Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide for both men and women. Despite advances in medical sciences, the most effective way to control heart-related illnesses is through prevention. This involves adopting healthier habits and making lifestyle choices.
Keep reading to know more about lifestyle changes that can be adopted for heart-healthy living!
What Is Heart-Healthy Living?
Heart-healthy living depends on understanding the risk of developing heart disease and making lifestyle choices to reduce the chance of getting heart disease by adopting healthy habits. It helps in improving the energy levels, overall health and well-being of an individual.
These choices include eating a balanced diet, staying physically active, maintaining a healthy weight, avoiding tobacco, managing stress, and getting enough quality sleep.
Lifestyle Changes For Heart-Healthy Living
Here are a few lifestyle changes that may help for heart-healthy living:
1. Exercise Regularly
Physical activity is important for maintaining a healthy heart. Regular exercise strengthens the heart muscle, improves circulation, maintains a healthy weight and reduces stress hormones. It also helps to reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Experts recommend at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise along with a healthy diet and lifestyle. If you can’t exercise, a brief walk is a good way to add more exercise to your day.
Cardio exercises, including brisk walking, swimming, cycling, and dancing, are excellent for heart health. Also, include strength training exercises two days a week to further support your cardiovascular system and boost your metabolism.
2. Eat healthy and Better
Diet plays an important role in cardiovascular health. Consuming high levels of saturated fat, trans fat, sodium, and sugar may contribute to high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and weight gain, major risk factors for heart disease.
A balanced eating plan may lower high blood pressure and improve cholesterol levels. One proven approach is the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) eating plan that emphasises heart-healthy foods.
Incorporate whole fruits, dried fruits, vegetables, and low-fat yoghurt. Limit red meats and opt for lean meats.
Choose foods low in saturated fat, sodium and added sugars by reading the nutrition labels. Stay hydrated with water rather than sugary drinks.
A heart-healthy diet, when combined with other healthy habits, may significantly reduce the risk of developing heart disease.
Read Also: Diet Tips for a Healthy Heart: What to Eat & Avoid
3. Quit Smoking
Smoking is one of the important risk factors for heart disease. It causes oxidative stress, damages the lining of the arteries, increases blood pressure and further increases the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Quitting smoking may reduce the risk of developing heart disease and may benefit heart health. It can be challenging to quit smoking.
You may seek help, including counselling, support groups, nicotine replacement therapy, or prescription medications to help you quit smoking.
4. Moderate Alcohol
Some studies indicate that excessive drinking is harmful to the heart as it may increase blood pressure, contribute to weight gain and thereby increase the risk of developing heart diseases.
It is important to drink in moderation to protect your heart, especially if you are at risk of developing heart disease. You may replace alcoholic beverages with healthier alternatives, including water, herbal tea, or sparkling water.
It is preferable to consult your healthcare provider to understand what is suited for your heart health.
5. Manage Stress
Chronic stress has been associated with unhealthy coping behaviours, including overeating or smoking, which in turn may increase the risk of heart disease.
It is important to identify the different stress triggers and develop different ways to manage them. Maintaining social connections with friends and family is necessary for emotional support.
The relaxation techniques that combine breathing and focused attention help in calming the mind and body.
You may consider meditation to help lower stress. You may also take a yoga class to help lower stress and improve mindfulness. Consider professional counselling or therapy if it is difficult to manage stress.
6. Maintain a Healthy Weight
Being overweight or obese may increase the risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol, which further increases the risk of developing heart disease. It is necessary to maintain a healthy weight to prevent heart disease and overall health.
Calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI) to determine if you are in a healthy weight range. Set realistic weight-loss goals if you are overweight. Keeping a daily food journal may help you become more mindful of your eating habits.
Opt for healthy snacks, including fruits, vegetables, yoghurt or nuts instead of high-calorie snacks. Combine healthy eating with regular physical activity for effective weight management.
Even modest weight loss may make a significant difference in improving heart health and reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
7. Get Adequate Quality Sleep
Lack of adequate sleep or getting poor-quality sleep may increase the risk of heart disease even if you have no other risk factors. It may also lead to high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes.
Getting adequate and quality sleep a night may help in reducing the risk of heart disease. Aim for at least 7-9 hours of sleep a night and keep a consistent sleep schedule even on weekends. Limit screen time before bed and create a relaxing bedtime routine.
Avoid exercising about 2-3 hours before bedtime. Avoid having heavy meals, caffeine and nicotine before bedtime. If you have sleep issues, it is preferable to consult a healthcare provider.
8. Monitor Blood Pressure
High blood pressure that is consistently higher than 130/80mmHg may cause serious health problems, including heart conditions.
Check your blood pressure regularly and keep it within the healthy range. You may use a blood pressure monitor at home to measure the blood pressure at home.
Stay active and keep your weight in a healthy range. Take prescribed medications as advised by the healthcare professional.
9. Manage Blood Sugar Levels
Maintaining stable blood sugar levels is essential for heart health, especially if you have diabetes or are at risk of developing it.
It is important to check your blood sugar levels regularly with a healthcare provider, especially if you have diabetes.
Focus on managing your carbohydrate intake and opt for complex carbohydrates, including whole grains and legumes, to help control blood sugar levels as they digest more slowly and help prevent blood sugar spikes.
It is advisable to eat a diet rich in whole foods, including vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and healthy fats.
10. Lower High Blood Cholesterol
Studies have shown that high levels of cholesterol may increase the risk of developing heart disease. Eating a heart-healthy diet low in saturated fats may help decrease the harmful LDL cholesterol levels.
Have regular screening for cholesterol, especially if you have a family history of heart disease or diabetes.
You may try the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) Program which combines diet, physical activity, and weight management to help lower blood cholesterol levels.
Conclusion
Heart health is important for overall well-being. Adopting simple lifestyle changes, including eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight, managing stress, quitting smoking, limiting alcohol, and monitoring the risk factors of heart diseases, may help in reducing the risk of developing heart diseases.
If you have any queries regarding heart health and lifestyle changes required, feel free to book a consultation with Dr Nikhil of Heart360 Care for personalised advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
The progression of heart disease can be significantly reduced through lifestyle changes and prevent further complications. Adopting a heart-healthy diet, regular physical activity, quitting smoking, managing stress, and controlling conditions, including high blood pressure or diabetes, may improve heart function. However, advanced heart disease may not be fully reversible.
The best diet for heart health is the one that emphasises whole, nutrient-rich foods and limiting saturated fats, sodium, and added sugars. The diet should focus on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, legumes, nuts, and healthy fats. It helps lower blood pressure, improve cholesterol levels, and reduce inflammation.
Preliminary studies show that chronic stress may affect heart health. It may also damage blood vessels, promote inflammation, decrease the flow of blood to the heart and increase blood pressure, which may make a person more likely to develop other risk factors for heart disease. More studies are required to understand if stress alone may cause heart disease.
The American Heart Association recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise every week. It also recommends two sessions of resistance training for 30 minutes. However, it may vary depending on your health, your fitness goals, and your current amount of physical activity. Even small amounts of physical activity may be beneficial for a healthy heart.
