Tips and Strategies to Improve Your Heart Health
Cardiovascular (heart) health plays a significant role in quality of life and overall well-being. However, each year, millions of Americans suffer from heart disease and related conditions that are largely preventable. It’s estimated that 77.5% of men and 75.4% of women ages 60 to 79 have some form of cardiovascular disease, but it’s becoming surprisingly common among younger people as well. Fortunately, there are several steps you can take to improve your heart health and lead a happier, healthier life.
Understanding the Connection: Heart Disease & Other Serious Health Conditions
High blood pressure (hypertension) and high cholesterol are two very common and interrelated risk factors for heart disease. High blood pressure strains the heart by forcing it to pump harder, which damages the blood vessels over time.
High cholesterol, specifically high levels of LDL cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol), can cause plaque to accumulate in the arteries. When this happens, the arteries become narrower, which makes it harder for the blood to flow through them. This combination significantly increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular conditions.
Obesity also plays a significant role in heart health, especially since it’s often accompanied by high blood pressure and abnormal cholesterol levels. Excess body weight, especially around the abdomen, contributes to insulin resistance, which in turn elevates blood sugar and blood pressure while altering cholesterol levels. Obesity also triggers chronic inflammation in the body, which impacts blood vessel function and can contribute to atherosclerosis (hardening and narrowing of arteries).
The combination of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and obesity creates a perfect storm for heart disease. Over time, these factors contribute to progressive blood vessel damage and increase the likelihood of plaque buildup and arterial blockages. This buildup restricts blood flow to the heart muscle and can potentially lead to heart attacks or angina (chest pain). Additionally, the strain placed on the heart due to hypertension coupled with the adverse effects of high cholesterol and obesity escalates the risk of heart failure and other cardiac issues.
Adopt a Heart Healthy Diet
Diet is one of the most important factors in improving your cardiovascular health, as well as reducing your risk of high cholesterol, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. In many cases, it doesn’t require a radical overhaul of your dietary habits, either; often small consistent changes can lead to substantial improvements in your overall health and are more sustainable in the long run.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to a heart-healthy diet. You may prefer to follow the general principles of a wholesome diet or find that a structured dietary plan works better. What matters most is that you find what works for you and stick to it.
Regardless of your approach, here are several tips you should try to incorporate:
- Eat a nutrient- and fiber-rich diet. Craft your meals around a variety of nutrient-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, lean meats, and fatty fish. Restrict or avoid saturated fats, trans fats, and added sugars. Incorporate heart-healthy nuts like walnuts, almonds, or peanuts into your diet for snacks or meal substitutes. A diet abundant in fiber is linked to reduced heart disease and diabetes risks, lower blood pressure, improved cholesterol levels, and healthy weight; try to meet the recommended 20-30 grams of fiber per day.
- Reduce your sodium intake. Excess sodium is particularly bad for your heart because it causes you to retain water and makes your heart work harder to move the additional fluid throughout your body. Try to stay below 1500 milligrams of sodium per day. If you find your food tastes too bland, replace the salt with herbs and spices.
- Pay attention to your caloric intake. Aim to stay within a reasonable daily calorie limit without eliminating entire food groups. Most adults need between 1,600 to 3,000 calories per day, depending on their sex, age, height, and activity level. Avoid drinking high-calorie beverages, as these make it easy to quickly go over your calorie limit.
- Be mindful about portion sizes: Large portion sizes are very common in the U.S. and can contribute to overeating. Be mindful about the portions you eat at each meal and make sure they’re appropriately sized. If you have difficulty judging healthy portion sizes, consider getting a food scale or looking at an online portion size guide.
Improve Heart Health and Maintain a Healthy Weight with Exercise
Exercise is excellent for increasing cardiovascular health and maintaining a healthy weight. Here are three types of exercise that you should consider adopting:
- Aerobic Exercise: Aerobic exercise has been shown to increase circulation, which helps lower blood pressure and heart rate. It also diminishes the risk of type 2 diabetes and aids in managing blood glucose for individuals already living with diabetes. Ideally, you should strive for at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise 5 days a week. This includes exercise like taking brisk walks, running, swimming, or cycling.
- Resistance Training (Strength Work): Resistance training is particularly beneficial for individuals with higher body fat, especially in the abdominal area because it helps reduce fat while building lean muscle mass. Combining aerobic exercise with resistance training can potentially elevate HDL (good) cholesterol and lower LDL (bad) cholesterol. Try to spend at least two nonconsecutive days a week lifting free weights, using a weight machine or resistance bands, or doing body resistance exercises like push-ups, squats, and chin-ups.
- Stretching, Flexibility, and Balance: Although it doesn’t directly contribute to heart health, flexibility exercises play a vital role in musculoskeletal health by helping maintain flexibility, preventing joint pain and other muscular issues, and ensuring individuals can comfortably engage in aerobic and resistance training. They also enhance stability and aid in fall prevention and resulting injuries—which can limit other forms of exercise. Try to incorporate flexibility exercises into your daily routine, as well as before and after other forms of exercise.
If you don’t currently exercise or have health concerns, consult your doctor before starting a new routine. You may want to start with doing a brief 10-minute walk once a day. By gradually incorporating exercise into your life, you can build strength and avoid injuries or other complications.
Nurturing Your Heart Through Healthy Habits
Embracing a heart-healthy lifestyle extends beyond exercise and diet; it also encompasses a spectrum of daily habits and practices that significantly contribute to overall well-being. These lifestyle adjustments may seem small but collectively they yield profound benefits for heart health and longevity.
- Stop smoking. If you smoke, you should quit. Quitting smoking, regardless of how long you’ve done it, brings immediate and long-term benefits for your heart.
- Avoid secondhand smoke. You should also avoid exposure to secondhand smoke, as it poses risks for heart disease, even in non-smokers.
- Drink in moderation. If you drink alcohol, do it in moderation. Follow the recommended limits: up to one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men.
- Weight loss and management. Shedding even a small percentage of body weight, such as 5%, can notably improve blood pressure for overweight individuals.
- Stress management: Adopting stress-reduction strategies, whether it’s exercise, ample sleep, or dedicated relaxation practices like meditation and deep breathing, aids in maintaining healthy blood pressure levels. Getting support from loved ones and engaging in enjoyable activities together can also help reduce stress.
- Regular checkups: Regular yearly physical exams play a crucial role in identifying potential risk factors for heart disease and managing existing health conditions.
- Blood Pressure and cholesterol monitoring. Tracking blood pressure and cholesterol levels through regular checkups or home monitoring devices helps you keep track of your health and allows you to quickly address any concerning changes.
- Diabetes Management: If you have diabetes, make sure to manage your blood sugar levels through diet, exercise, and regular medical monitoring.
Get Comprehensive Support for Your Health Goals
Many of the risk factors for heart disease are interconnected; by focusing on making heart-healthy lifestyle changes, you can significantly improve your cardiovascular system and reduce the chances of developing serious conditions that can affect your longevity and quality of life.
Change can feel daunting, but you don’t have to face it alone. Dr. Jennifer Hubert is an internal medicine physician who specializes in providing personalized holistic care to help you live your healthiest life. From advanced diagnostics and medical monitoring to proven medical weight loss plans, she’s helped countless patients improve their cardiovascular health. Schedule a consultation today at (707) 380-1838 or email us at office@doctorhubert.com.
