Okay, this is the month for Valentine’s Day! Let’s see, flowers? Oh yes, cut bouquet or live, hmm? Live plant, definitely. I can put it into the garden later. Cute card? Definitely. Store-bought or ecard, hmm? I’m tempted to save paper, but digital is not so personal. Hey, I can make my own card from the pictures I was saving to make…that thing…whatever it was.

Dinner out? Definitely, there’s this new little gluten-free café that just opened up downtown. Wonder if we’ll need reservations? Champagne? Okay, everything in moderation. Jewelry? Well, maybe. J What am I forgetting? Oh, of course, the CHOCOLATE!

Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, purple chocolate—whatever ends with the word chocolate sounds good to me. Wait a minute! Chocolate isn’t good for me, is it? It’s just candy. And here we are with a special issue about how to gain and maintain better heart health.

Look at all these articles by our great writers, some of them are even doctors and scientists, and they all say…what’s this? In our Conscious Eating department— an article, “Chocolate as Health Food,” by Judith Fertig, one of our best authors. There’s even a picture of the drippy brown stuff oozing down from the top of the page.

It turns out that if we stay away from the cheap commercial brands that are full of bad stuff and stick to the high-cacao varieties, it can be a superfood with more antioxidants than goji berries, so it’s actually good for our hearts. And there are recipes…oh dear.

In our feature article by National Editor Linda Sechrist, “Rethinking Hearth Health,” you will learn about many of the cutting-edge developments in cardiac science that include not only technical advances, but recent realizations about the relationship between mind and body that present new pathways to wellness.

Speaking of things that are both fun and good for you, the Body & Sol Women’s Expo, sponsored by Natural Awakenings, March 8 and 9 at the Tucson Convention Center, is almost upon us. It’s been a long time coming and I’m sure you won’t want to miss out on this fabulous premier event.

Happy Valentine’s Day! I love you all!

Holly Baker, Publisher