We’re going to kick off this discussion with the bad news first — for more than 100 years, heart disease has held the highly dubious distinction of being the leading cause of death in the United States.
Hidden in this concerning statistic is a bright spot — much of cardiovascular disease, which affects nearly half of adults in the US, is preventable. Some diseases are even reversible.
Since February is American Heart Month, the team at Bethel Family Medicine, headed by Dr. Douglas R. Grogan and Dr. Jennifer Hall DiFalco, reviews some heart-healthy habits that you can institute today for a better tomorrow.
It’s easy for us to say, “Eat healthy,” but these two simple words are among the hardest to accomplish.
The modern diet is full of high-calorie, processed food that lacks nutrition, which can affect your cardiovascular health. For example, foods loaded with fat can lead to narrowing of your arteries, placing you at greater risk for heart attack and stroke.
Eating well is crucial for better heart health, but where do you start? It’s tough to overhaul a lifetime of eating habits. We suggest starting small and swapping out a few things, such as:
By targeting and swapping out certain foods, you can gradually transition your diet to one that supports your heart health. Start with one swap and build from there until your diet features more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, nuts, and low-fat dairy.
In addition to healthier eating, exercise is important for cardiovascular health. As with your diet, getting some exercise is easier said than done, and many people don’t know where to start.
Also, along with your diet, we suggest starting small and building so that you can foster a habit of exercise. Start with a 15-minute walk in the morning and another one in the evening. And there are creative ways to incorporate walks into your day, such as parking farther away from where you’re going.
If you don’t like walking, there are countless online options for working out, so choose something you enjoy, such as yoga or Pilates. Or, you can sign up for an in-person class and use exercise as an opportunity to connect more.
Ultimately, the goal is to get about 30-60 minutes of exercise a day, which is highly achievable if you break it up and start slow.
Did you know that about one-third of adults in the US report not getting enough sleep? This lack of sleep can impact your cardiovascular health — when you sleep, your heart rate slows, and your blood pressure lowers, giving your cardiovascular system a much-needed break.
So, if you aren’t getting seven to nine hours of sleep a night, we suggest you try to improve that. You can start by going to bed 30 minutes earlier and leaving screens out of the bedroom.
As you embark on a more heart-friendly lifestyle, it’s extremely helpful to have a starting point. Before you get started, we can analyze your cardiovascular health, including blood pressure and cholesterol levels, to see where you stand in terms of risk factors.
This information gathering can not only guide you moving forward, but it can also determine whether you might benefit from support, such as prescription medications that address high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
So, if you want this to be the year you take charge of your heart health, we applaud this decision, and we’re behind you all the way. To arrange your heart health assessment, we invite you to schedule an appointment at our office in Brockton, Massachusetts, today.
