Tips for maintaining optimal heart health

Maintaining heart health is essential for overall well-being and longevity. A healthy heart ensures efficient circulation, delivering oxygen and nutrients to the body's tissues. It reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases like heart attacks and strokes, enabling an active lifestyle and promoting longevity with optimal physical and mental health. Distinguished consultant cardiologist Dr Claudia Montanaro provides some tips on maintaining heart health.

Maintain a balanced diet

A balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins supports heart health by lowering blood pressure, reducing inflammation, and improving cholesterol levels. Limiting saturated and trans fats, cholesterol, salt, and added sugars helps prevent heart disease and maintain overall well-being.

Exercise regularly

Regular exercise is crucial for maintaining heart health. It strengthens the heart muscle, lowers blood pressure, improves circulation, and enhances cholesterol levels. Exercise also helps manage weight, reducing the risk of obesity-related heart conditions. Additionally, it promotes better glucose regulation, lowering the likelihood of diabetes, which is a significant risk factor for heart disease.

You should strive to achieve a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week.

Maintain a healthy weight

Maintaining a healthy weight is critical for heart health. Being overweight or obese puts strain the heart, leading to high blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes—all significant risk factors for heart disease. By managing weight through a balanced diet and regular exercise, you reduce the workload on your heart, lower the risk of cardiovascular issues, and improve overall health and well-being.

Quit smoking

Quitting smoking significantly improves heart health. Smoking damages blood vessels, raises blood pressure, and accelerates the buildup of plaque in arteries, increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke. Within a year of quitting, heart attack risk drops sharply, and over time, the risk of heart disease decreases to that of a nonsmoker.

Quitting smoking also improves circulation and lung function, leading to better oxygen delivery to the heart and reduced strain on the cardiovascular system. It is advisable to seek support from friends, family, or a smoking cessation programme.

Limit alcohol intake

Limiting alcohol intake benefits heart health by reducing the risk of high blood pressure, heart failure, and cardiomyopathy. Excessive alcohol consumption weakens the heart muscle, disrupts heart rhythm, and contributes to obesity and high triglyceride levels. By moderating alcohol intake, you lower these risks, improve cholesterol levels, and decrease inflammation, ultimately safeguarding heart function and reducing the likelihood of cardiovascular disease.

It is recommended that you restrict your alcohol consumption to moderate levels, typically defined as one drink per day for women and up to two drinks per day for men.

Manage stress

Managing stress is vital for heart health. Chronic stress raises blood pressure, increases heart rate, and elevates cortisol levels, all of which strain the heart and arteries. It also promotes unhealthy habits like overeating and smoking. Through relaxation techniques, such as exercise, meditation and deep breathing and social support, managing stress reduces these adverse effects, lowering the risk of heart disease. Additionally, stress management fosters better sleep and mood, further supporting cardiovascular health.

Get enough sleep

Adequate sleep is crucial for heart health. During sleep, the heart rate and blood pressure decrease, allowing the heart to rest and recover. Chronic sleep deprivation disrupts this process, raising blood pressure and increasing inflammation, which can lead to cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks and strokes.

Quality sleep supports hormone regulation, glucose metabolism, and overall well-being, all of which are essential for maintaining a healthy heart. You should try to sleep for 7-9 hours of quality sleep each night.

Monitor your blood pressure

Monitoring blood pressure is vital for heart health as it detects hypertension early, preventing heart disease and stroke. It evaluates treatment effectiveness, identifies personal risk factors, and guides lifestyle adjustments for better heart health. Regular monitoring promotes awareness of overall health and motivates healthy habits, reducing cardiovascular risks.

Manage chronic conditions

Managing chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol is crucial for heart health. These conditions increase the risk of heart disease and complications. Proper management, including medication adherence, lifestyle modifications, and regular medical check-ups, helps control risk factors, preventing heart problems. By effectively managing chronic conditions, individuals can reduce the burden on their hearts, maintain optimal cardiovascular function, and improve overall quality of life.

Stay hydrated

Staying hydrated is vital for heart health as it helps maintain proper blood volume and circulation. Dehydration can strain the heart, increasing the risk of blood clots, high blood pressure, and heart palpitations. Adequate hydration supports the heart in pumping blood efficiently, reducing the workload on the cardiovascular system. It also promotes healthy blood flow, oxygen delivery, and nutrient transport to cells, optimising heart function.

If you would like to book a consultation with Dr Montanaro, do not hesitate to do so by visiting her Top Doctors profile today