According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, with approximately 700,000 Americans dying from the disease each year. A 2019 report by the American Heart Association (AHA) found that roughly half of American adults have some form of heart disease.
If left untreated, cardiovascular disease can lead to fatal complications such as heart attack and stroke. Fortunately, there are many ways to manage the disease, including medications and lifestyle changes such as a healthy diet and exercise. While it may not be possible to eradicate all types of heart disease, many can be fully or partially cured.
What is Heart Disease?
Heart disease is a general term for a variety of health conditions that affect the heart. This includes coronary artery disease, arrhythmia, cardiomyopathy, valvular disease, and heart failure.
Most heart diseases are related to atherosclerosis, which occurs when fats and cholesterol build up in the walls of your arteries.
“Inflammation and high blood pressure wear down the lining of blood vessels, allowing cholesterol and fats to leak into the bloodstream and potentially cause a heart attack,” explains Majid Basit, MD, medical director of cardiology at Memorial Hermann Medical Group in Houston.
Once heart disease sets in, it’s almost impossible to reverse. “That’s why preventing heart disease early in life can have such huge benefits later in life,” says Dr. Basit. “But it is possible to reverse some of it. By lowering the cholesterol and fats in the blood to very low levels, we can shrink these deposits.”
Lifestyle Changes to Improve Heart Disease
Lifestyle changes such as a healthy diet, exercise, quitting smoking and managing stress can help improve heart health and significantly reduce your risk of heart disease and heart attack.
Healthy Eating — What is the best diet to improve heart disease?
While there is no single diet recommended for improving heart disease, the AHA recommends maintaining a healthy eating pattern that focuses on the following:
- Variety of fruits and vegetables
- Whole grains such as whole wheat flour, brown rice, and oatmeal, rather than refined grains such as white flour, white rice, and white bread
- Healthy proteins such as nuts, legumes, fish, nonfat dairy products, lean unprocessed meats and poultry
- Non-Tropical Vegetable Oils
“Fried foods, processed foods and simple starches should be avoided as much as possible,” Basit says. “Starches like rice and pasta can raise blood sugar levels, stimulate insulin secretion and promote fat and cholesterol storage.”
The Mediterranean diet, which is high in fresh fruits and vegetables, beans, nuts, whole grains, and fish and low in processed meats and foods, is often touted to have many health benefits, including heart health. BMJ Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was found to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 24 percent and the risk of death by 23 percent.
Of course, overhauling your diet isn’t easy, but starting with small changes can have big effects. Margie Junker, R.D., a registered dietitian specializing in cardiovascular nutrition at UC Davis Health, recommends setting one goal at a time, focusing on the easiest changes you know will have the most positive health benefits. “For example, change your evening snack to one planned snack at 8 p.m., such as an apple with a teaspoon of peanut butter, or whole-grain toast with avocado or hummus,” says Junker.
exercise
Regular exercise is the most important thing to improve your heart health.
“Exercise helps burn fat, grow muscle, and improve lung and heart function,” says Basit. “During exercise, blood vessels stretch, which helps to better regulate blood pressure. It’s important to create a routine that incorporates healthy eating and exercise.”
The AHA recommends at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity (or both).
Moderate physical activity includes brisk walking, gardening, dancing, water aerobics, and cycling at less than 10 miles per hour. Vigorous physical activity refers to exercises such as running, swimming, hiking uphill, jumping rope, and cycling at more than 10 miles per hour.
In addition to aerobic exercise, aim to add moderate-to-high intensity strength exercises, such as resistance exercises or weight training, at least twice a week.
Maintain a healthy weight
Weight control is one of the most important factors in improving heart disease, Basit says. “After significant weight loss, we’ve seen dramatic improvements in blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels,” he says.
One study Journal of the American Heart Association Women who lost 10 percent of their body weight and maintained the weight loss for two years were found to have reduced cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin, glucose and inflammatory markers – all risk factors for heart disease and heart attack.
Other studies suggest that significant weight loss can improve heart health, even if you gain some weight back. Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and OutcomesThe study, which included more than 100 studies, found that people who lost weight through intensive weight-loss programs had lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol than those who followed less intensive programs or no programs at all. The benefits persisted even if participants regained some weight, but the more weight they regained, the less effective they were, the authors note.
Talk to your doctor about what a healthy weight means to you and how to develop a plan to get there.
Quit smoking and limit alcohol
Smoking cigarettes damages your heart in many ways.
“Smoking increases inflammation in blood vessels, promoting heart disease and increasing the risk of heart attack,” Bassit says.
Smoking and passive smoking contribute to more than 30 percent of deaths from coronary artery disease, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Journal of Chest Disease.
Don’t start smoking if you don’t, and if you do smoke, talk to your doctor about ways to quit.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, excessive alcohol consumption can also cause elevated blood pressure, irregular heartbeats, and alcoholic cardiomyopathy. To reduce alcohol-related health risks, the CDC recommends abstaining from alcohol or drinking in moderation, defined as no more than two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women.
Focus on stress relief
“Stress is an underestimated cause of heart disease,” Bassit says. “It raises your blood pressure and can lead you to unconsciously overeat.”
Counselling, exercise, meditation and other stress-reduction techniques can lead to a significant reduction in the risk of future cardiovascular disease, he says.
The role of medicines in managing heart disease
If lifestyle changes alone are not enough, medications can help manage heart disease and heart-related problems. These include cholesterol-lowering statins and blood pressure-lowering medications such as diuretics, beta blockers and ACE inhibitors.
If you’ve been prescribed these medications, it’s important to take them as directed by your doctor, but to stay in optimal health, Basit says your goal should be to make lifestyle changes to improve your heart disease.
“Medications are like crutches,” he says. “You only need them until your injury heals. To get rid of the crutch, we need to ask ourselves what we’re doing to make ourselves better. Next time you go to the doctor, ask what you can do to stop taking some of your medications and avoid starting new ones.”
