Did you know February is American Heart Month? Me neither.
And no, I don’t know if “American,” in this case includes our continental neighbors to the north and south, nor do I know if there is a “Brazilian Hearth Month” or a “Czech Heart Month,” etc. Focus, please.
The link above, from the CDC, in addition to telling you all the stuff you expect in a pay-attention-to-heart-health piece, makes the point that
“Cardiovascular disease is also very expensive—together heart disease and stroke hospitalizations in 2010 cost the nation more than $444 billion in health care expenses and lost productivity. “
$444 billion? Good gracious that’s a lot of money (I think. To be honest I can’t even comprehend a figure like that.).
So save a billion here or there and wise-up on your heart habits. Or at least keep after me to do so. ‘Cause frankly I don’t have that kind of coin to play around with.
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Here’s a painfully-accurate article from HuffPo Health about food addiction. I’ve long thought that food addiction, if there was such a thing, had a lot in common with other, more commonly-recognized (or at least more commonly taken seriously) addictions. This article drives that point home. I know not all of my readers have the same relationship with food I do, but see if you recognize yourself in these passages:
“Food addicts … tend to taste only the first few bites and then go into a food-induced haze. The chosen food is generally a high-fat, high-salt and/or high-sugar food. As long as they keep eating, the high lasts and will last for a few minutes after eating. Generally the food addict will keep eating until they are past the point of full and often to the point of feeling physically ill. … Then there is the uncomfortable stuffed feeling and the guilt of having over-eaten the unhealthy food.
… Also, similar to alcohol, one can have a food hangover. If you overeat at night, which most foodaholics tend to do, you can wake up sluggish, groggy and still full from the previous night’s binge.”
Raise your hand right here beside mine if that hits close to home. But, as we discover on this here blog, there’s hope. You can get on the other side of a bad relationship with food and use it the way it’s meant to be used. Start with leaving fake food behind as often as possible, and be mindful -intentional – about how you approach food.
Good news: You can still enjoy food- hell, you can enjoy it more – and treat it responsibly.
Thanks, as always, for reading!
Skipping Dessert 