimming) reduces a woman's risk of hip fracture by 41%!
• Calories in one Mars Chocolate Bar: 235. You'd need to walk 3 km to burn off a Mars Bar!
  Calories in an average sized Annapolis Valley Apple: 65 (with 0 grams of fat!)
• MacDonald's Quarter Pounder with Cheese: 510 Calories, 230 calories from fat; 1200 mg Sodium (80% of your daily recommended amount).
  Reducing your average sodium intake by 1200 mg per day significantly reduces your chance of heart attack, stroke and death.
• Smoking doubles your risk of having a heart attack.
  Within 48 hours of quitting smoking blood oxygen increases by 10%!
  Within 2 weeks op quitting smoking, circulation and lung function improve!
• In younger people, 3 out of 4 deaths from heart disease are due to smoking.
  One year after quitting smoking, excess risk for heart disease is cut in half!
• Obesity is a major risk factor for more than 90% of Diabetics.
  Regular daily exercise is more effective than medication in preventing the onset of diabetes.
• Diabetes, high blood pressure, smoking, high cholesterol, inactivity, and obesity account for more than 80% of new cases of heart disease.
  Regular daily exercise helps lower blood pressure, prevents diabetes, helps people lose weight, and improves cholesterol.
• Angioplasty and by-pass surgery are good treatments but have little effect on the progression of coronary artery disease.
  Studies have shown, proper diet, regular exercise, quitting smoking and certain medications can stop progression or even reverse coronary heart disease.
• More than 50% of Nova Scotians aged 12 and over are physically inactive.
  Daily exercise halves your risk of dying from heart disease or stroke and reduces your risk of high blood pressure by 30%.