Strategies to prevent heart disease
You can prevent heart disease by following a heart-healthy lifestyle. Here are strategies to help you protect your heart. By Mayo Clinic Staff Heart disease may be a leading cause of death, but that doesn't mean you have to accept it as your fate. Although you lack the power to change some risk factors — such as family history, sex or age — there are some key heart disease prevention steps you can take to reduce your risk. You can avoid heart problems in the future by adopting a healthy lifestyle today. Here are seven heart disease prevention tips to get you started. 1. Don't smoke or use tobacco Smoking or using tobacco of any kind is one of the most significant risk factors for developing heart disease. Chemicals in tobacco can damage your heart and blood vessels, leading to narrowing of the arteries due to plaque buildup (atherosclerosis). Atherosclerosis can ultimately lead to a heart attack. Carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke replaces some of the oxygen in your blood. This increases your blood pressure and heart rate by forcing your heart to work harder to supply enough oxygen. Women who smoke and take birth control pills are at greater risk of having a heart attack or stroke than are those who don't smoke or take birth control pills, because both can increase the risk of blood clots. When it comes to heart disease prevention, no amount of smoking is safe. But, the more you smoke, the greater your risk. Smokeless tobacco, low-tar and low-nicotine cigarettes, and secondhand smoke also can be risky. Even so-called social smoking — smoking only while at a bar or restaurant with friends — can be dangerous and increase the risk of heart disease. The good news, though, is that your risk of heart disease begins to lower soon after quitting. Your risk of coronary heart disease significantly reduces one year after quitting smoking. Your risk of coronary heart disease drops almost to that of a nonsmoker in about 15 years. And no matter how long or how much you smoked, you'll start reaping rewards as soon as you quit. 2. Exercise for about 30 minutes on most days of the week Getting some regular, daily exercise can reduce your risk of heart disease. And when you combine physical activity with other lifestyle measures, such as maintaining a healthy weight, the payoff is even greater. Physical activity can help you control your weight and reduce your chances of developing other conditions that may put a strain on your heart, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. In general, you should do moderate exercise, such as walking at a brisk pace, for about 30 minutes on most days of the week. That can help you reach the Department of Health and Human Services recommendations of 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity, 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic activity, or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity. For even more health benefits, aim for 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 150 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity every week. In addition, aim to do strength training exercises two or more days a week. However, even shorter amounts of exercise than these recommendations can offer heart benefits, so if you can't meet those guidelines, don't give up. You can even get the same health benefits if you break up your workout time into three 10-minute sessions most days of the week. And remember that activities such as gardening, housekeeping, taking the stairs and walking the dog all count toward your total. You don't have to exercise strenuously to achieve benefits, but you can see bigger benefits by increasing the intensity, duration and frequency of your workouts. 3. Eat a heart-healthy diet Eating a healthy diet can reduce your risk of heart disease. Two examples of heart-healthy food plans include the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan and the Mediterranean diet. A diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains can help protect your heart. Aim to eat beans, low-fat or fat-free dairy products, lean meats, and fish as part of a healthy diet. Avoid too much salt and sugars in your diet. Limiting certain fats you eat also is important. Of the types of fat — saturated, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and trans fat — try to limit or avoid saturated fat and trans fat. Aim to keep saturated fat to 5 or 6 percent of your daily calories. And try to keep trans fat out of your diet altogether. Major sources of saturated fat include:
If the nutrition label has the term "partially hydrogenated" or "hydrogenated," it means that product contains trans fat. But you don't have to cut all fats out of your diet. Healthy fats from plant-based sources — such as avocado, nuts, olives and olive oil — help your heart by lowering the bad type of cholesterol. Most people need to add more fruits and vegetables to their diets — with a goal of five to 10 servings a day. Eating many fruits and vegetables not only can help prevent heart disease, but also may help improve your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and improve diabetes. Eating two or more servings a week of certain fish, such as salmon and tuna, may decrease your risk of heart disease. Following a heart-healthy diet also means keeping an eye on how much alcohol you drink. If you choose to drink alcohol, it's better for your heart to do so in moderation. For healthy adults, that means up to one drink a day for women of all ages and men older than age 65, and up to two drinks a day for men age 65 and younger. One drink is defined as 12 ounces (355 milliliters, or mL) of beer, 5 ounces of wine (148 mL), or 1.5 fluid ounces (44mL) of 80-proof distilled spirits. At that moderate level, alcohol may have a protective effect on your heart. Too much alcohol can become a health hazard. Read Entire Article: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/in-depth/heart-disease-prevention/art-20046502 Read a good explanation of how stress can be bad for your health and what you can do about it.4/9/2017
Need another thing to get stressed out about? Your stress itself could be making you sick. "Stress doesn't only make us feel awful emotionally," says Jay Winner, MD, author of Take the Stress Out of Your Life and director of the Stress Management Program for Sansum Clinic in Santa Barbara, Calif. "It can also exacerbate just about any health condition you can think of." Studies have found many health problems related to stress. Stress seems to worsen or increase the risk of conditions like obesity, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, depression, gastrointestinal problems, and asthma. Before you get too stressed out about being stressed out, there is some good news. Following some simple stress relief tips could both lower your stress and lower your health risks. 10 Health Problems Related to StressWhat are some of the most significant health problems related to stress? Here's a sampling.
