Wellness Wednesday: Lifestyle Changes for Good Heart Health

February is American Heart Month! Did you know heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States? There is some good news though – heart disease is typically preventable. A few simple lifestyle changes can be your best defense.

The American Heart Association has come up with seven ways to help reduce your risk of heart disease. Read the tips below.

1. Stop Smoking – With each puff of a cigarette, the nicotine from tobacco smoke temporarily increases blood pressure and heart rate. After continuous use, smoking can lead to clumping or stickiness in the body’s arteries, further increasing the chance of heart attack, stroke or heart disease. The first step to decreasing your risk of heart disease is to quit smoking.
2. Eat a Heart-Healthy Diet – A heart-healthy diet emphasizes a variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, lean cuts of protein (such as skinless chicken and turkey) and fish, nuts and legumes, and non-tropical oils. Try cooking at home so you know exactly what is in your meals.
3. Get Active – Being physically active is a great way to keep your heart healthy. The American Heart Association recommends adults should get a weekly total of at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity over at least three days per week. Additionally, it is recommended that individuals participate in muscle-strengthening activities at least two days a week.
4. Manage or Lose Weight – There are many benefits to managing your weight, but perhaps one of the most important is keeping your heart healthy and strong. Work with your provider (provider of what?) to understand how many calories you take in and your activity levels. This can help identify potential areas for you to make changes.
5. Manage Blood Pressure – The first step in managing your blood pressure is understanding what the numbers mean. Blood pressure is the force of blood flowing through your body’s blood vessels. If this pressure is too high, it can cause damage to the blood vessels, resulting in weakened arterial walls and less efficient blood flow throughout the body. To help manage your blood pressure, aim for a heart-healthy, whole-foods focused diet. Limit saturated and trans fats, sodium, red meat, sweets, and sugar-sweetened beverages. Check out the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) eating plan.
6. Control Cholesterol – If you’ve ever been diagnosed with high cholesterol, it’s time to get to know your numbers. Too much cholesterol in the body can cause a build-up in your arteries (ie: a potential heart attack waiting to happen). To reduce your cholesterol, work on reducing your saturated fat and trans-fat intake. This means limiting full-fat dairy products and red meat. Be mindful of fried food intake, and when possible, cook with healthy oils, like vegetable oil.
7. Reduce Blood Sugar – When we eat, food is broken down into sugar and enters our bloodstreams. For our bodies to use the energy from the food we’ve eaten, sugar needs to enter our cells. However, when we have Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, our bodies don’t process sugar correctly. Both can be managed by a healthy diet and/or insulin medication.

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