Adopting a heart-healthy lifestyle can help protect you from heart disease, one of the top causes of death in the United States. Keeping your heart healthy doesn't have to be complicated, either. By simply following some basic guidelines for heart health, you can easily improve the way your cardiovascular system, and the rest of your body along with it, functions.
Diet
A healthy diet is the cornerstone of a lifestyle that protects your heart. Aim for a diet containing at least 25 g of fiber every day, including some cholesterol-lowering soluble fiber. Oats, barley and fruits are good soluble fiber sources. Limit saturated fat, found in meat and full-fat dairy, to less than 7 percent of your total daily calories and avoid trans fats, often found in deep fried foods and bakery items, if at all possible. Total fat intake should be between 25 and 35 percent of your daily caloric intake. Keep sodium intake below 1,500 mg and limit cholesterol to 300 mg or less a day for a healthy heart. Try to consume more monounsaturated fat, the kind in olive oil, and polyunsaturated fat, found in fish oil, to boost levels of HDL, the good cholesterol that lowers heart disease risk.
Exercise
Regular exercise reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and protects the heart. To get the full effect, you need to get at least 30 minutes of heart-pumping physical activity on most days of the week. This can be divided up into smaller 10-minute sessions, however, and still provide a heart-protective effect. Everyday activity that increases your heart rate, counts too, including things like household and yard chores.
Lifestyle Choices
Avoid tobacco smoke, including exposure to secondhand smoke. While smoking is often linked to lung cancer, the damage it does to your heart is just as severe. Smoking raises blood pressure and contributes to the development of arteriosclerosis, raising your risk of heart attack and stroke. Weighing more than the ideal for your height also raises the risk of heart disease, so losing even 5 to 10 pounds can make a big difference in improving heart health.
Medical Checkups
Part of keeping your heart healthy is knowing your risk factors for heart disease. Regular medical checkups can help you assess what areas need the most focus and whether your lifestyle changes are working or not. Your doctor can let you know if your body mass index, or BMI, is at a healthy level, generally considered anything below 25. Your blood pressure should ideally remain below 120/ 80 mm/Hg. Aim for an LDL cholesterol level under 100, an HDL cholesterol level over 40 and a triglyceride level under 150. If any of your numbers aren't where they should be, talk to your doctor about other steps you can take to get your body in heart-healthy shape.
