Most people have no qualms about taking medicine to fix their ailments. But when it comes to preventing heart disease, the best medicine can’t be found in the medicine cabinet – it starts with your dinner fork and your sneakers.
“The best way to ensure longevity is to prevent heart disease,” says Henry Greenberg, MD, a cardiologist with St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospitals. “People should know there are a variety of actions they can start right now, like eating a healthy diet, exercising, cutting stress and knowing their blood pressure and cholesterol levels.”
Practical steps for heart health
But knowing how to keep your heart healthy and actually taking action to protect it can be a hurdle many people have trouble clearing. For New Yorkers, practicality is key to fitting heart-healthy habits into your daily routine.
- Quit smoking.
Smokers are two to four times more likely to develop heart disease than non-smokers. Smoking increases blood pressure and the tendency for blood to clot. Within two years of quitting, you can cut your heart disease risk by as much as one-third. Find support through a Smoking Cessation Program at Continuum Hospitals of New York.
- Think outside the gym.
With such long city avenues, it’s easy to cover a mile or more if you simply exit the subway one or two stops before your destination and walk. Doing that twice a day, five days a week can easily lead to a lifelong habit of exercise. “That’s the most important thing,” says Dr. Greenberg. “Making exercise routine is the one way we can stop the obesity epidemic that leads to heart disease, diabetes and other health complications.”
- Just say ‘om.’
Stress causes adrenaline to circulate in the body, which leads to a faster resting heart rate and higher blood pressure, and causes the heart to work harder. Stress, depression and poor sleep habits are all frequent, yet controllable risk factors for heart disease. Meditation, relaxation techniques and even just 30 minutes of exercise per day can reduce stress.
- Bypass the butcher block for the salad bar.
The New York strip steak might have notoriety, but lean protein like fish, chicken and pork, as well as vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy, should be the real stars on your dinner plate. Not only are these options lower in artery-clogging saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium; they can actually promote heart health. Find a complete list of heart-healthy recipes here.
- Make time for a heart-health screening.
Although some risk factors for heart disease cannot be changed (age, gender and family history), screenings can lead to some protection. Chronic high blood pressure (higher than 120/80) and high cholesterol (higher than 200 mg/dL) put stress on the heart, causing the muscle to thicken and the arteries to become blocked. Test your blood pressure every year, and get your baseline cholesterol screened starting in your 20s, and every five years thereafter.
Find out how your heart health stacks up. Register for a FREE heart-health screening at LiveWellNewYork.com. Or, find a primary care physician who can evaluate your heart health by calling 1-855-411-LWNY (5969) or visiting chpnyc.org.
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