Cardiovascular diseases are the number one killer worldwide, followed by cancer. Among all cardiovascular diseases, an acute heart attack is the one with the highest mortality. Not all illnesses are preventable; however, a large percentage of deaths, particularly those from coronary heart disease and stroke, can be avoided with a healthy lifestyle. This blog focuses on the steps that should be followed to adopt a healthy lifestyle.
What is a Healthy Lifestyle?
A healthy lifestyle is a way of living that lowers the risk of being seriously ill and dying early. Health is not just about avoiding disease. It is also about physical, mental and social well-being. This requires a healthy diet, regular physical activity, healthy relationships with family members, thoughtful behaviours and good manners, being grateful for what you have and being a positive role model to your family and society.
Lifestyle Changes to Prevent a Heart Attack
Adopting a heart-healthy lifestyle is one of the most effective ways to prevent a heart attack. Here are the simple lifestyle changes that can significantly improve your heart health.
1) Stop Smoking or Using Tobacco
Nicotine is the most commonly used legal addictive drug all over the world. Smoking tobacco causes the release of inflammatory cytokines plaque formation in arteries, increases the viscosity of blood and risk of blood clots, reduces the oxygen in blood and the oxygen supplied to the heart muscle.
The plaque rupture and overlying blood clots are the main causes of heart attack and stroke. In fact, smokers are two times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke.
2) Limit Alcohol
Everybody wants to know how much Alcohol is safe for human consumption. Somebody may find it offensive but the answer is Zero Alcohol.
- Alcohol is toxic to all cells of our body
- Decreases testosterone and increases estrogen in both men and women, decreases physical performance, decreases libido and increases fat production
- Even at moderate levels increases the risk of cancer- head and neck cancer, esophageal cancers and breast cancer in women.
- Disrupts the normal metabolism of the body
- Causes depression
3) Reduce Stress
Stress is, in fact, inevitable. Both success and overall health of a person depends on their capacity to handle stress. The reactions you show to the stressors determine the effects of stress on your body. Creating certain behavioural patterns can help you lower your overall stress and deal with it healthily.
- Wake up before sunrise and get enough sunlight.
- Have a sleep hygiene and sleep about 7 hours a day.
- Have a healthy eating plan not exceeding 3 meals per day. Do not disrupt your routine by impulsive eating between meals. Let your body fast for more than 12 hours once a week.
- Include an aerobic exercise which includes stretching and breathwork.
- Create at least 30 minutes/day a silent time in which you can spend either meditating or calming down and being in yourself.
- Have a meaningful purpose in life.
- Learn to be grateful and have a positive mindset.
- Choose your friends and life partners wisely.
4) Manage Diabetes
Diabetes increases the chance of developing cardiovascular diseases like heart attack and stroke- the main causes of death among patients with diabetes. The longer you have diabetes, the higher the chances are that you will develop heart disease. Moreover, people with diabetes tend to develop cardiovascular disease at a younger age. Most diabetic patients also have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and metabolic syndrome, which also contribute to increased risk. A good blood sugar control can lower the chance of having a future heart attack or stroke.
5) Maintain Healthy Weight
A healthy weight is the key to a healthy life. Weight control also means discipline, control over your impulses, control over your eating habits, creating time for personal exercise and control over many other diseases except heart attacks like high blood pressure, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and musculoskeletal problems like joint pain, arthritis, vertebral problems like back pain, disk hernia etc.
6) Eat a Heart-Healthy Diet
A heart-healthy diet should include healthy ingredients and also healthy eating habits. Healthy ingredients include:
- Vegetables( broccoli, carrots, leafy greens like cabbage and spinach).
- Fruits( apple, bananas, oranges, pears etc).
- Whole grains( whole grain bread, plain oatmeal, brown rice).
- Diary(low-fat or fat-free milk, yogurt and cheese).
- Protein( lean meats, skinless chicken, fish high in omega-3 like salmon and tuna, eggs, nuts and seeds, tofu, legumes).
- Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats( olive oil, corn oil, sesame oil, sunflower oil, avocados, nuts, seeds).
- A healthy eating habit means having no more than 3 meals per day and no impulsive eating.
7) Be Physically Active
Being physically active and doing regular exercise helps in lowering blood pressure, decreases the risk of diabetes, increases cardiopulmonary capacity, reduces inflammatory cytokines throughout the body and decreases the chance of cardiovascular diseases, including heart attack.
8) Lower High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure increases the chance of heart attack in two ways:
- Causing tiny tears in the vessel wall because of high shear stress. This damage is repaired but at the cost of developing cholesterol and fat-filled plaques, a process called atherosclerosis. When this plaque ruptures and a blood clot is formed above it, causing a complete blockade of the vessel, it is called a heart attack
- High blood pressure increases afterload of the heart, causing the heart to get bigger( hypertrophied) over time. A big heart requires a large amount of blood. When the increased demand for the heart muscle is not met by narrow blood vessels, damage in heart tissue starts. This is called type 2 heart attack or myocardial infarction.
