How To Reduce Your
Risk of Heart Disease

Risk Factors You Cannot Control

Unfortunately, there are some risk factors for heart disease that you cannot control. Some such risk factors are as follows:

• Age: As you get older, your risk of developing heart disease increases. For men, the age at which they should start taking precautions, if they have not already, is 47. For women, the age at which they should do the same is 46. However, given that heart disease is such a prevalent problem in even younger demographics, it would not hurt for individuals to start monitoring as young as 15.
• Genetics: If you have family members who developed heart disease at a younger age, you have a higher risk of developing it yourself.
• Sex: There are certain risk factors that may increase a person’s risk for heart disease depending on their gender. For example, diabetes increases a woman’s risk for heart disease more than it does men. However, research suggests that oestrogen may protect women against heart disease to some degree.
• Race or Ethnicity: Individuals of certain ethnic groups have a greater risk of developing and dying from heart disease than others. For instance, individuals of mixed descent have the greatest risk of dying from heart disease, followed by whites and South Africans of Indian descent, then South Africans.
• Socioeconomic Conditions: South Africans who have less wealth and/or who live in rural communities have a higher risk of dying from heart disease than individuals with wealth and/or in urban settings. Researchers attribute this to a lack of access to healthcare. However, South Africans in urban communities are more likely to develop hypertension than residents of rural communities.

Healthy Habits for Heart Health

Fortunately, there are several risk factors you can control. By adopting the following healthy habits, you can reduce your risk of developing heart disease and increase your whole-body health in the process.

Maintain a Healthy Diet

A healthy diet is the cornerstone of any healthy lifestyle, and it is especially important for heart health. By maintaining a diet that is rich in nutrient-dense, natural foods, you can attain and maintain a healthy weight, improve blood pressure and reduce cholesterol, all outcomes that contribute to better heart health. Though a dietician can help you build an effective meal plan, it may help to know the types of food to eat and what to avoid. Types of food that are good for the heart are as follows:

• Fruits and vegetables
• Lean meats and fish
• Fat-free or low-fat dairy products
• Beans and legumes
• Whole grains
• Healthy fats, such as olive oil

Types of foods you should avoid or, at the very least, limit their intake, are as follows:

• Processed sugars
• Salt
• Processed carbohydrates
• Alcohol
• Saturated fats (such as those found in full-fat dairy products and red meat) and trans fats (such as those found in baked goods, fast food and chips)

Examples of healthy eating plans include the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet.

Move More

Exercise is another critical component of heart health. Physical activity offers so many benefits, including the ability to better manage your weight, reduce cholesterol, maintain blood pressure and control type 2 diabetes — all benefits that contribute to improved heart health. Depending on how sedentary your lifestyle is, you may need to work your way up to your exercise goals. Common exercise goals for heart health are as follows:

• 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week, such as running, biking or swimming
• 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise per week, such as walking at a brisk pace
• Two or more sessions of strength training each week

Any amount of exercise has its benefits, so even if you cannot meet those weekly goals at first, do what you can. Just five minutes of movement, and everyday activities such as gardening, housework, taking the stairs or getting the mail, can all count toward your weekly goals. It also helps to take short intervals between sedentary activities, such as watching TV or working at a computer, to walk a few laps around your home, office or other environment.

Keep a Healthy Weight

Obesity is one of the biggest risk factors for heart disease, especially when individuals carry a lot of weight around their mid-sections. Not only does excessive weight increase your risk for developing heart disease but also, it increases your risk for developing other conditions that also contribute to heart disease. Those include but are not limited to type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

To determine whether you are “overweight,” your doctor will measure your body mass index, which takes both your height and weight into consideration. If your BMI is 25 or higher, you are technically overweight. You also have a higher chance of developing high blood pressure or high cholesterol, and an increased risk of stroke or heart attack.

Another way to determine whether you are of a healthy weight is to measure your weight circumference. Historically speaking, individuals whose waist measurements are greater than the following have an increased risk of heart disease:

• 9 cm for women (35 inches)
• 6 cm for men (40 inches)

Losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight is a lifelong endeavour, but a worthwhile one. Research shows that even a small amount of weight loss can benefit you, as a 3% to 5% decrease can lead to lower levels of blood sugar (glucose) and fats in the blood (triglycerides) as well as decrease your risk of type 2 diabetes. Weight loss also helps to reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels, outcomes that also contribute to improved heart health.

Limit Alcohol Intake

Though some studies suggest that alcohol, when consumed in small amounts, can be beneficial to heart health, drinking alcohol in excess can have the opposite effect. Overconsuming alcohol has a myriad of adverse effects, including increased blood pressure, increased weight gain and an increased risk of heart disease. As a man, you should have no more than two drinks per day. If you are a woman, you should not have more than one drink per day.

Make Sleep a Priority

Most adults require between seven and nine hours of sleep each night. Any less than seven hours of sleep increases a person’s risk of obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, depression and heart attack.

If you regularly clock less than seven hours of shut eye each night, take steps to change this immediately. If your schedule is what is preventing you from getting a good night’s sleep, find areas of your life in which you can scale back to make room for more sleep. Many people find it necessary to maintain a strict sleep schedule, which requires them to go to bed and wake up at the same times every day night and day.

If you simply toss and turn most of the night, or if you struggle to fall asleep and stay asleep, consider making changes to your sleep environment. Get blackout curtains for your bedroom, remove distractions, minimize the amount of blue light you allow in your sleep environment and invest in quality bedding. Small changes can drastically increase your comfort and, in the process, improve your sleep quality.

Some people fail to get a good night’s sleep because of underlying health conditions. For instance, many people suffer from obstructive sleep apnoea, which causes them to snore loudly and obstructs their ability to breathe for short bursts throughout the night. If you have sleep apnoea, you may wake up gasping for air several times throughout the night. Even if you do not wake up, the constant struggle for oxygen your body undergoes while you sleep can cause you to wake up feeling groggy and tired. The constant fatigue, combined with the lack of oxygen, can increase your risk for heart disease.

If you have sleep apnoea, or if you suspect you do, talk to your doctor about possible treatments. If you are overweight, losing a few pounds may help cure the condition. However, if your weight is not the problem, your doctor may recommend that you use a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device, which keeps your airways open while you sleep.

Get Your Stress Under Control

Stress can increase your risk of heart disease both directly and indirectly. In a direct sense, stress causes increased blood pressure. If your blood pressure gets too high, it may trigger a heart attack. In an indirect sense, stress causes individuals to engage in unhealthy lifestyle habits. Many common coping mechanisms for stress, such as smoking, drinking and overeating, are bad for the heart. If you find yourself wanting to engage in a vice more often than not because of your stress, work on finding healthy alternatives, such as mediation, exercise, journaling or talking to a friend.

Take Charge of Your Medical Conditions

Certain health conditions, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, all increase one’s risk of heart disease. If you live with any of these conditions, it is crucial to your health and quality of life that you manage them to the best of your ability.

High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease. If your doctor diagnosed you with high blood pressure, or hypertension, your provider may want to measure it more often. He or she will also teach you how to measure your blood pressure at home and provide tips for managing it. If you have not been diagnosed with high blood pressure, and if you do not have any risk factors for developing heart disease, your doctor may measure your blood pressure once every two years.

High Cholesterol

Cholesterol is another risk factor for heart disease, as high levels of cholesterol can clog your arteries and trigger a heart attack. Your healthcare team should measure your cholesterol once every four to six years. However, if you have a history of high cholesterol, or if high cholesterol runs in your family, your doctor may recommend more frequent screenings. Depending on your numbers, you may have to make some lifestyle changes.