We tend to appreciate our hearts the older – and wiser – we get. Here are six simple and realistic ways to help keep your heart healthy.
Tip #1: Know Your Numbers
There’s a good chance you or someone close to you has an elevated risk of heart disease due to high cholesterol or blood pressure – but doesn’t know it. High cholesterol and high blood pressure usually have no symptoms. But, over time and in different ways, these conditions can negatively impact your heart health.
This is why you should be sure to visit your doctor at least once a year. Ask about a cholesterol test and be sure your blood pressure is checked. After the tests, make it a point to actually discuss the results with your doctor.
You may also consider calling your local chapter of the American Heart Association if you need extra help understanding what your test results mean.
There are many options available for treating high blood pressure or high cholesterol, but those problems can’t be properly treated unless you and your doctor know your numbers!
Tip #2: Get the Right Sleep
Sleep gives your body a much-needed break. Researchers have even uncovered interesting links between sleep and heart health.
According to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, people who sleep less than six hours a night may have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease compared to people who sleep between six and eight hours each night. But it’s not just the amount of sleep that seems to matter. The quality of sleep also appears to impact the risk of cardiovascular disease.
So how much sleep does your heart really need? It varies by person, but six to eight hours of of quality sleep each night seems right for most of us.
“It’s time to start thinking of getting enough sleep … as being smart, not selfish,” wrote Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association. “Consider it your way of making sure you are around to care for others.”
Tip #3: Reach an Ideal Weight
Heart-healthy doesn’t mean skinny. It means finding the weight that is ideal for you – and your health. Talk to your doctor regarding your ideal weight.
As we age, the combination of reduced muscle mass and decreased activity makes us need fewer calories. This means the calories we consume should be as nutrient-rich as possible.
Moderately portioned meals and small snacks, nutritionally balanced and spread throughout the day, may be helpful for achieving and keeping an ideal, healthy weight.
Tip #4: Stay Away From Tobacco
The science is clear: tobacco smoke is terrible for your heart, and the benefits of avoiding it come quickly.
You probably know that smoking, and exposure to secondhand smoke, increases the risk of lung cancer and breathing problems.
But did you know that it is especially bad for your heart? increase your blood pressure, thicken and narrow your blood vessels, cause dangerous blood clots and more.
But if you’re a tobacco user, know that it’s never too late to quit. Your body begins to heal within 20 minutes of your last cigarette, when your heart rate begins to drop. Circulation and lung function can improve within three months; after two years, your risk of having a heart attack decreases significantly.
Tip #5: Go Easy on the Sugar
Most Americans consume at least 10 percent of their calories each day in the form of added sugar – an amount that’s been on the rise due in large part to our love of sugar-sweetened soda, energy drinks, pastries and various other processed foods.
But limiting the added sugar you eat each day is one way to be kind to your heart.
The typical American consumes around 17 teaspoons of added sugar every day. The American Heart Association recommends women bring that number down to six teaspoons and men consume no more than nine teaspoons (roughly the amount found in one can of regular soda).
Remember that added sugar goes by many names, including agave nectar, caramel, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, glucose, honey, maltose and rice syrup.
Tip #6: Get a Mammogram (Women)
Mammograms are vital to catching breast cancer early but they may also provide a window into your heart health.
A recent study suggests that the presence of arterial calcification in the breast, which can be detected during a routine mammogram, may be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
This study suggests that mammogram screening may one day be a “a successful way, with no extra money or extra radiation, [for] determining a woman’s risk for cardiovascular disease at the same time she would be screened for breast cancer,” says Laurie Margolies, MD, director of breast imaging at Mount Sinai Hospital.
For now, however, you shouldn’t rely on a mammogram to determine your risk of heart disease. A yearly checkup with your primary care doctor remains the best first line of screening for heart problems.
