Hello! We hope everyone will come out to our next Pathfinder
Produce market at the Village Commons on Thursday, February 11, from 1 to 5
p.m. Our fresh, delicious fruits and vegetables are perfect ingredients to
heart healthy meals during February, which is American Heart Month. We'll
be looking for you!
***
This
week, our students from Pathfinder School are collecting on behalf of the
American Heart Association, doing their part to help out its worthwhile work
and raise awareness, all in preparation of Friday's HOOP
FOR HEARTS event. Our school
has participated in this event, along with AHA’s Jump Rope for Heart, for
several years, and our students and staff always come up with some innovative
twists to make the learning unit fun.
The
students are also learning about the heart's role in the body, how it
circulates oxygenrich blood through arteries and capillaries to our cells, and
then how the depleted blood circulates back though capillaries and veins,
leading back to the lungs. (The history of William Harvey,
physician to James I and Charles I, first described this system in 1628. His
work was based on observation and experimentation; before then, it was thought
there were two independent systems, one for “nutritive” blood that circulated
nutrients from the liver through the body, and one that pumped “vivyfying” blood
to distribute the life force from the lungs through the body).
This
year, our Adaptive PE Teacher, Susan Johnson, is creating an obstacle course,
planning some basketball skills events, and even has a “Vote for Your Favorite
Apple” table in the works. (The students will be encouraged to try several
varieties of apples and then vote for the ones they like best). Then, those
students who have reached their fund raising goals for AHA will have the fun of
hitting our Director of Education Maura Iorio and other instructional staff
members in the face with whipped cream pies. (We hope to get some good
pictures!)
It's
good that the activity focuses on nutrition too ... watching what we eat is one
of the ways that we can improve our overall heart health. Although many named
diets incorporate these measures, it really comes down to eating more fresh
fruits and veggies, cutting back on fats, drinking lots of water instead
of highly sweetened beverages, limiting meats, salts and sweets, and being
aware of portion sizes. The Mayo
Clinic has a good website that offers specific advice on the foods you
should eat to promote better heart health. They even offer a regular enewsletter
if you are interested.
As
we head into Valentine's Day Weekend, why not change up your game and present
your sweetheart with a fresh fruit basket or homemade heart healthy meal.
February is a good time to take stock of your heart health and plan adjustments
through better eating and exercise, stopping smoking, and losing weight, to
give your loved ones the best Valentine’s gift ever.
Until
next time, enjoy life, eat well, and be well. <3
Lori
