Heart Your Heart: Heart Healthy Tips for American Heart Month
Not only is February the month for love and hearts and the color red because of Valentine’s Day, February is also American Heart Month! American Heart Month is celebrated in February to help raise awareness of heart disease and heart health. February was established as American Heart Month by President Lindon B. Johnson in 1964; he had suffered a heart attack himself nearly a decade prior. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States; cardiovascular disease (CVD), or heart disease, kills more than 2,500 people per day. Heart disease refers to several different conditions including coronary artery disease which causes a reduction in blood flow which can cause a heart attack. Symptoms of heart disease can include: heart attack (chest pain, discomfort, upper neck or back pain, heartburn, nausea, vomiting, extreme fatigue, dizziness, or shortness of breath), arrhythmia (fluttering feelings in the chest), or heart failure (shortness of breath, fatigue, swelling of feet, ankles, legs, abdomen, or neck veins). Some risk factors of heart disease include: family history of heart disease, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol (notably LDL cholesterol), unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, excessive alcohol use and smoking.
My job as a registered dietitian nutritionist is to help you mitigate these risks and maintain a healthy lifestyle and a healthy heart. That being said, the following is a list of lifestyle changes that can be made to improve heart health and improve your longevity and overall wellness.
One of the easiest things to start with when trying to make heart-healthy improvements is to make some heart-healthy changes to your overall diet. What do I mean by that exactly? First, I would start by making some healthful swaps; this would entail swapping out refined grain foods for their whole grain counterparts. Whole grain foods are higher in vitamins, minerals, and something called dietary fiber. Dietary fiber is a complex carbohydrate found in plant-based foods which the human body cannot digest. Dietary fiber offers a plethora of health benefits, including promotion of digestive health, regulation of blood sugar, and the one which is the most relevant to this blog post…it reduced cholesterol levels. Dietary fiber is able to help reduce cholesterol levels in the blood by binding to cholesterol in the digestive tract which can then be excreted from the body, which lowers LDL cholesterol. Another healthful swap I would recommend for promotion of heart health would be to choose low-fat/non-fat products such as fat free Greek yogurt. Choosing these products over the whole-fat alternative cuts out unnecessary fat, especially saturated fats which can cause plaque to build up in your arteries. Choosing liquid oils such as olive oil, safflower oil, and the like over butter and lard are also healthful swaps I would recommend for heart health; these oils are made up of unsaturated fats such as mono- and poly-unsaturated fats which are better for your heart health where butter and lard are made up of saturated fats. Making the swap from choosing fattier cuts and types of meats to choosing lean can also help improve heart health by reducing the amount of saturated fat in the diet.
Another heart-healthy diet recommendation I would make would be to make sure to have at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Fruits and vegetables offer a wide variety of vitamins and minerals and dietary fiber, and they tend to be fat-free (unless we’re talking about avocados), and are low in calories. Fruits and vegetables also offer a myriad of antioxidants such as polyphenols which can help prevent chronic diseases such as heart disease.
The second behavior to modify to prevent heart disease and improve heart health would be to get physically active! Physical activity doesn’t have to mean lifting weights or running…it can mean simply taking time to go to for a 20-minute walk or dance or take up yoga. The right activity is the activity which you enjoy and doesn’t feel like pulling teeth every time you do it. Icing on the cake—finding a buddy who can exercise with you! The Centers for Disease Control recommends getting 150 minutes of physical activity daily; that is just about 20 minutes daily or 30 minutes if you would prefer to take the weekends off. Physical activity is vital for heart health because it strengthens heart muscles, improves blood flow by widening the blood vessels, lowers blood pressure, regulates cholesterol by improving HDL cholesterol levels while decreasing LDL cholesterol levels, and it helps to reduce stress.
The other two big behaviors which I would recommend modifying as an RDN would be managing stress and improving sleep. Stress management is something which every single one of us should be practicing in our daily routines and can be as simple as taking two minutes to focus on guided breathing. Managing stress is vital to heart health as stress can cause an array of negative effects in the body including high blood pressure, inflammation which can lead to plaque build-up in arteries, and even poor sleep. Some techniques for practicing stress management include: practicing mindfulness, journaling, stretching, performing meditation, practicing self-care, taking a walk, etc. One third of our lives are sleep so it’s no wonder sleep has such an impact on heart health. Sleep has a significant impact on heart health because it helps regulate blood pressure and heart rate and it helps regulate stress levels. If you do not get at least 7 hours of un-interrupted sleep, it’s time to start working on your sleep routine. Establishing a good sleep hygiene is imperative to sleep quality; this includes going to sleep at a regular time every evening, waking up around the same time every morning, keeping your bed for sleeping only and not bringing any work or other activities into your bed, avoiding beverages 1 hour before bedtime.
Because heart disease is the leading killer of American adults lets change that and make changes in our lives to help prevent it in ourselves and our loved ones! Key risk factors include family history, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, poor diet, inactivity, smoking, and excessive alcohol use. A heart-healthy diet should include lean protein sources (including poultry, lean cuts of beef, pork, fish, and legumes), whole grains, low-fat dairy products, healthy oils like olive oil instead of butter, and a fruit and vegetable intake of at least five servings daily. Physical activity is also crucial; the CDC suggests 150 minutes per week, which can include enjoyable activities like walking or yoga. Additionally, managing stress and improving sleep are important for overall heart health. Simple stress management techniques can have significant positive effects on cardiovascular health, helping to lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of disease. What changes will you be making this month?
