Lowering your risk for heart disease
- Stop smoking: Quitting today cuts your risk for heart disease within 3 to 4 months. It is the single most preventable risk factor for heart attack.
- Lose weight: No matter what your weight, losing 5 to 10 pounds can make a difference, especially if you are fatter around your waist than around your hips and thighs. Your waist measurement divided by your hip measurement should be less than 0.9 for men and 0.8 for women. Losing weight can prevent diabetes, lower blood pressure, raise HDL, and lower LDL and triglycerides.
- Exercise: By adding activity of any kind along with 30 minutes of some aerobic exercise like walking for as little as 3 times per week, you can make a difference in your risk factor profile. Exercise can raise HDL, lower LDL and triglycerides, keep blood pressure from rising, help prevent diabetes, and keep off extra pounds.
- Eat less saturated fat: If your LDL is still high, as well as your triglycerides, you may have to cut back on your saturated fats even more.
- Eat more fruits and vegetables and other foods rich in soluble fiber: Fruits and vegetables may reduce your risk for cancer, as well as increase the amount of fiber in your diet. They also contain folic acid which may help prevent heart disease. Foods like oat bran and beans, rich in soluble fiber, lower LDL cholesterol.
- Eat less "trans" fat: Margarine, cakes, pies, frostings, and other processed foods made with partially hydrogenated oil increase LDL.
- Eat less sodium and more potassium: Decrease the amount of processed, canned, and frozen foods, which are usually high in sodium. Eat more fruits and vegetables to get more potassium. Together, these two habits can lower blood pressure or keep it from rising.
- Limit alcohol to one or two drinks per day: People who drink alcoholic beverages, even occasionally, may have a lower risk for heart disease. Too much alcohol can increase your risk for breast cancer, high blood pressure, and alcohol abuse.
- Consider taking a multivitamin containing folic acid: People with high amounts of the amino acid homocysteine in their blood appear to have an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. If you get about 400 micrograms per day of folic acid (in supplements) or folates (from friut, vegetables, and beans), your homocysteine levels may stay low. If you are over 65 and take a supplement with folic acid in it, make sure you also take 500 micrograms of B12. That will keep the folic acid from covering up any B12 deficiencies.
- Ask your Doctor about aspirin: It reduces the risk of heart disease in men. Trials are underway to see if the same is true for women. In men and women who have had heart attack, nonhemorrhagic stroke, or transischemic attack (ministroke), the benefits of taking aspirin clearly outweigh the risks. Aspirin can increase the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding and hemorrhagic stroke so always check with your Doctor.
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MEDICAL DISCLAIMER
This site provides materials for information and education only. It is not to be considered medical advice. LVCA encourages you to see your physician for any of the health issues discussed here. The field of medicine changes on a regular basis, therefore we do not guarantee the accuracy of the information provided on this site, nor do we guarantee that the information represents the most currently accepted standards.
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