How can I help prevent heart disease?
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Dr. Mehmet Oz answered:Some heart disease is congenital -- meaning you're born with it. Other types, like coronary heart disease, may be hereditary in part, but also influenced by your lifestyle choices. You can decrease your risk for heart disease by lowering your cholesterol or blood pressure and reducing your stress.
Living with high levels of systemic inflammation can contribute to heart disease. Diet, supplements, exercise, and other lifestyle adjustments such as stress reduction can reduce inflammation and can improve or prevent certain heart problems, like coronary heart disease.
Even if you have already had a "cardiac event" such as a heart attack, you may be able to prevent future events by working with your doctor and shifting to a healthier lifestyle, also helping you prevent additional heart disease.Helpful? 1 person found this helpfulSome heart disease is congenital -- meaning you're born with it. Other types, like coronary heart disease, may be hereditary in part, but also influenced by your lifestyle choices. You can decrease your risk for heart disease by lowering... More -
Dr. Michael Roizen answered:By exercising, making Mediterranean diet food choices -- that is, limiting four-legged fats but having monounsaturated fats and eating fish, nuts, fruits, vegetables, tomatoes, fiber, and a little alcohol every day, taking an aspirin a day, and taking folate regularly -- anyone, no matter what his or her inherited risk, can reduce the rate of arterial aging and heart disease.By exercising, making Mediterranean diet food choices -- that is, limiting four-legged fats but having monounsaturated fats and eating fish, nuts, fruits, vegetables, tomatoes, fiber, and a little alcohol every day, taking an aspirin a day, and... More -
UnitedHealthcare answered:While there's no cure for heart disease, it can be prevented and treated. Here are a few steps you can take to help your heart stay healthy and strong:
- Maintain healthy cholesterol levels. Get regular cholesterol screenings.
- Monitor your blood pressure. Check your blood pressure at every doctor's visit. The target blood pressure is 120/80.
- Quit smoking. Smokers are two to four times more likely to develop heart disease than nonsmokers. But after three years smoke-free, the risk drops to that of a nonsmoker.
- Exercise. Thirty minutes of moderate physical activity each day can help control cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and blood pressure. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that all adults engage in physical activity for at least 30 minutes most days of the week, or preferably every day of the week. Break up this activity into 15-minute sessions if that works better for you. Aerobic exercise is what hearts like best. It makes the heart become stronger and work more efficiently. Whether you choose biking, jogging, running, swimming, brisk walking, dancing or any other moderate activity, the most important thing is to just do it.
- Eat healthfully. Pay attention to the food groups – include plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables and avoid excess saturated fats, trans fats, sodium and sugar.
- Keep a healthy weight. Staying within the healthy weight range for your height reduces your risk for high cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes and stroke.
- Manage stress and anger. Set realistic goals, maintain healthy relationships and use relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing and stretching, to avoid feeling overwhelmed.
While there's no cure for heart disease, it can be prevented and treated. Here are a few steps you can take to help your heart stay healthy and strong: Maintain healthy cholesterol levels. Get regular cholesterol screenings. Monitor your... More -
Dr. Mary Ann Mclaughlin of The Mount Sinai Medical Center answered:Family history and other diseases can increase your risk for heart disease. In this video, Mary Ann McLaughlin, MD, medical director of the Cardiac Health Program at The Mount Sinai Medical Center, discusses what else ups your risk.
Family history and other diseases can increase your risk for heart disease. In this video, Mary Ann McLaughlin, MD, medical director of the Cardiac Health Program at The Mount Sinai Medical Center, discusses what else ups your risk. More -
Dr. Henry Lodge answered:Most cardiovascular disease is preventable. The number varies with different researchers, but 70-80% of heart attacks and strokes are caused by lifestyle. By the long-term sum of the choices we make every day. Which means that making different choices -- starting with exercise -- will change your life.
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Most cardiovascular disease is preventable. The number varies with different researchers, but 70-80% of heart attacks and strokes are caused by lifestyle. By the long-term sum of the choices we make every day. Which means that making... More -
Joan Salge Blake of Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics answered:While losing excess weight, reducing saturated fat in the diet, and partaking in daily physical activity are all key to lowering your risk of heart disease, adding heart-healthy foods to your diet can also help.
Here are 5 foods that are deliciously good for your heart:
Beans
Soluble fiber-rich beans can help curb your appetite by helping you feel fuller sooner so you’ll eat less at the meal. Trimming calories will help trim your waistline. Beans can also replace higher-calorie, higher-saturated fat-containing meats and cheeses in entrees.Oats
Research suggests that consuming 3 grams or more per day of ß-glucan soluble fiber, which is found in oats (or barley, for that matter) can help lower total and LDL cholesterol levels as part of a heart-healthy diet.Nuts
A small handful of nuts daily may be a nutty way to manage your blood cholesterol levels. Research suggests that nuts can help lower blood cholesterol levels and that eating 1.5 ounces per day of almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, pistachio nuts, or walnuts along with a heart-healthy diet, may reduce your risk of heart disease. (An ounce of nuts = 25 almonds, 9 whole walnuts, or 48 pistachio nuts.)
Fish
While fish is low in heart-unhealthy saturated fat, it provides another healthy quality that makes it a ringer for your heart. The omega-3 fatty acids in fish can help slow the plaque buildup in your arteries that contribute to heart disease as well as reduce your risk of dying from heart disease. It is currently recommended that you eat two fish meals, especially omega 3-rich fatty fish, weekly. Salmon, sardines, and tuna are all good sources of omega 3.Whole Grains
While research shows that whole grains can reduce your risk of heart disease, most Americans are falling short of the recommended minimum three servings of whole grains daily. Make sure that at least half your grain choices are whole grains, such as oats, 100% whole wheat bread, brown rice, and popcorn to gain that heart-healthy benefit.
While losing excess weight, reducing saturated fat in the diet, and partaking in daily physical activity are all key to lowering your risk of heart disease, adding heart-healthy foods to your diet can also help. Here are 5 foods that are... More
