Five Heart Smart Tips For All Adults
Making changes today can make all the difference to your heart now and in the future.
Data from the Nurses' Health Study at Brigham and Women's Hospital estimates that well over half of the heart attacks in women can be prevented through lifestyle modifications.
If you can remember these five heart healthy steps, you will be on your way to better cardiovascular health.
1) If you smoke cigarettes, you should quit.
The nicotine and other substances in cigarette smoke can seriously damage your cardiovascular system putting you at increased risk for heart attack.
2) Engage in moderate or vigorous exercise at least 30 minutes per day.
Aerobic exercise - any exercise that makes the heart and lungs work harder to supply the muscles with oxygen - is a great way to strengthen your heart.
The Nurses' Health Study showed that women who engaged in regular exercise, including walking briskly (at least three miles per hour) as little as three hours per week, decreased their risk of heart attack by 30 to 40 percent over sedentary women.
Furthermore, women who walked at the same pace five hours per week cut their risk in half.
Women who exercised vigorously (jogging, running or aerobics, for example) for 1.
5 hours each week enjoyed similar benefits.
It is important to remember that your exercise routine can be broken down into 10- and 15-minute intervals.
Most important, the research found that women who were sedentary at the start of the study and later became active had similar risk reductions.
3) Eat a heart healthy diet.
A heart healthy diet is one that is balanced in calories and includes healthy amounts of fruits, vegetables, lean protein, whole grains and heart healthy fats.
Trans fats (found in margarines, fried foods and those containing "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil") and saturated fats (found in red meats, butter, cheese and whole milk dairy products) raise the LDL (bad) cholesterol and should be limited.
Replacing these fats with modest amounts of heart healthy oils including olive, canola, corn, safflower and sunflower oils, in addition to nuts and peanut butter is recommended.
Striving for at least five to seven servings of fruits and vegetables each day is beneficial as is at least two servings of fatty fish (such as salmon, tuna, mackerel and sardines) each week.
Other healthy lean protein sources are chicken, turkey, egg whites, nuts, legumes and beans, and extra lean red meat.
Whole grains (such as whole grain bread, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, bulgur, oatmeal, etc.
) should replace refined carbohydrates (especially white bread, white rice, crackers, candy, tonic and other sweets.
) 4) Maintain a healthy weight.
Being overweight can more than double your risk of heart disease and contributes to other factors that play a role in heart disease, such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
You should maintain a healthy Body Mass Index (BMI).
5) Know your numbers.
By monitoring your blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels you should have a good idea of what your "numbers" are and that will enable you to make healthier nutrition choices.
For more heart healthy advice from leading experts, visit Brigham & Women's Hospital's Cardiovascular Center website at http://www.
brighamandwomens.
org/cvcenter/cardiovascularmedicine.
aspx
Data from the Nurses' Health Study at Brigham and Women's Hospital estimates that well over half of the heart attacks in women can be prevented through lifestyle modifications.
If you can remember these five heart healthy steps, you will be on your way to better cardiovascular health.
1) If you smoke cigarettes, you should quit.
The nicotine and other substances in cigarette smoke can seriously damage your cardiovascular system putting you at increased risk for heart attack.
2) Engage in moderate or vigorous exercise at least 30 minutes per day.
Aerobic exercise - any exercise that makes the heart and lungs work harder to supply the muscles with oxygen - is a great way to strengthen your heart.
The Nurses' Health Study showed that women who engaged in regular exercise, including walking briskly (at least three miles per hour) as little as three hours per week, decreased their risk of heart attack by 30 to 40 percent over sedentary women.
Furthermore, women who walked at the same pace five hours per week cut their risk in half.
Women who exercised vigorously (jogging, running or aerobics, for example) for 1.
5 hours each week enjoyed similar benefits.
It is important to remember that your exercise routine can be broken down into 10- and 15-minute intervals.
Most important, the research found that women who were sedentary at the start of the study and later became active had similar risk reductions.
3) Eat a heart healthy diet.
A heart healthy diet is one that is balanced in calories and includes healthy amounts of fruits, vegetables, lean protein, whole grains and heart healthy fats.
Trans fats (found in margarines, fried foods and those containing "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil") and saturated fats (found in red meats, butter, cheese and whole milk dairy products) raise the LDL (bad) cholesterol and should be limited.
Replacing these fats with modest amounts of heart healthy oils including olive, canola, corn, safflower and sunflower oils, in addition to nuts and peanut butter is recommended.
Striving for at least five to seven servings of fruits and vegetables each day is beneficial as is at least two servings of fatty fish (such as salmon, tuna, mackerel and sardines) each week.
Other healthy lean protein sources are chicken, turkey, egg whites, nuts, legumes and beans, and extra lean red meat.
Whole grains (such as whole grain bread, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, bulgur, oatmeal, etc.
) should replace refined carbohydrates (especially white bread, white rice, crackers, candy, tonic and other sweets.
) 4) Maintain a healthy weight.
Being overweight can more than double your risk of heart disease and contributes to other factors that play a role in heart disease, such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
You should maintain a healthy Body Mass Index (BMI).
5) Know your numbers.
By monitoring your blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels you should have a good idea of what your "numbers" are and that will enable you to make healthier nutrition choices.
For more heart healthy advice from leading experts, visit Brigham & Women's Hospital's Cardiovascular Center website at http://www.
brighamandwomens.
org/cvcenter/cardiovascularmedicine.
aspx
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