Reduce Your Heart Attack Risk
Even if your genes or other factors put you at risk, there are lifestyle steps you can take to reduce your chances of having a heart attack.
There are certain things you can't control which make you more likely to have a heart attack: family history, being post-menopausal, age, and even being male. But other risk factors, fortunately, can be changed or eliminated, and doing so can greatly lower the threat of heart disease. These include:
• Smoking
• High cholesterol
• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Uncontrolled blood glucose levels
• Lack of exercise
• Obesity
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Take these steps to cross these risk factors off your list:
1. Stop smoking and commit to making your home a smoke-free zone.
2. Address high cholesterol with diet, including eating foods high in soluble fiber (legumes, whole grains, oats, vegetables), certain polyunsaturated fats (fish), and foods that contain plant sterols (see The Top Cholesterol Cutting Foods ), while avoiding red meat and other saturated fats, trans fats, solid fats, and tropical oils. You may also want to add specific nutrients, such as red yeast rice, which can be a tool in managing healthy cholesterol levels (see Introducing Red Yeast Rice Plus Co- Q10).
3. To help tackle high blood pressure, reduce your sodium intake, try drinking hibiscus tea (see Lowering Your Blood Pressure with Hibiscus Tea), manage your stress levels and get enough sleep. Try including daily antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and botanicals that keep blood flowing smoothly through blood vessels (see Nutrients Your Heart Will Love).
4. Manage your blood sugar by including foods such as whole grains, nuts, omega-3 fatty acids, produce, fat-free dairy, and foods high in fiber, and avoiding refined carbohydrates, red meat, sweetened drinks, and trans fats (see Foods That Raise, Lower Your Diabetes Risk). There are also nutrients that have been shown to help control, or even lower, glucose levels (see Introducing New & Improved Blood Sugar Support).
5. Find physical activities that you enjoy and can participate in at least five times a week. Moderate exercise can include anything from brisk walking to dancing, and can even be broken down into three 10 minute sessions a day. Include strength training a couple of times a week to help increase your metabolism. See Be Active Your Way for Better Health for more ideas on meeting your exercise goals.
6. Many of the recommendations in the previous steps will also help you address the last lifestyle factor, obesity. The foods that help you control cholesterol and blood sugar help control your weight, and exercise is an important part of any weight loss plan. If you feel like you need an additional boost, the Weight Management Program contains ingredients that may help with your efforts.
No matter what your family history, age or other "fixed" factors, you can make a huge difference in reducing your heart attack risk by taking these steps in the natural, and putting yourself on the pathway to healing for heart health.
