30 Minutes a Day to a Healthy Heart [Paperback]

Editors of Reader's Digest (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Readers Digest (July 20, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762107146
• ISBN-13: 978-0762107148
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,488,578 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Faye's review, March 8, 2007

By 

Faye Smedley "health conscious" (Sault Ste. Marie, On Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 30 Minutes a Day to a Healthy Heart (Paperback)

This is an easy to read book considering it contains medical conditions and unfamiliar medical terms. The authors took great care to describe each medical term and included excellent pictures to show what is happening in your heart that will lead to a heart attack. The book is meant for laypersons, but health professionals would also benefit from reading it.

The authors present the 7 causes of heart attacks. The number one cause is smoking, the other causes in order of importance include: an increase in cholesterol (LDL), high blood presssure, excess body fat, metabolic syndrome (includes diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and other conditions), oxidative stress (free radicals), chronic inflammation. Each cause is described in easy to follow facts accompanied by pictures. Under each cause there is a section called "Viability of Self-treatment" which describes how you can help heal your heart. and a section called "Standard Medical Care" which explains the medical care you will likely receive.

The book's main purpose is to present you with a plan to keep your heart healthy. There is a plan discussing the healthy foods you should eat, and the unhealthy foods you should avoid. The benefits of the healthy foods and the harm of each unhealthy food is carefully described. In the chapter "Super Foods to the Rescue" the importance of diet is stressed giving you a list of eighteen healthy foods to eat. Menus and recipes that include these foods are an important part of this book. A list of foods to shop for to have a healthy fridge and cupboard are also presented here.

The importance of activity is presented as well. It is also easy to follow with pictures and encouragers. The activities do not expect you to climb mountains or take up cross country skiing, but show you how every day household chores are activities. The importance of stretching exercises, strengthing exercises, and easy aerobic exercises are discussed. Yoga and other methods of meditation are included here to help with stress control as stress is a contributor to heart attacks.

I recommend this book to everyone. If you are young or old and are healthy you will learn how to prevent a heart attack. If you are struggling with obesity and don't understand why obesity leads to heart attacks this is the book for you. Reaading this book may give you the insentive to help yourself to better health. Even if you already have heart disease this book will be useful in assisting you to help yourself to healthier heart.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great and informative book...easy to follow., September 12, 2009

By 

Deborah Gruba (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 30 Minutes a Day to a Healthy Heart (Paperback)

I saw the title of this book and picked it up and could not stop reading it. The information is put together very well. It has all the information I have read before, but is now in one easy to read book. It explains the threats to your heart and the easy to follow solutions. I love it. I got out the weights and the excercise ball. I started doing the 4 minute stretch. I took the list of superfoods and went to Trader Joes. I have started many of the recommendations already. This book does not recommend a total life change or hours of excercise. It does not contain a difficult to follow diet. This book is real life, and it makes me think about me and my husband health; he even wants to read it. These are things we can do! I think it is a very good over all healthy life style book.