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Postnatal Exercise Advice
2010-01-01
Did you know that heart disease is responsible for a third of all deaths in women worldwide?
Being active and taking regular aerobic exercise like walking, cycling, swimming, dancing and jogging can reduce the risk of heart disease by up to 40%. It will help to reduce blood pressure, lowers cholesterol, decreases the risk of diabetes and helps to control and maintain a healthy weight.
In addition to your weekly Pushy Mothers Workout you should choose an activity that you makes you breathless and warm at least five times a week. It doesn’t have to be a structured exercise class or a commitment to the gym, so a spot of gardening, stair climbing or even some energetic bedroom antics could help to warm the heart in more ways than one!
Antioxidant-rich diets have also been linked to a lowered risk of heart attacks, stroke, cardiovascular disease, cancer, high blood pressure, cholesterol problems, arthritis, asthma and more. We've all heard of antioxidant-rich foods such as blueberries, green tea and tomatoes but did you know that dark chocolate beats them all hands down!
The United States Department of Agriculture published a chart of antioxidant foods measured in ORACs (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity Units). For every 100g, dark chocolate has 13,120 ORACs, and blueberries have only 2,400. Chocolate is made from cocoa beans, which naturally contain good amounts of the antioxidant super-nutrients known as flavonoids. Recent research carried out on flavonoid-rich chocolate and cocoa revealed them to have anti-clotting and anti-inflammatory effects, which in theory could help to lower the risk of heart disease. These flavonoids encourage the body to produce more nitric oxide, which helps to widen and relax blood vessels, and may help to lower blood pressure.
But wait a minute, we hear you say, chocolate is full of sugar, saturated fat and to burn off 100g of the stuff would mean walking briskly from dawn till dust. At least half of the fat in 'flavonoid' enriched chocolate is the good cholesterol type (high-density lipoprotein) an unusual type of saturated fat that does not raise bad cholesterol and may even increase levels of the protective good cholesterols.
A healthy diet is all about good food choices but you can treat yourself to some guilt-free chocolate by eating the flavonoid rich dark chocolate containing cocoa beans, cacao, chocolate liquor or cocoa mass. Check the list of ingredients. Sadly milk chocolate doesn’t contain as many and white chocolate has none. Being a low GI food dark chocolate will reduce the sugar rush after it’s eaten because the fat content slows sugar absorption.
Remember to use chocolate as a treat not a treatment, keep as active as possible and brush your teeth well. A little of what you fancy really can do you good!
