Act Smart for Your Heart- It’s in Your Hands

Take responsibility of your heart -The best prevention against heart disease is to understand the risks (high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes) and treatment options .The greatest risk is avoidance or ignorance.

7 Colours of Preventions of Heart Disease.

Avoid Unhealthy & Eat Healthy Diet –Avoid too much salt, sugars, saturated (Red meat, full-fat milk products, Coconut and palm oils), and trans fat (fast and packaged snack foods, bakery products, nutrition labelled “partially hydrogenated” or “hydrogenated”) in diet.

Eat healthy diet like diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fat-free milk products, lean meats, and fish. Healthy fats from plant-based sources such as nuts, olives and olive oil helps in lowering the bad cholesterol.

• Don’t Rest, Do Exercise– Daily exercise can reduce risk of heart disease like brisk Walking ,150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity, 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic activity.
• Don’t Get Obese, Maintain Healthy Weight- Being overweight, especially excess weight around waist (men with waist measurement >40 inches and women with >35 inches) increases risk of heart disease.
• Even a small weight loss like reducing weight by just 3-5 % can help in decreasing risk of heart disease.
• Breath Fresh Air,Not Smoke– Smoking is one of the most significant risk factors in heart disease. Carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke replaces some of the oxygen which forces the heart to work hard to supply enough oxygen. The risk begins to lower soon after quitting, risk of coronary heart disease significantly reduces one year after quitting and drops almost to that of a non-smoker in about 15 years.
• Know Your Family– If your parents, grandparents, or other relatives were afflicted with or died of heart disease, risk is increased.
• Don’t Take Stress, Look for Healthy way to Relax- Stress contributes to CVD and ,if severe ,can cause heart attack or sudden death. Instead of unhealthy ways to relax like overeating, drinking or smoking, find alternative ways to manage stress like physical activity, meditation.
• Get Preventive Heart Check Up- Risks of heart disease can only be known by regular health check-up
• Blood pressure- If your age is 40 or older, screen BP reading every year. Optimal BP is less than 140/90mm Hg.
• Cholesterol levels- Earlier testing is recommended if you have other risk factors, like family history of early-onset heart disease.
• Diabetes- Screen your fasting sugar regularly.

Never make excuses for not preventing heart disease like-

• Don’t know how to take care of heart.
• Don’t want to stop eating junk foods/ healthy diet costs too much.
• Don’t like/don’t have time to exercise.
• Too busy to take care of others.