Heart attacks are not something we think about until the day we start getting chest pains, heart attack symptoms or our doctor tells us that we have the beginning of heart disease. The best way to prevent heart attacks in the future is to start preventing heart disease today. There are some smart and healthy lifestyle changes you can make to make yourself heart attack proof.
Eat a Healthy Diet for a Healthy Heart
starts in the kitchen. A healthy diet is the most important change you can make and the best way to prevent heart attacks. A change in diet can help with weight loss, reverse high blood pressure, reverse type 2 diabetes and clear clogged arteries.
Eating a diet high in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol can cause a buildup of plaque on the artery walls, leading to narrowing of the arteries. This narrowing, also called arteriosclerosis, restricts the blood flow of oxygen and blood to the heart and other parts of the body.
Limiting or even eliminated beef, poultry, and dairy foods can dramatically reduce your risk of heart disease and prevent heart attacks. Lowering or eliminating the use of refined vegetable and seed oils in cooking and in ingredients will also help reverse and prevent heart disease.
A diet high in green vegetables, especially leafy greens, broccoli, and beets are excellent to increase your body’s production of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide helps the arteries and blood vessels to dilate properly. A whole food plant-based diet is a heart healthy diet and would be the best diet to reverse heart disease, coronary artery disease and arteriosclerosis.
Eating a diet high in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol can cause a buildup of plaque on the artery walls, leading to narrowing of the arteries. This narrowing, also called arteriosclerosis, restricts the blood flow of oxygen and blood to the heart and other parts of the body.
Limiting or even eliminated beef, poultry, and dairy foods can dramatically reduce your risk of heart disease and prevent heart attacks. Lowering or eliminating the use of refined vegetable and seed oils in cooking and in ingredients will also help reverse and prevent heart disease.
A diet high in green vegetables, especially leafy greens, broccoli, and beets are excellent to increase your body’s production of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide helps the arteries and blood vessels to dilate properly. A whole food plant-based diet is a heart healthy diet and would be the best diet to reverse heart disease, coronary artery disease and arteriosclerosis.
Reversing Heart Disease Prevents Heart Attacks
If you have been diagnosed with coronary heart disease, you can reverse this illness and prevent heart attacks. Most people don’t believe that once you have clogged or narrowing of the arteries it can’t be reversed. But it can be.
Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn from the Cleveland Clinic has successfully reversed heart disease in thousands of patients through diet. He is a renowned physician and surgeon who has proven that through diet alone, heart disease can be reversed. You can read about Dr. Esselstyn's plan in his book,
Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.
In one study, he followed 198 patients that were seriously ill with cardiovascular disease for 3.7 years, and of those that adhered to his dietary program, 99.4 percent avoided further serious cardiac events [1].
Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn from the Cleveland Clinic has successfully reversed heart disease in thousands of patients through diet. He is a renowned physician and surgeon who has proven that through diet alone, heart disease can be reversed. You can read about Dr. Esselstyn's plan in his book,
Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. Lower Cholesterol
Cholesterol-lowering drugs are some of the most prescribed medications today, but they have unpleasant side effects. You can lower your cholesterol without medication just by changing what you eat.
High Cholesterol is what causes the plaque to build up and narrow the arteries, restricting blood and oxygen flow. By greatly reducing or eliminating the foods that cause cholesterol buildup will lower your cholesterol level. Only animal foods have cholesterol.
Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn talks about reversing heart disease
Dr. Esselstyn has found that if you can get your total cholesterol below 150, you can practically become heart attack and stroke proof. That would be a wonderful way to live, and a smart way to prevent heart attacks.
LDL cholesterol is known as the bad cholesterol. According to Dr. Esselstyn, the closer you can get your LDL to 80 – 85, the better. If you cannot get it lower than 95 – 105, you should still be fine, especially if your total cholesterol is below 150.
Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn talks about reversing heart disease
Lose Weight for a Healthy Heart
Being overweight can put a strain on the heart. Once you start eating a heart healthy diet, you should be able to lose weight easily.
Having excess belly fat causes inflammation throughout the body. It is now believed that this inflammation can lead to heart disease. Excess belly fat, especially visceral fat that intertwines around the organs contributes to inflammation.
