Your heart is amazing. It pumps 2,000 gallons of blood each day and will beat around 2.5 billion times in your lifetime but you'll probably never give it a thought - unless something goes wrong.
The British Heart Foundation's Red for Heart campaign focuses on tackling the nation's biggest killer. Every year, heart disease claims around 200,000 lives. Don't let yours be one of them - give your heart some TLC.
Smoking
Stopping smoking is the most important thing you can do to improve your health. Even second hand smoke increases your risk of heart disease.
Giving up cigarettes can be challenging but there's loads of support out there to help you quit.
People worry that they'll pile on the pounds when they quit but you can avoid weight gain when you stop smoking with a little forward planning. Nicotine replacements are proven to help manage weight so you don't need to rely on willpower alone.
ASDA pharmacies offer advice and products to help you quit. Call 0500 100055 or visit www.asda.com to find your nearest ASDA pharmacy store. For more help, visit Go Smoke Free or call the free NHS Smoking Helpline on 0800 169 0 169.
Diet
What you eat is really crucial for keeping your heart healthy. The usual rules apply - a varied, balanced diet is incredibly important. Here are a few tips that should help...
Cut down on the amount of saturated fat you eat. The Food Standards Agency has launched a nationwide campaign, aimed at helping us all reduce our intake of saturated fat. Try some of their tips, like cutting the visible fat off meat, using sunflower oil instead of butter or choosing low fat dairy products.
You can lower your blood pressure by reducing the amount of salt you eat - and that can reduce your risk of CHD. Try to eat less than 6g of salt per day by not adding salt during cooking (try using herbs and spices instead) or at the table.
Most of the salt we consume comes from processed foods, so get into the habit of checking labels on food packaging and choose low-salt options.
Fruit and vegetables are a good natural source of potassium, which has the opposite effect to sodium/salt. They're also great sources of vitamins, minerals and fibre and they're naturally low in fat. Aim to eat at least five portions a day - a portion is 80g or around a handful. Fresh, frozen, tinned, dried or juiced fruit and veg all count!
Physical activity
Physical activity can cut your risk of heart disease and stroke. Check with your GP before you start a new exercise programme - if you have high blood pressure this may need to be treated before you start any intensive activity.
For most people, brisk walking, swimming, cycling, jogging, team sports like football or hockey, dancing and tennis are all suitable.
If you're not used to exercise, start slowly and gradually build up the intensity and duration of the activity.
You should aim for 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity five times a week.
Overweight and obesity
Being overweight can put you at risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
One way to figure out whether you should lose weight is measuring your BMI (BMI stands for Body Mass Index). This tells you if your weight is within a healthy range for your height. Your GP or ASDA pharmacist can do a simple, free BMI check or try our online calculator. Call 0500 100055 or visit www.asda.com to find your nearest ASDA pharmacy store.
If you do need to lose some weight you should concentrate on improving the balance of your diet, avoid eating more than you need and doing more physical activity. Use a reputable source for weight loss tips - fad diets can do more harm than good.
Alcohol
Drinking large amounts of alcohol raises your blood pressure but drinking small amounts of alcohol (just one unit a day) can actually protect against heart disease and stroke. The key is to spread your drinking over the week and avoid binge drinking. Saving up your weekly allowance for Saturday night is a recipe for disaster!
Government guidelines say that men should drink no more than 3-4 units a day, while the recommended limit for women is 2-3 units a day (1 unit = half a pint of ordinary strength beer or lager, a small glass of wine or a 25ml measure of spirit).
Most of ASDA's own brand alcohol now has information on the label about the number of units in a glass, or bottle.
If you often drink heavily and you cut down, your blood pressure should come down too.
Stress
There's no evidence that stress causes heart disease but it can bring on symptoms like angina in people who already have heart disease. There's another problem too - if you're stressed you might take comfort in drinking lots of alcohol, smoking or overeating - and these are risk factors for heart disease.
So, dealing with stress and improving your overall wellbeing is important. Relaxation techniques like yoga or meditation might work for you. Physical activity and a healthy balanced diet will lower stress levels and make you more able to cope.
If you're still struggling with stress or anxiety, talk to your GP about the best way to tackle it.
For more information on how to maintain good heart health, why not listen to our podcast with our Asda Nutritionist? Simply click on the link above or visit the podcast section of our website.