The Salem Health Community Health Education Center is hosting a cooking class with a focus on blood pressure for American Heart Month this February.

This is a time when the United States highlights heart disease and heart failure as the top causes of death for Americans.

“This cooking class is open to anybody. It’s targeting what the role of food plays when it comes to our blood pressure,” said health educator Catia Garibay. “Talking about sodium and how can we keep flavor in our meals while reducing sodium.”

The curriculum is designed by the American Heart Association for people who have heart disease or are working on heart health.

What is high blood pressure?

While Garibay explains the definition in her classes — blood pushing against the artery walls with too much force— she also makes sure to describe the impact high blood pressure has on the body. Untreated, high blood pressure increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. Her goal in class is to identify strategies that people can incorporate into their meals to control blood pressure.

“Sodium is one of those components that can raise your blood pressure. If we’re consuming too much sodium, your blood pressure is rising more than normal, and we’re trying to limit that,” Garibay said.

In class, Garibay demonstrates how much sodium is in the products that people eat on the daily, including sneaky sodium sources like canned vegetables. From there, she walks students through how much sodium they should be consuming, as recommended by the American Heart Association.

A quick and healthy recipe

For February’s class, Garibay will teach how to make linguine with cannellini beans and summer squash.

“It’s low sodium and it’s a recipe we’ve found that folks enjoy, and it’s also budget friendly and not very time consuming,” the health educator said. “Elaborate meals are fun and exciting and taste good, but the probability of people doing them back home is unrealistic.”

The result? An easy, delicious meal that only takes about 30 minutes from prep to finish. Garibay hopes all who attend will be encouraged that homemade, healthy meals can really be a breeze.

“It’s getting them excited in terms of realizing that it’s not as difficult as it may seem,” Garibay said. “Getting them to not be afraid to get in the kitchen and make something for themselves and their families.”

How to sign up

The $20 class will be held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 26, at the Community Health Education Center Wellness Kitchen, in Salem Hospital Building D.

Interested in learning more? Register here.