Easy Ways to Pump Up Your Heart Health

The celebration of Valentine’s Day this month puts our focus onto our hearts. Between the cards, flowers and the annual viewing of old rom-coms – Sleepless in Seattle, anyone? -- let’s take a moment to look at heart health.

Frankly, it’s not looking good for Americans and their hearts.

Each year in the U. S., more than 805,000 people have heart attacks and 659,000 people die from heart disease.

Heart attacks occur when your heart muscle cannot get oxygen and the nutrients it needs. Most attacks start slowly, with mild pain or discomfort in the chest. There also may be discomfort in the arm, back, neck, jaw or stomach. Other symptoms include shortness of breath, nausea, lightheadedness or breaking out in a cold sweat.

Heart disease, which includes diseased vessels, structural problems and blood clots, is a leading cause of death in America for white men and people in these racial and ethnic groups: African American, American Indian, Alaska Native, Hispanic. There are four types of heart disease – coronary artery disease (CAT), arrhythmia, heart valve disease and heart failure. CAT is the most common.

What do we do to avoid becoming a statistic? You’ve heard it before for other conditions and it’s true for improving heart health, as well: Changes in lifestyle work best. For the best prevention of both heart attacks and heart disease, you should follow these guidelines.

1) If you smoke, stop. Chemicals in cigarette smoke cause blood to thicken and increases the formation of plaque and blood clots in your blood vessels. Turn your back on the (cigarette) pack!

2) Eat a nutritious diet. The Mediterranean Diet, in particular, seems to be good for heart health. (The Mediterranean Diet has been shown to reduce not just heart disease but also the risk of cancer, diabetes, dementia and obesity.) The diet, which is plant-based and actually more of a life-long eating plan, came to the attention of American health care providers back in the 1960s, after they observed that inhabitants of countries like Italy and Greece had fewer deaths of heart disease.

It is typically high in olive oil, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds. There are moderate portions of dairy products, a limited amount of red meat and a weekly intake of poultry and eggs and fish, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids, a type of polyunsaturated fat that has been said to reduce inflammation in the body, also help decrease the risk of stroke and heart failure. Olive oil is a healthy fat, too. It’s a monosaturated fat, which has been found to lower total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, “bad” cholesterol. Nuts and seeds also contain monounsaturated fat.

3) Get physical! The experts say that adults aged 18 or older need at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise – about 40 minutes a day -- and about 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise each week. Why is exercise so important? It helps to improve your body muscles’ ability to pull oxygen from the blood. This reduces the need for the heart to pump more blood to the muscles. Exercise also reduces stress hormones that put an extra burden on the heart.

In addition to aerobic activity, The American Heart Association (AHA) also encourages us to incorporate strength and resistance training into our schedule at least two days per week. (However, if you’ve been sedentary for a long period of time, don’t suddenly launch full-out into an exercise program, but rather build up a program.)

The AHA suggests these activities for moderate exercise:

• Ballroom or social dancing.
• Brisk walking (at least 2.5 miles per hour)
• Biking slower than 10 mph
• Doubles tennis
• Gardening
• Water aerobics

The AHA suggests these activities for more vigorous exercise:
• Aerobic dancing
• Cycling to 10 mph or faster
• Jumping rope
• Hiking
• Singles tennis
• Swimming laps
• Rigorous yardwork
• Running

So, arm yourself with these guidelines and get healthy, limiting those broken hearts for the annual Valentine’s Day rom-coms.