Heartbeat

Healthy Eating - Five A Day

Whether fresh, frozen, chilled or canned we should all be eating five fruit and vegetable portions a day. In addition to the obvious options 100% juice, smoothies and dried fruit and vegetables all count towards this target. If you are having a glass of orange juice at breakfast, snacking on an apple at lunch, having two portions of vegetables with your dinner and a fruit crumble for dessert you are getting your five portions easily. So many of us do not manage to eat enough but there are lots of tasty options such as smoothies as a snack during the day or having a fruit based pudding.

The NHS gives five good reasons to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day:

• They're packed with vitamins and minerals.
• They can help you to maintain a healthy weight.
• They're an excellent source of fibre and antioxidants.
• They help reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and some cancers.
• They taste delicious and there's so much variety to choose from.

Alcohol - How many units are you actually drinking?

The NHS recommends that "Men should not regularly drink more than three to four units of alcohol per day. Women should not regularly drink more than two to three units of alcohol per day."

2 pints of 4% larger = 4.6 units

1 large glass (250ml) of white wine (12%) = 3 units

To work out the number of units you consumed last night, last weekend or your usual daily intake - visit DrinkAware's unit calculator. You may well be surprised!

Smoking - Be a Quitter!

Just a few of the benefits of giving up smoking:

• Reduce health risks such as developing cancer, heart and lung diesease
• Improve breathing, general fitness and fertility levels
• Save money - if you smoke 10 cigarettes a day you will save around £1,000 a year
• Improve your appearance with better skin and teeth
• Protect the health of your family and friends

What support is available?

Physical Activity - Getting Active

Physical inactivity is an independent risk factor fo coronary heart disease - in other words, if you don't exercise you dramatically increase your risk of dying from a heart attack. Adults should do a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity 5 times a week. This does not have to be thirty minutes down the gym every evening after work - you can split the time up however you want and the activity can be anything from walking to the shops to playing football - as long as it is moderately intensive. People who are at specific risk from obesity, or who need to manage their weight because of a medical condition may have more intensive requirements.

Joining a gym is often a good way to get active as the personal trainers can help you with your motivation and training planning.

But there are hundreds of other ways to get more active, here are a few suggestions: