CELEBRATE HEART HEALTH MONTH BY PRACTICING THESE SIMPLE HEALTH TIPS.
Think beyond the scale. Ask your doctor if your weight is OK. If you have some pounds to lose, you’ l l probably want to change your eating habits and be more active. Ditch the cigarettes, real and electronic. Smoking and secondhand smoke are bad for your hear t. If you smoke, quit, and don’t spend time around others who smoke as wel l . E-cigarettes are popular, but they’re not completely problem-free. They don’t contain the harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke but, they sti l l do contain nicotine, so your goal should be to quit completely, not just switch to a less toxic version. Clean up. Your hear t works best when it runs on clean fuel . That means lots of whole, plant-based foods (l ike fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds) and fewer refined or processed foods (l ike white bread, pasta, crackers, and cookies).
Aim for lucky number seven. Young and middle-age adults who sleep 7 hours a night have less calcium in their ar teries (an early sign of hear t disease) than those who sleep 5 hours or less or those who sleep 9 hours or more. Keep the pressure off. Get your blood pressure checked every 3-5 years if you’re 18-39. If you’re 40 or older, or if you have high blood pressure, check it every year. Move more. To keep it simple, you can aim for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week of moderate exercise. Even if you exercise for 30 minutes a day, being sedentary for the other 23 1/2 hours is real ly bad for your hear t. Slash saturated fats. To help your hear t’s ar teries, cut down on saturated fats, which are mainly found in meat and ful l -fat dai ry products. Choose leaner cuts and reduced-fat options. Find out if you have diabetes. Mi l l ions of people don’t know that they have this condition. That’s risky because over time, high blood sugar damages arteries and makes hear t disease more l ikely.
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