10 simple ways to keep your heart healthy

Heart health tips

Cathy Ross, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, looks at the signs that you may be at risk of heart disease. If you have any concerns, see your GP for a BP and cholesterol check.

1. Do you smoke? Cigarette-related cardiovascular disease kills more than 30,000 people a year in the UK, and tobacco is the biggest factor in heart disease. But if you stop before you’re 40, within five to 10 years, your risk of heart attack declines to a level similar to that of a person who has never smoked.

2. Is your diet high in fat? One reason heart disease rates are so high in the UK is because the average diet is high in fat so cholesterol starts furring up the arteries.

3. Lower cholesterol levels by choosing polyunsaturated or monounsaturated spreads and oils made from vegetable oils such as sunflower. Use semi-skimmed milk, trim fat off meat and grill don’t fry.

4. Do you drink more than two units a day? Alcohol does thin the blood but it also raises blood pressure and causes weight gain. Heavy drinking may also lead to diabetes and trig ger abnormal heart rhythms – it could even cause heart failure.

5. How stressed are you? The people most at risk of heart disease are in clerical or repetitive jobs. However, competitive over-conscientious perfectionists are also at risk because stressful events can affect circulation. Stress also causes chest pains and an erratic or noticeable heartbeat. Try removing stress triggers and relax with physical activity or yoga.

6. How much exercise do you do? Two- thirds of us are so unfit we cannot keep up a normal walking pace up a gradual slope without becoming breathless. But exercise benefits your heart and helps you lose weight. Your blood is also less likely to clot and blood pressure is lowered. Start at 20 minutes three times a week and increase to 30 minutes at least five days a week.

7. Have you hit the menopause? The female sex hormone oestrogen improves levels of protective blood fat, which prevent diabetes and keeps blood vessels high in women. But once oestrogen is lost after the menopause, it leaves women as vulnerable to heart attack and circulation problems as men. HRT seems to improve angina – severe chest pain – which occurs when the heart has to do more work than it can manage.

8. Are you overweight? Being overweight and obese is a major risk because you are more likely to become diabetic which can lead to coronary heart disease. Weight is linked to high blood pressure and cholesterol too. Eat fresh fruit and veg, oats to lower cholesterol, and cut down on fat and salt.

9. Is your blood pressure high? Sustained high pressure, apart from being life threatening, is very damaging to the blood vessels, causing an acceleration of the ageing process.

10. Whether you have heart disease or not, it is a good idea to ask your GP to check your health, especially your blood pressure, before you start any physical activity.