February is designated as American Heart Month to advocate cardiovascular health and raise awareness about heart disease. American Heart Month is a great opportunity to focus our attention on ways to promote and maintain heart health. Make your heart health a priority, this month, and every month! ❤️ Challenge yourself to make a change. Here are some ways to adopt a heart-healthy lifestyle and help prevent heart disease.
Better Nutrition
Embrace a nutrient-rich diet. Controlling the types of food you eat, as well as the portion sizes, helps you keep risk factors in check — like high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, diabetes, and weight gain. Make small, but important, adjustments like choosing fresh meat over-processed and prepackaged options, or occasionally substitute snacks like chips with vegetables or fruit. Limit your fast food intake and create a diet that is sustainable for your lifestyle.
Move Your Body!
Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week. That’s just 20 minutes of exercise per day. The heart is a muscle, so it’s important to treat it like one.
If you aren’t currently active, begin with smaller increments. Even 10 minutes of physical activity a day (even just walking) is an improvement, and your heart will thank you for treating it well.
Make It A Lifestyle
Lifestyle habits have an immense impact on heart health, and our health overall! Making sure you eat right and exercise are just two pieces of the puzzle. Activities like smoking, vaping, and drinking alcohol increase your risk for heart disease. Substances like these increase blood pressure levels and impair other important functions. If you smoke or vape, it is important to quit. As for drinking alcohol, limiting your intake is a valuable habit. Just like tobacco, alcohol increases your blood pressure and contributes to irregular heartbeats. Reducing the amount of alcohol you consume will result in a healthier heart.
Get Screened & Check-In With Family
Family history can predispose you to develop heart disease. Look into your family background to see if your parents, grandparents, or other relatives have struggled with heart-related illnesses. Knowing your family history will help you better understand your personal risks and help you make lifestyle adjustments around that. The best way to determine if you are at risk of developing heart disease is to go to the doctor. A medical professional can monitor your efforts and also provide you with more tips and tricks to strengthen your heart.
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