22 February 2024 , 06:33
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As many as 5 million Brits have undiagnosed high blood pressure and live their lives not knowing they are at risk and the complications this can bring.
What’s more, heart and circulatory deaths attributed to excess weight and obesity total around 31,000 every year in the UK.
That’s why Tesco is helping to keep the nation’s tickers in tip top condition by raising awareness of heart health alongside its long-term charity partner, the British Heart Foundation, in two vital ways.
Our diets can play a big part in keeping our hearts healthy and Tesco is making it easy for us to eat well with its range of delicious meals approved by nutritionists from the British Heart Foundation and Diabetes UK.
The colourful collection can help us to plan our meals with affordable ingredients.
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Think tricolour scrambled eggs for breakfast, smoky chipotle chilli for lunch, afternoon snacks like mini pea pancakes, and crispy roast chicken thighs with beetroot and chickpeas for dinner - tasty and packed full of veg.
"At Tesco, we want to use our place at the heart of communities to help our customers lead healthier lives. Adopting a balanced and nutritious diet is a great way, as part of a healthy lifestyle, to support our heart," says Tesco company nutritionist Laura Farrell.
"Our recipe hub features tasty meals that can support heart health, like the smoky roasted tomato and aubergine pearl barley risotto, which is low in saturated fat, rich in fibre and provides two of your five a day.
“We’re proud to have been working with the British Heart Foundation since 2018, collaborating to create ways we can support the health of our customers while they do their weekly shop.”
A balanced and nutritious diet helps a healthy heart go far (Getty)But it's not just what we put in our baskets where Tesco is helping us look after our heart health; the supermarket is making it simple for us to get our blood pressure checked too.
With free drop-ins available at its 365 in-store pharmacies, it couldn’t be more convenient to get this potentially lifesaving test done while we shop.
Pharmacy services manager Jonathan Bridgett says: “It couldn’t be easier to get a free blood pressure check while you’re doing your weekly shop. Pop in for a 10-minute private consultation with one of our trained pharmacists, who will take your blood pressure and talk you through the results and next steps.”
Last February, blood pressure checks increased by an incredible 340% as a result of Tesco’s heart health campaign and further support was offered to everyone who discovered they had high blood pressure.
Tesco’s "Let’s Talk" pharmacists are all trained by the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK and Diabetes UK to provide information and support to help lower our risk heart and circulatory diseases, cancer and type 2 diabetes.
Ask for Diabetes UK’s free Know Your Risk prevention test while you shop too.
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What’s more, Tesco is the UK’s first supermarket to begin registering its 2,873 defibrillators to the National Defibrillator Network, which aims to map all public access defibrillators.
This means that ambulance services can direct bystanders to the nearest registered defibrillator at their local Tesco if they see somebody having a cardiac arrest.
So, next time you push your trolley past a Tesco pharmacy, take a moment to take care of your heart. A quick and easy health check before you check out could save your life.