As the New Year approaches, consider making heart-healthy lifestyle changes a top priority with these tips for maintaining good heart health.
Heart-Healthy Lifestyle Changes: New Year, New Goals
The new year is right around the corner, and there's never a better time to prioritize your heart health. About half of all people in the U.S. have risk factors for heart disease, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and smoking. Since cardiovascular disease is so common, consider making heart-healthy lifestyle changes in the new year.
You can do a lot to lower your risk of heart attack and stroke by simply adjusting your lifestyle habits. Fortunately, the American Heart Association (AHA) has created a list of Life's Essential 8 tips for maintaining heart health. Learn these strategies to combat your risk for heart disease.
The AHA divides their Life's Essential 8 into two separate categories. The first category has to do with lifestyle habits you can adopt to help prevent heart disease. The second category focuses on closely monitoring your health.
If you'd like to be proactive about your heart health, you can:
- Maintain a healthy diet. Limit alcohol and processed foods, salt and unhealthy saturated fats, which are found in full-fat dairy products and red meat. Recommended, or "moderate," alcohol consumption is two drinks a day for men and one per day for women.
- Exercise regularly. Spend 150 minutes a week doing moderate-intensity physical activities, such as walking, riding your bike and gentle yoga.
- Quit smoking. Using cigarettes, e-cigarettes or tobacco products increases your risk for heart disease.
- Enjoy plenty of sleep. Aim for seven to nine hours of sleep every night. Sleep helps your heart just as much as it helps your energy levels.
If you need help sticking to these healthy habits, ask your loved ones for help and support. Having people you trust hold you accountable can be a great way to stay motivated to stay healthy.
Know Your Numbers
In addition to making lifestyle changes, you can support your heart health by visiting your healthcare provider regularly. During annual checkups, your provider will measure your weight, cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar levels, because these numbers provide helpful insight into your heart health.
Here's what all those numbers mean:
- Weight. Your body mass index (BMI) is a measurement of your weight compared to your height. A normal BMI is between 18 and 24.9. If yours is higher than that, ask your provider how you can get it lower.
- Blood sugar levels. High blood sugar can damage the heart. Healthy blood sugar levels will vary based on the test you have. Your provider will let you know if yours is too high. If you have Type 2 diabetes, you may want to consider enrolling in a diabetes education class.
- Blood pressure. Blood pressure is measured in fractions. A healthy blood pressure is a top number lower than 120 and a bottom number lower than 80. If your numbers are higher than that, your provider will recommend lifestyle changes or medications to get it back in a healthy range.
- Cholesterol levels. There are different types of cholesterol, and healthy cholesterol levels vary based on your age and sex. In general, you want a total cholesterol level of less than 200 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), LDL levels less than 100 mg/dL and HDL levels of less than 40 to 50 mg/dL. If your levels are too high, you can eat less saturated fat and exercise more to help bring them down. Depending on your overall health, you may need medication to lower them.