Many of us who are trying to prevent heart disease have begun to take steps to change our lifestyle so that we can reduce our risk of heart disease. And, it's important to note that heart disease is one killer that you can do much to prevent. Sure, if you have a family history of heart disease, you are immediately at a higher risk than those who don't; but the biggest risk factors for most of us are the life we lead. Many heart disease risk factors are entirely preventable.
Dietary and exercise habits are two of the most important ways to reduce your risk of heart disease. A sedentary lifestyle and poor diet are surefire ways to get cardiovascular disease as you get older. Here are ways you can improve your lifestyle to reduce your risk.
Exercise - Most doctors recommend some form of cardiovascular exercise for at least 30 minutes, at least 3 times a week. Many doctors suggest walking as your primary form of cardiovascular exercise. This is because walking is something everyone can do, and it requires no special equipment, beyond a good pair of shoes. You can walk anywhere, and as you gain strength and endurance, it's easy to make your walk more difficult simply by walking longer and adding some hills to your walk.
Many doctors also recommend that you get in about 15 minutes of strength training 3 times a week. Strength training will help you build muscle, which will make you stronger overall. Muscle also burns more calories at rest than fat, so adding muscle will help you burn more calories in a day.
Diet - A diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol is important for heart health. Limit red meats, butter, and eggs. Learn to read food labels, and avoid any food whose ingredients include "partially hydrogenated" anything, anything with trans fats and anything with "high fructose corn syrup".
Your diet should also be rich in fresh fruits and vegetables. Not only will this help you reduce the amount of fatty foods in your diet, but it will also provide vitamins, nutrients and anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants are critical because they fight free radicals that are created in the body as we convert our food to energy. These free radicals damage cells and DNA, eventually leading to disease and aging if we don't consume enough anti-oxidants to neutralize them.
Lose weight- One of the best things you can do to help your heart stay healthy is to maintain a normal weight. If you follow the diet and exercise plan mentioned above, you should be able to lose weight without a lot of trouble.
Don't smoke - Smoking significantly increases your risk for heart disease, as well as your risk for cancer. It also contributes to high blood pressure, which contributes to heart disease as well.
Know your numbers - Know your cholesterol levels, and know your blood pressure. High blood pressure and high cholesterol levels lead to heart disease. The diet and exercise plan outlined above can help you lower blood cholesterol and blood pressure levels naturally. However, for some people, diet and exercise are not enough. Other factors, such as family history, may cause you to have high blood pressure or high cholesterol no matter how much you diet and exercise.
For this reason, it's important to work with your doctor to determine the best approach for getting your cholesterol and blood pressure in line. He can help you come up with the right combination of diet, exercise and medication, if necessary to protect your heart health.
Drink green tea - Drinking green tea each day may be the easiest thing you can do to protect your heart. Many studies in recent years have pointed to green tea as an effective way to prevent many forms of disease, including cardiovascular disease. Green tea has been shown to work in several ways:
Green tea seems to prevent cholesterol from turning into arterial plaque - Some studies have shown that green tea prevented the oxidation of LDL cholesterol. Oxidation is the process by which LDL cholesterol hardens and sticks to arterial walls, narrowing the arteries. When arteries are narrowed, you are at a higher risk of stroke and heart attack.
Green tea is very high in anti-oxidants - As mentioned above, anti-oxidants are potent disease fighters. And, green tea is loaded with some of the most potent anti-oxidants you can find.
One study was performed to see if adding green tea to your diet could improve your body's overall oxidative status. This study, reported by the UK Tea Council examined a group of healthy participants. All of the participants were placed on a heart healthy diet. Half of the participants were also given two cups of green tea each day. The results were quite impressive.
After 42 days, the participants who consumed green tea showed lower blood plasma lipid levels, lower LDL cholesterol and higher resistance to oxidative damage than the participants who ate a healthy diet, but did not drink the green tea.
The study concluded that, when coupled with an overall healthy diet, green tea can improve your body's lipid and cholesterol levels and make you more resistant to the oxidative damage of free radicals.
Green tea may create thermogenesis - In some studies, green tea has been shown to help burn fat and regulate blood sugar. This is especially important to those who need to lose a few pounds for optimum heart health.
So, as you can see, drinking green tea may have lots of potential in the battle against heart disease. And, it's such an easy beverage to add to your diet. Green tea is inexpensive and readily available.
Green tea can be found in loose form, tea bag form and bottled. Whether your preference is hot or cold, flavored or plain, there is probably a green tea our there that you'll like. And, knowing that you're helping to protect yourself from a heart attack makes green tea even more enjoyable for all of us!
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