The Mended Hearts, Inc.
Hearts of Jersey Chapter #179

December 2009

Message from the President

You may recall from last month’s newsletter I had a birthday. I wanted to share with you one of the wonderful gifts that I received. A recipe that uses several common items such as fat-free evaporated milk, butter, whole wheat bread, hazelnuts and dark chocolate bits. You look at that list to say, what could he possibly get from that? The answer is a Grilled Dark Chocolate Sandwich. If you’d like a copy of the recipe, phone or e-mail me a request and I’ll get it out to you. I had hoped to change the menu of the Celebration of the Heart, but the kitchen couldn’t handle it, sorry.

On the subject of sandwiches, I came across an article in RealAge.com that was titled, “A Sandwich Option for Better Blood Pressure.” The message in this article has to do with choosing the right bread. I said the right bread not white bread, because your selection should be 100% whole grain. The article points out that use of whole grains may help reduce the risk of high blood pressure by as much as 20%. The benefit according to the article may help you keep your blood pressure in the range of 115/76 mm Hg. and that may make your real age as much as 12 years younger. They didn’t offer any suggestions for getting 24 years younger. Juan Ponce de León didn’t find the fountain of youth either.

One last tip about food. This is a dangerous overeating season; you need to be on your guard at all times. Just when you’re ready to grab that last piece of mince pie with ice cream on top, don’t do it. Have a glass of water instead. Surprisingly many people confuse hunger with thirst. If you don’t drink enough water, your body confuses thirst with hunger. The solution, drink more water.

I came across this story in the November 2009 issue of Reader’s Digest in a section called THE ART OF LIVING. The story is “Life is better with a gratitude attitude.” David Hochman writes it and it fits so nicely at this time of year. The point of the story is to feel good about doing good things and happy living in general. The author consulted a professor at the University of California whose research indicated that even people pretending to be thankful gained a feeling of pleasure and contentment. The article suggested that people who wrote down things that they were grateful for felt 25% happier after 10 weeks than those who did not keep a written log.

I decided to make a log for chapter 179 of Mended Hearts reflecting my gratitude attitude.

I’m thankful for being given the opportunity as chapter president to work with the Meridian Health team members. Our chapter is unique with the support that we received from Meridian. This permits us to concentrate our efforts on heart patient support. Remember this when you read your newsletter or attend a chapter meeting in one of the Meridian hospitals. The meeting space, the heart healthy lunch, many of our guest speakers are provided by Meridian. Thanks team.

That leads me to cheer on the volunteers that regularly visit heart patients and families in the hospital facilities and by telephone and Internet. Great job group.

The Visiting program wouldn’t exist without the support of the officers and committee chairpersons that make up our Board of Directors. I couldn’t make it work without you.

The board wouldn’t be there if it were not for you the members and families of chapter 179. I wish you the best of the holiday season and look forward to welcoming the new officers after the April 2010 elections.