Why not honor your mom all while toasting all women? On behalf of WomenHeart and Clos du Bois Winery, and in support of the site, www.ToastToWomen.com, Blisstree is offering a fun, heart-healthy giveaway!

Valued at $150, the winner of this giveaway will take home:

• A portable pedometer to keep track of her movement
• A personal yoga mat to keep her flexible
• A durable water bottle to keep her hydrated
• An MP3 player to keep her toes tapping
• A plush gym towel to keep her dry

This giveaway is one of the ways to support www.ToastToWomen.com, a site created by WomenHeart and Clos du Bois Winery to help support women’s heart disease awareness and prevention. This Mother’s Day was the kick-off day to National Women’s Health Week (May 10-16). Part of a year-long campaign, the site will raise $100,000 to benefit women with heart disease, and offers helpful eating tips, festive menu ideas from the WomenHeart’s ALL HEART Family Cookbook and the opportunity to send free, personalized e-cards to the special women in their lives. For every e-card sent, Clos du Bois will donate $1 to WomenHeart.

This giveaway is CLOSED.

Congrats to Sharold F!

I’ve never thought those energy drinks were a very good idea anyway, but now research suggests that they can be especially bad for people with high blood pressure or heart disease. Research showed that “the subjects’ average heart rate increased 7.8 percent the first day and 11 percent the seventh day. Blood pressure increased at least 7 percent the first and seventh days.” So if you already have high blood pressure, this could prove problematic.

Researchers were quick to point out that energy drinks are not the same as sports drinks. Sports drinks help “replenish carbohydrates and electrolytes” after a workout. Energy drinks do that.

In other words? Choose your beverages carefully.

Image: sxc.hu.

While most of us are aware that pain or pressure in the chest is a symptom of a heart attack, not many women realize that female heart attack symptoms can be different. While chest pain may be a symptom, women are also likely to have atypical heart attack symptoms.

Heart Attack Symptoms for Females:

• Pain in one or both arms, upper back, neck, jaw, or stomach
• Discomfort or pressure in the chest
• Nausea or vomiting
• Trouble breathing
• Dizziness or lightheadedness
• Inability to sleep
• Unusual fatigue
• Paleness or clammy skin
• Breaking out in a cold sweat
(Source: Sister to Sister: The Women’s Heart Health Foundation)

If you suspect you’re suffering from a heart attack, it’s extremely important to get immediate attention. Some women hesitate, fearing embarrassment if they’re wrong. You doctor won’t be upset with you! Doctors would rather diagnose you with heartburn or some other minor disorder instead of a heart attack.

Visit Sister to Sister: The Women’s Heart Health Foundation to learn more about their upcoming Screen 4 challenge.

(Image via stock.xchng)

If you have heart disease or high blood pressure, you may want to avoid drinking the so-called energy drinks that have become so popular. The energy drinks aren’t the same thing as sports drinks, like Gatorade though. These are the ones that promise “to give you wings” or keep you awake all night.

A study that was published online on Wednesday in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy , has found that healthy adults who drank two cans a day of a popular energy drink had an increase in both blood pressure and heart rate. The researchers did point out though, that there didn’t seem to be any changes in the heartbeats themselves, as seen with an ECG (electrocardiogram).

The small study (15 men) looked at both blood pressure and heart rate for one week. Two days before the study started, the men stopped drinking or eating anything with caffeine and other than the study energy drink, they didn’t consume any for the week-long study.

What the researchers found was that the men’s heart rates rose, on average, 7.8% on the first day of the study and by 11% at the end of the week. Their blood pressure rose at least by 7% throughout the study, starting the first day.

Why would the blood pressure and pulse go up? The ingredients of the drinks do that. The main ingredients are 80 mg of caffeine (3 x the amount in a bottle of Coca Cola), 1,000 mg of taurine, an amino acid that is said to play a role in the heart, and about *5* tablespoons (not teaspoons) of sugar. All in one 250 mL can.

