Nearly 100 years ago, 12 candy making companies got together and planned the first annual "Sweetest Day," to be celebrated in Cleveland, Ohio.

The celebration, planned for late October, was intended to rival Valentine's Day, and the planning committee sought to ensure the day's success by having celebrities of the time distribute 20,000 boxes of candy to the downtrodden residents of Cleveland's lower-income areas.

"Sweetest Day" became known nationally as a "Hallmark holiday," and critics bemoaned the fact that it was invented by commercial parties that stood to profit from such a holiday.

That same year, the first fast food chain in the United States opened it's doors in Wichita, Kansas. White Castle offered freshly-made, small, square hamburgers for five cents, and found a market among families who were trying to cope with longer work-days with quick-fix meals.

The privately-owned company would go on to become a million-dollar success, and spawn a billion-dollar industry with a worldwide reach.

It should come as no surprise then, that since that year (1921), heart disease has been the leading cause of death among men and women in the United States. It is now responsible for 1 out of every 4 deaths.

And two of the biggest causes of heart disease in this country? Sugar and fast food.

February is American Heart Health Month, which has a tendency to get over-shadowed by that "other February holiday," but is without a doubt the more important event to remember.

The American Heart Association estimates that 1 in 5 Americans will develop heart failure in their lifetime. Add that to the nearly 6 million residents currently living with HF, and we're looking at a preventable disease that will cost the nation an estimated $30 billion annually by 2030.

The good news is that heart disease can often be prevented when people make healthy choices and manage their health conditions. Communities, health professionals, and families can work together to create opportunities for people to make healthier choices. Make a difference in your community: spread the word about strategies for preventing heart disease and encourage people to live heart healthy lives.

Outdoor air pollution gets an overwhelming amount of attention, and for good reason, but another form that's starting to draw the attention of researchers hits much closer to home.

Indoor air pollution comes in many forms, and from many places. Sources include mold, pollen, tobacco smoke, nail polish remover, household cleaning products, paints, gases such as radon and carbon monoxide, and building materials such as asbestos, formaldahyde and lead. Even dry-cleaned clothing can contain dangerous pollutants.

These pollutants, given the scientific name "volatile organic compounds," can often be trapped in sofas, carpets, curtains and blankets and can cause short-term health issues.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, ''these include irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. Such immediate effects are usually short-term and treatable. Sometimes the treatment is simply eliminating the person's exposure to the source of the pollution, if it can be identified. Soon after exposure to some indoor air pollutants, symptoms of some diseases such as asthma may show up, be aggrevated or worsened."

Even more concerning, however, are the long-term issues these pollutants can cause, which can include respiratory diseases, heart diseases and cancer.

Fortunately, new research has discovered an incredibly simple and inexpensive way to deal with indoor pollutants. Houseplants!

Vadoud Niri, an analytical chemist, tested his hypothesis with several common houseplants and found two that were sensationally effective at eliminating VOCs from the air. One even removed up to 94% of the harmful compound acetone from the air.

For those of you that haven't been following along as Noel participates in the Daniel Plan, now's the perfect time to join in.

Learn helpful tips about the dangers of the Standard American Diet, plate-portioning, label-checking meal-planning, and factory-made science projects that are high-jacking our diets and making it much harder to lose weight.

You can follow along with Noel's journey on our Facebook page, or on the Well Within Blog. Both are accessible through the links below.