Read Entire Article: http://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/features/10-fixable-stress-related-health-problems#1 Despite the benefits of putting some money away, most people take a passing interest in actually doing it. If you'd like to make regular saving a part of your life, read on to find out how to conquer the first step: finding that extra money.
You can begin by paying attention to these top money wasting activities. Convenience Stores Many people don't think about the markup they pay for convenience store items. Here's a hint: it's huge. This is because, unlike grocery stores, convenience stores don't purchase food in large quantities, and also because they make you pay more for the convenience they provide. So, unless it's an emergency situation, avoid shopping at convenience stores. The premium you pay for convenience is not worth the assumed convenience you get. For example, a bottle of Coke at a convenience store might cost you around two dollars, while you can go to Amazon and buy a 12-pack for $16. If you tend to pull over for a drink, buy a 12-pack and keep it in your car. If you visit convenience stores often, the annual savings of cutting out these visits can be tremendous. Cell Phone Plans Take the time to check your monthly cell phone bill - you may be paying more than you need to. If you are using fewer minutes than your monthly plan allows, switch to a lower-rate plan. If you are using more minutes than your monthly allotment, then upgrade to a higher minute plan. Before making any changes to your plan, sit down with a list of your cell phone company's offerings and compare and determine which plan provides the most value based on your needs. You should also scan through your cell phone plan for added features like text messaging and mobile internet. If you aren't really using these features, get rid of them - they're costing you money each month! Soft Drinks This one is a sneaky money waster. Not only does ordering beverages along with a restaurant meal boost your total expenses, but soft drinks also have one of the highest markups of any restaurant item, and thus provide lower value for your money. Consider a typical family of four that eats out twice a week at fast casual restaurants. Assuming an average price of $1.50 for a fountain soft drink, that totals $12 a week, $48 a month, $624 a year. Just cutting out this one item from your meal could mean significant savings that could go into something much more productive, such as a retirement savings plan. If you invest $624 at a 9% rate of return year every year, you would have almost $32,000 at the end of 20 years. So dine out, but opt for water! Unnecessary Bank Fees Many people unknowingly pay a lot to their banks in the form of fees. If you don't know what fees your accounts are subject to, spend a few minutes finding out. Some banks charge ATM fees for using another bank's ATM, for example. These can be as high as $3! This amounts to a 15% one-time fee for a $20 withdrawal. The key with this type of fee is simply knowing about it. You would be better off using a credit card to make the purchase. Go back and examine the rules governing your checking and savings accounts. Also consider consolidating bank accounts, as often one account with a larger minimum can eliminate numerous fees that might otherwise exist. MagazinesIf you're the type of person who likes to occasionally pick up your favorite magazine from the local grocery store or newsstand, consider getting an annual subscription. Even if you don't want the magazine every month, a couple of issues at the newsstand are enough to cover the entire annual subscription. Annual Credit Card Fees Unless you have a poor credit history, there is no reason to pay annual credit card fees. A host of Visa, MasterCard and Discover cards have no annual fee, yet many people pay $100 or more a year for the privilege of holding a premium credit card. Unless you're a wealthy, exclusive holder of an elite-level credit card with exclusive perks, most people should not be paying annual credit card fees. And speaking of credit cards, make sure you make a payment on time every month, even if it's the minimum. Many credit cards charge high monthly late fees, charges which accrue interest along with your existing balance. Be Proactive Spend a couple of hours and go over the above categories along with any other regular habits you may have accumulated over the years. The time will be well spent as it could mean hundreds of dollars of recurring annual savings. The Bottom Line Shopping at convenience stores, wasting money on magazines, and high credit card and bank fees are easy ways to waste money. Taking some time to go over your spending habits could be well worth your time. Read more: Top 6 Mindless Money Wasters http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/10/mindless-money-wasters.asp#ixzz4devy8AqW Follow us: Investopedia on Facebook Each year, roughly 790,000 Americans suffer a heart attack and one in seven deaths continues to be caused by heart disease—making it the nation’s leading killer.
The path to heart disease often feels unstoppable, inevitable: Your blood pressure is too high, your cholesterol keeps rising, your arteries are narrowing, and—before you know it—there are exploratory procedures and invasive surgeries scheduled. With this Healthy Heart Report, Consumer Reports aims to provide consumers with evidence-based information for all the critical moments along the way, to help you cut through the noise of conflicting studies and swirling, often contradictory advice. And so that you can make the best possible choices about your own well-being: When should you take statins to lower cholesterol? What exactly is a heart-healthy diet? How low should your blood pressure go, and what’s the best way to get there? Do you really need an EKG? And, among many other questions, how do you determine the right hospital if surgery is required? Read Article: http://www.consumerreports.org/heart-disease/take-charge-of-your-heart-health/ |
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