Safeguarding Your Heart: A Guide to Improving Heart Health

Safeguarding Your Heart: A Guide to Improving Heart Health

Heart disease has been the leading cause of death in America since 1950. About 20% of all deaths each year are from heart diseases, but the good news is that they are largely preventable. Reducing your risk of heart disease requires making lifestyle changes to improve your overall health. These changes may seem simple but require a commitment to stick with them.

You can start by eating your way to health! A heart-healthy diet is crucial to overall well-being and improving your heart health. Try to eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats. You should avoid processed foods, sugars, and unhealthy fats. A large part of a heart-healthy diet is avoiding foods that will increase your cholesterol levels. Limit foods with saturated fats such as fatty cuts of meat, whole milk and butter, coconut and palm oils, fried foods, and baked sweets.

The next step is regular exercise. Exercise is not only good for your overall health, it also strengthens your heart. It is recommended you aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week (or 75 minutes of vigorous activity). These sessions should be spread throughout the week. That 150 minutes spread throughout the week works out to a half-hour of exercise, 5 days per week.

Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body and is a significant risk factor for various cancers, including of the lungs, throat, pancreas, and bladder. Smoking also increases the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Likewise, alcohol consumption increases your risk for high blood pressure, stroke, liver disease and depression. Alcohol also tends to be high in calories, which can make it harder to maintain a healthy weight. Stopping tobacco and alcohol use is very important to reduce your risk for developing heart disease.

Keeping within a healthy body mass index can also reduce your risk of heart disease. A BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is generally considered healthy. Sticking to a healthy diet and exercising regularly can help you with this goal. If you are currently at an unhealthy weight, you may need to increase your exercise duration or adjust your diet to help you lose weight.

It is important to receive regular medical check-ups to keep an eye on your heart health. Your doctor can check your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and blood sugar. Lexington Clinic’s board-certified cardiologists are experts in their field and offer many heart-related services. Lexington Clinic’s Cardiology department has proudly served the people of central Kentucky for more than 100 years, and has received multiple accreditations for the quality of its service.

About Bruce Bradley, MD, FACC, RPVI

Dr. Bradley is board-certified in Internal Medicine and board-eligible in Cardiology. He provides services in general cardiology.  He performs stress tests, nuclear cardiology studies, trans-esophageal echocardiography and vascular ultrasound. Dr. Bradley’s professional interests include valvular heart disease and vascular disease.

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