Not only is belly fat associated with a risk of heart attacks, but also increases the risk of recurrent heart attacks. Studies found that belly fat affects men more than women, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect women.Heart disease symptoms can be different in women compared to men.
Having excess belly fat causes inflammation throughout the body. It is now believed that this inflammation can lead to heart disease. Excess belly fat, especially visceral fat that intertwines around the organs contributes to inflammation.
Not only is belly fat associated with a risk of heart attacks, but also increases the risk of recurrent heart attacks. Studies found that belly fat affects men more than women, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect women.Heart disease symptoms can be different in women compared to men.
Quit Smoking
Smoking is another for getting and . Quitting smoking is one of the hardest things to do, but one of the smartest you can do. There are a number of quit smoking tools you can use, including nicotine gum, patches, and electronic cigarettes.
Studies have found that using an electronic cigarette is the most effective way to quit smoking [2]. You are able to use your hands as if you were smoking, and slowly lower the nicotine at the same time. Electronic cigarettes have none of the cancer-causing and lung-damaging chemicals that smoking cigarettes do.
Just one year after you quit smoking, your risk of coronary heart disease decreases by 50 percent.
Even though COPD and heart disease are not the same, studies have found that one of the main risk factors for sudden heart attacks is COPD.
On a positive note, studies have recently found that once you quit smoking, the cells in your lungs can heal themselves. So the sooner you quit smoking, the better.
Studies have found that using an electronic cigarette is the most effective way to quit smoking [2]. You are able to use your hands as if you were smoking, and slowly lower the nicotine at the same time. Electronic cigarettes have none of the cancer-causing and lung-damaging chemicals that smoking cigarettes do.
Just one year after you quit smoking, your risk of coronary heart disease decreases by 50 percent.
Even though COPD and heart disease are not the same, studies have found that one of the main risk factors for sudden heart attacks is COPD.
On a positive note, studies have recently found that once you quit smoking, the cells in your lungs can heal themselves. So the sooner you quit smoking, the better.
Physical Activity
A sedentary lifestyle can increase your risk of heart attacks and strokes. This doesn’t mean you have to run 10 miles a day or become a gym rat. Just being more active can help you prevent heart attacks. The is a muscle, and like other muscles, the needs physical activity.
Physical activity can include aerobic exercises like walking, or using a stationary bike are great for heart health. Other fun exercises include tai chi, yoga, golf, and dancing.
Weight lifting can reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke by 40 to 70 percent. And you don’t have to spend a lot of time either. A recent study showed that just an hour per week of weight lifting provided these benefits [3]. It doesn’t take much, simple dumbbells will work. Weight lifting also builds bone density and prevents osteoporosis.
Weight lifting can reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke by 40 to 70 percent. And you don’t have to spend a lot of time either. A recent study showed that just an hour per week of weight lifting provided these benefits [3]. It doesn’t take much, simple dumbbells will work. Weight lifting also builds bone density and prevents osteoporosis.
Make sure you check with your doctor before starting any kind of exercise program.
Lower Stress to Prevent Heart Disease
Stress is the silent killer. Stress causes high blood pressure which increases the risk of heart attacks. There are various ways to get rid of stress like eating a healthy diet, exercise, meditation, getting enough sleep, limiting alcohol, and learning stress management techniques.
You Can Prevent Heart Attacks
like eating a poor like the , smoking, and a sedentary lifestyle can all contribute to . The sooner you change your lifestyle, the sooner you can lower your .
Getting old doesn’t have to mean a lifetime of medications or worry. By making these lifestyle changes and adopt healthy habits, you can prevent heart attacks. A will make all the difference for your and your health.
About The Author
Sam Montana is a certified Food Over Medicine instructor from the Wellness Health Forum Center and certified in optimal nutrition from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
© 2020 Sam Montana/Healthy Food and Life
References
[1] Journal of Geriatric Cardiology
[2] CNN.com
[3] PubMed: Associations of Resistance Exercise with Cardiovascular Disease Morbidity and Mortality
Sam Montana is a certified Food Over Medicine instructor from the Wellness Health Forum Center and certified in optimal nutrition from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
© 2020 Sam Montana/Healthy Food and Life
References
[1] Journal of Geriatric Cardiology
[2] CNN.com
[3] PubMed: Associations of Resistance Exercise with Cardiovascular Disease Morbidity and Mortality