The role of caffeine and sugar is obvious, but we’re not so sure about the taurine. The amino acid does exist naturally in some of the food we eat, but recommendations seem to be that we shouldn’t consume more than 3,000 mg of extra taurine per day. If you drink three cans, you’re at your limit.

So, if the drinks have such an effect on healthy hearts, perhaps those with problems should avoid them altogether.

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Images: Stock.Xchng.com, MorgueFile.com

Heart disease is a serious issue for anyone, but women especially need to pay attention. Women’s Health.gov says, ” Among all U.S. women who die each year, one in four dies of heart disease.”

CNN just listed ten power foods you can eat to help your heart. These are “power foods,” the concept of which is really fascinating to me. I guess I’m one of those people who likes to multi-task and save time, and if I can eat a balanced meal that is somehow better for me than any other meal, I’m all for it!

There are plenty of great choices on this list. One thing I really like is that many of them are easily incorporated into the average diet.

Image: sxc.hu.

One quarter of all pregnant women experience migraines. Now, a new study suggests that migraines can be an indicator of stroke, heart disease, or vascular problems as well.

According to the Ithica Journal, pregnant women who have migraines “are 15 times more likely than other women to suffer a stroke, twice as likely to have heart disease and three times more likely to have blood clots and other vascular problems during pregnancy.”

The study also found that women over 35 were more likely to experience migraines. The condition was also present in white more often than in other ethnic or racial groups.

Image from sxc.

There are some items in health news that continually flip flop. Eggs are good for you. Then they are bad. Carbs are the enemy. Then… not so much.

Another flip flopping subject is vitamins. My doctors over the years have suggested that I take them, and after breaking my ankle one year I finally did. I drink milk, and try and eat healthy foods, but still, I take vitamins for that “extra protection.”

However, a new study by the Women’s Health Initiative “tracked multivitamin use by 161,000 older women over an eight-year period to see if the vitamins might reduce their risk for heart disease and certain cancers. In the end, the researchers found no such benefit from the vitamins.”

So what’s a girl to do? I know there are a lot of women that will continue taking vitamins regardless of this study, but is it worth it? What do you think?

Image from Morguefile.

A new study suggests that a woman’s heart health may be affected by changes in her reproductive system. Two situations in particular were looked at: giving birth prematurely (or delivering a smaller baby), and the removal of a woman’s ovaries.

In the first condition, women showed an increased risk for cardiovascular disease later in her life. In the second, a woman’s overall risk of dying, stroke, and heart disease increased.

Studies like this are often scary if not properly explained and understood. If you have had a preemie or underweight baby, you should ask your doctor how it could affect your heart health going forward. Likewise if you are having your ovaries removed, discuss all the possible risks, both immediate and future, before deciding on a course of treatment.

Image from StockXchange.

It’s no news that we’re a nation of salt and sugar. Whatever makes our food taste better, right? Even without adding salts to our foods there are ridiculous amounts of sodium in everything we eat, to include children’s cereals . The soft drinks we drink are filled with sodium, that’s where the name “Soda” is derived from.  Have you ever watched employees salt the french fries at your favorite fast food restaurant? You probably don’t realize just how much salt your consuming a day.

According to a study published by MSN Health in association with Healthday.com, we (Americans) are consuming 50% more salt than we did in the 1970’s. 50 percent! That’s a ridiculous increase and obviously blood pressure is going to be a problem in this case.

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If one of your goals in the upcoming year is to give more of your time and, possibly, money to charitable groups — that’s just fabulous.

Here’s a fun and fashionable way to donate to Heart Disease Awareness: SHOP!

There are many fashion companies that support heart disease by offering donations to organizations such as American Heart Association and National Coalition For Women With Heart Disease.

Here are just a few — look at all of the cute things you can get, while showing the kindness in your heart:

Silk Dress from Miostile: 30% of sales benefits American Heart Association.

Suede Pleated Flats from Matt Bernson: 30% of sales benefits National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease.

Pomegranate Bath Salt, from k. hall designs: 50% of sales benefits American Heart Association.

And for up-to-the-minute information on heart health, visit Hsien — at A Hearty Life.

Products and resources collected from Lucky Magazine.