It’s a worrying thought that despite all we know about heart health, heart disease remains one of the biggest killers in the U.S. That’s true for men and for women. Does it include you? When we talk about heart healthy living, we mean both understanding your own specific risk factors and doing whatever you can to reduce them (https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/heart-healthy-living).
So, the first thing you need to do is determine what puts you most at risk. Have your parents or other close relatives suffered from heart disease? Have you reached middle age yourself? What’s your blood pressure like? Your cholesterol levels? There’s a reason these are the things doctors like to measure in your regular checkups. Then there are the old favorites. What do you eat? How much do you exercise? Are you getting enough sleep? Do you smoke?
You may have noticed that some of these things are beyond your control. You can’t make your parents have not had heart disease. That means it’s even more important to be on top of what is in your hands. Exercise, for example, is almost entirely up to you. You can stop smoking, difficult as that may be. And while diet can be complicated, you can still aim for heart healthy types of food.
Heart healthy means plenty of fruit and vegetables full of vitamins and minerals, plus lots of protein. Choose whole grain over white and processed varieties when it comes to bread, pasta and cereal. Fat isn’t all bad, but you should be sticking to the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated like you find in olive oil and some nuts. Meanwhile, cut back on the saturated and trans fats, salty food, excess sugar and, of course, alcohol.
A lot of the common risk factors for heart disease, like smoking and alcohol, can be aggravated by stress. Stress is also a risk factor for high blood pressure. It’s even been suggested that people who experience extremes of anger and emotional discomfort may be directly more likely to have heart attacks and other cardiac events. There are a range of options, from meditation and exercise to professional counseling, that can be used to try to alleviate stress.
Heart healthy living is something that you can apply to every part of your life if you want to minimize your chances of heart disease and other cardiac problems.
