Friends...Keeping Your Heart Healthy

Friends...

keeping your heart healthy!

by Margaret DeStefano

Friends can help you live longer. In a study of nearly 7,000 adults in Alameda County, California, researchers found that people with more social contacts, whether from marriage, close friends, relatives, or church, were two to five times more likely to outlive people with fewer contacts. Research at the University of Alabama, suggested that people in less developed societies who had close relationships with neighbors had lower blood pressure, fewer symptoms of heart problems and were less depressed than people in advanced societies with fewer neighborly ties. One theory suggests that friends tend to give each other emotional comfort, which may have an effect on a cellular level. At Duke University School of Medicine, a study found that people in tense situations have lower levels of “free fatty acids,” which is a risk factor for heart disease, when a friend is present. With all the mounting evidence that friends can help keep you healthy, perhaps the new prescription may be, “Make two friends and call us in the morning!”

summer favorite...

Fresh Guacamole!

Recipe: Combine 2 heaping tbsps finely chopped onion, 1 Serrano chile, seeded and chopped, ½ cup chopped tomatoes, ¼ cup cilantro and ¾ tsp. salt in a bowl. Cut 3 large or 4 small ripe Hass avocados in half and scoop the flesh. Mash and add to rest of ingredients with 1 tbsp of freshly squeeze lime juice. Stir to combine. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

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