February is American Heart Month, a time to show your heart some love by making healthier choices and increasing awareness on the risks of heart disease.

This is incredibly important, given that heart problems are the leading cause of death in the world, and the number of people who die from heart disease annually is projected to reach 23.3 million by 2030. And though heart disease is declining in developed countries, it’s increasing in virtually every other region of the world.

Fortunately, preventative measures are low-cost (or free!), so people in developing areas can reduce their risk of heart disease. The challenge is increasing awareness.

They identify four factors that contribute to heart disease:

As a whole, these four elements really come down to one thing: Treating your body well. In fact, if you work toward achieving better overall health, each of these four elements should fall in line.

In the Integrative Nutrition curriculum, we set out 12 Steps to Better Health. Of course, every step is connected to every other one—ever notice how one healthy change begets another, and vice-versa?—but it can be useful to break them down. Though following the path to better health inevitably improves heart health, some of INC’s 12 steps specifically target these four factors.

Final Thoughts

With successful holistic alternatives available now, there are only a few good reasons to turn to pharmaceutical or surgical band-aids especially since research shows that only 50% of surgical or pharmaceutical interventions for low back pain actually get rid of the underlying issue. If you have pain, go see your medical professional immediately to rule out anything serious. If you don’t have pain, now is the time to work on these things because it’s much easier to prevent pain than it is to treat it.

If you’d like further information on this program. Feel free to reach out to Integrative Nutrition or look for Debbie Bishop on Facebook. If you’d like more information on how postural re-education can improve your heart health, contact us at hello@backbonecushion.com. We will help get you and your back on track!