Adopting a healthy lifestyle to support heart health

Dr. Peter Haigh is a non-invasive cardiologist at UK HealthCare. Dr. Haigh focuses on prevention of cardiovascular disease with patients, highlighting the importance of adopting a healthy lifestyle and management of cardiovascular risk factors.

Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the United States and here in the state of Kentucky. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), however, most heart disease deaths are preventable. 

Adopting a healthy lifestyle can significantly decrease your chances of heart disease and improve overall heart health. And the earlier you can make healthy lifestyle changes, the better! Here are some tips from Dr. Haigh.

Lifestyle factors and their contribution to heart health

The heart is a vital organ that heavily influences exercise capacity, symptoms and overall quality of life. 

“Life’s Essential 8,” an AHA checklist for lifelong good health, details eight healthy behaviors and health factors to optimize in order to prevent heart disease. These include:

• Regular physical activity
• A heart-healthy diet
• Sleep health
• Avoidance of smoking
• And control of cardiovascular disease risk factors — a condition that is known to contribute to heart disease — such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, and high blood sugar levels. 

Addressing and treating these medical conditions along with making healthy lifestyle changes significantly lowers the lifetime risk of heart disease. 
To learn more, visit https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-lifestyle/lifes-essential-8

Diet

Nutrition is a key component of healthy living. Focusing on heart-healthy foods can help prevent precursors of heart disease such as obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol. 

For people who have heart disease already, it is extra important to eat well. Unfortunately, information available online can often be misleading or incorrect. Be especially mindful of sources that promote diets and other unsubstantiated nutrition advice.

The best resource is a doctor who knows you and your health history. Speak with them the best diet for you to accomplish better heart and overall health.

Physical activity

Exercise is extremely beneficial for heart. The AHA recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity, or a combination of both, spread throughout the week. 

Aerobic exercise includes activities such as:

• Walking
• Running
• Cycling
• Swimming 

Twice weekly strength training is also recommended. Don’t get discouraged if exercise doesn’t lead to weight loss – it is all still good for you and every little bit counts!

Smoking

Smoking tobacco is bad for you. 

If you smoke, quitting is probably the single best change you can make not only for prevention of heart disease, but for your overall health. Smoking is likely responsible for 1 out of every 4 deaths from heart disease, and plays a major role in the development of atherosclerosis (plaque formation and hardening of the arteries). Smoking is a major risk factor for over a dozen cancers and is the cause of 9 out of 10 cases of lung cancer. 

Besides heart disease and cancer, smoking also can cause:

• Chronic lung disease
• Osteoporosis
• Infertility and sexual health dysfunction
• Insulin resistance
• Stomach ulcers
• Kidney failure
• Vision loss
• Gum disease
• Impaired wound healing

It can be difficult to quit smoking. Talk with your doctor about the steps you can take to make this crucial change.