PROTECTING YOUR HEART

If you’re like me, you’re wondering what you can do to protect your heart. Why? Well, for starters February is Heart Health Month –also we need our heart to live and, oh yeah, we only have one. You may also know that heart disease is the number one cause of death both in the US and globally. For all these reasons, the lifestyle choices that we make today are a matter of life or death. But don’t sweat it, there’s a lot you can do to protect that beautiful muscle, and we have lots of tips on how to do it right here.

EXERCISE TO PROTECT YOUR HEART

FIRST OF ALL, HERE’S LOTS OF AWESOME NEWS!

Working out is great for your heart! Exercise is an insurance policy. It provides both short and long-term protection against heart disease and stroke. Regular exercise strengthens your heart muscle. It also helps you control your weight by burning calories and building muscle. Working out also lowers cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure, and stress. Did I mention it also improves your sleep?

Each workout you do provides long-lasting protection for your heart. It also provides immediate protection for 2 or 3 hours after its completion.

80% of heart disease is preventable. If we took better care of ourselves, we could save a billion dollars a day AND protect our hearts!

Those of us who are active are less likely to have a heart attack or other cardiac incident.

Working out is as effective at protecting your heart as medicine.

HOW DOES EXERCISE PROTECT MY HEART?

Here are some of the many ways exercise protects your heart:

High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease. Exercise lowers your blood pressure.

Being overweight stresses your heart. Exercise helps you control your weight.

Working out also improves your muscles’s ability to take oxygen from your blood. As a consequence, your heart doesn’t have to work as hard.

Regular workouts make it less likely that you have diabetes, a risk factor for heart disease. This is because exercise allows your muscles to better process glycogen for energy.

Working out also reduces inflammation and stress.

WHAT TYPE OF EXERCISE PROTECTS MY HEART BEST?

The American College of Sports Medicine and The American Heart Association recommend a combination of aerobics and strength training for optimal heart health. Moderate to vigorous exercise (not done in excess) will benefit your heart the most.

Aerobics includes activities such as running, brisk walking, swimming, skiing, tennis or jump roping. Cardio exercise strengthens your heart muscle.

Strength training uses bodyweight, resistance bands or weights to make your muscles stronger. Using resistance improves body composition by reducing fat and increasing muscle. This helps you burn more calories every day. You could do push ups, squats or chin-ups as part of your strength training routine.

The combination of aerobics and strength training raises your good cholesterol (HDL) and reduces your bad cholesterol (LDL). It also allows you to control your weight by burning calories and improving your metabolism. The more muscle you have the more calories you burn.

HOW MUCH EXERCISE DO I NEED TO DO TO PROTECT MY HEART?

First and first more, do what you can because every little bit helps!!

Ideally at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise five times (or more) a week, and at least 2 days of strength training is best for your heart. Working within your target heart rate parameters is most beneficial.

A total of 150 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous aerobic activity is very beneficial for your heart as well as for overall health.

NUTRITION

A Mediterranean-style diet is best for heart health. The Mediterranean Diet emphasizes whole foods, lots of vegetables and fruit, healthy fats, a sense of connection and daily activity.

Here are some of the best foods you can eat to keep your heart in tip-top shape:

Black beans, salmon (eat salmon or other fatty fish such as tuna, mackerel, sardines or anchovies at least twice a week), olive oil, walnuts, almonds, sweet potatoes, oranges, oatmeal, flaxseed, blueberries, spinach, brussel sprouts, garlic, tomatoes, apples, strawberries, edamame , pomegranate, asparagus, lentils, green tea, red wine (one glass or less a day for women, 2 glasses or less a day for men, if you drink).

Each of these foods has a unique way of helping to keep your heart strong. You also want to eat the rainbow. This means eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables daily.

We get it- working out and eating right are the keys to almost everything in life, including heart health. Is there anything else we can do? As a matter of fact, yes, there is…

A HEART-HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

Stay connected (and we don’t mean scrolling): Feeling alone is as bad for your heart as obesity or smoking. Make sure you connect with someone in your life regularly -it may save your heart and your life.

Don’t smoke. We know that quitting smoking is hard but here’s the good news. Your chances of a heart attack go down just 24 hours after your last cigarette.

Don’t drink alcohol in excess. A little bit of red wine is good for your heart and may slow aging. But drinking too much is as bad for your heart as it is for every other aspect of your health.

Maintain a healthy weight. Working out and eating right will make that easier.

Stay active all day, not just when you’re exercising. If you sit a lot, do your heart a favor and stand up and move at least once an hour. This could make all the difference!

Get Plenty of Quality Sleep.  Seven to nine hours a night is recommended for heart and overall health.

Manage stress: Yoga, meditation, journaling, listening to music. Do something which calms you as often as you can.

Get Your Regular Checkups. The earlier any heart or health problems are detected, the sooner they can be treated. You can make the necessary lifestyle changes or take medication to improve your outcome.

Have sex. What? More good news! Having sex at least a couple of times a week is good for your heart.

Get Your Flu shot. Really? The flu shot is thought to protect against heart health for reasons that are not yet fully understood.

One last tip to protect your heart, date mindfully! Light-hearted dating seems like a fun idea but each resulting relationship can have long-lasting positive or negative effects. Choose wisely!

PROTECTING YOUR HEART IS NOT AS DIFFICULT AS YOU MAY THINK

When it comes to heart health, working out and eating right is an unbeatable combination. You may have heard of that combination before because it happens to be the key to overall health and happiness as well. In addition, you want to manage stress, sleep well and have your annual checkups. It all adds up to a small price to pay for keeping your heart pumping strong during a lifetime of health and happiness. Happy heart, happy life. May yours keep pumping strong for as long as you need it to!

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www.hopkinsmedicine.org; health.harvard.edu; www.webmd.com; www.heart.org; Life