9) Get Quality Sleep
Getting enough sunlight in the daytime helps our body To synthesize enough melatonin for nighttime. The highest quality of sleep is between 10 PM to 4 AM in the morning. Most religious practices and ancient medicines like Ayurveda also focus on sleeping during these hours. Follow these steps for sleep hygiene:
- Go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time every day.
- Use your sleeping bed only for sleeping.
- Make your bedroom completely dark while sleeping.
- Maintain the temperature of your bedroom between 15-20 degrees.
- Do not take stimulants like coffee or tea for at least 6 hours before going to bed.
- Do not eat at least 4 hours before going to bed.
- Turn off all your screens at least 2 hours before going to bed. Instead, utilize this time by meditating or reading books.
10) Opt for Regular Heart Checkup and Test
I do not recommend regular checkups and tests like treadmill stress tests for everyone. Because false positive rates may be high in certain populations and this may lead to overdiagnosis and overtreatment.
If you are from a family with multiple heart problems, have multiple risk factors of heart disease or have new symptoms that do not seem normal, then you should find a doctor who can give you enough time to listen to your whole story, figure out your risk for serious diseases like cancer, heart attack, brain haemorrhage. Then you can have targeted tests only if it is necessary. And this is what saves life.
Conclusion
Primordial prevention means adopting actions and measures that inhibit the emergence of risk factors. A healthy lifestyle is a primordial prevention for cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks. By avoiding harmful habits like smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, you can protect your heart and improve your overall well-being.
If you are experiencing any heart-related issues or have concerns about your heart health, Call Dr. Ashok Paudel, a certified heart doctor in Turkey, for an online cardiology consultation to get expert guidance. Let’s work together for a healthier heart.
Related Blog Post: Read More About Heart Attack
- Heart Attack Early Warning
- Heart Healthy Diet Plan After a Heart Attack
- What to do When Heart Attack Occurs
FAQs on Heart Attacks
1. What is a healthy lifestyle to avoid a heart attack?
A healthy lifestyle to avoid heart attack requires a healthy diet, regular physical activity, healthy relationships with family members, thoughtful behaviours and good manners, being grateful for what you have and being a positive role model to your family and society.
2. What does stage 1 heart failure feel like?
People surviving a heart attack will have some degree of damage in their heart. The damage depends upon the time spent between the onset of symptoms and the opening of the culprit’s blood vessel. Depending on the extent of injury to the heart muscle, heart failure may be asymptomatic, mild, moderate or severe. In the early stage of heart failure, patients feel like their exercise capacity has declined and are unable to carry out activities of moderate or high intensity like running, climbing stairs, carrying loads etc.
3. How long does your body warn you before a heart attack?
Our body starts to warn once the blood vessels of our heart get 70% or more blocked. People with stable blockade usually have mild symptoms for more than a month. When the problem is severe, the symptoms get worse, and the patient should seek professional help immediately.
4. What is the best diet for a healthy heart?
A healthy diet plan after a heart attack is essential for recovery and reducing the risk of future cardiac events. Here’s a list of guides for diet plans after a heart attack:
- Vegetables( broccoli, carrots, leafy greens like cabbage and spinach).
- Fruits(apples, bananas, oranges, pears etc).
- Whole grains( whole grain bread, plain oatmeal, brown rice).
- Diary(low-fat or fat-free milk, yoghurt and cheese).
- Protein( lean meats, skinless chicken, fish high in omega-3 like salmon and tuna, eggs, nuts and seeds, tofu, legumes).
- Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats( olive oil, corn oil, sesame oil, sunflower oil, avocados, nuts, seeds).
5. What are the most unhealthy foods for your heart?
The food to avoid for maintaining your healthy heart are:
- Ultra-processed foods(e.g., sausage and salamis, fast foods, deep fried foods, precooked and canned foods).
- Foods and drinks with added sugars(e.g., corn syrup and concentrated fruit juices).
- Foods high in salt( packed chips).
- Saturated fats, animal fats and hydrogenated fats.
6. What happens in a heart attack?
A heart attack is a sudden occlusion of a coronary artery, which supplies blood and oxygen to the heart muscle. As a result, the heart muscle tissue starts to die due to the lack of oxygen and nutrients needed for viability.
7. What is the best exercise for the heart?
Regular aerobic exercises like jogging, running, bicycle riding, swimming and aerobic weight lifting are best for both strengthening heart muscle and increasing your cardiopulmonary capacity.
8. What is the first aid for a heart attack?
Most deaths occur within the first hours of a heart attack. Follow these steps if you see a person having a heart attack:
- Call an ambulance
- Until the ambulance comes, make the patient lie down, remove tight clothing and lift their legs.
- Do not give medicine except 300 mg aspirin. Do not give any food or water.
- If the patient is not responding, check for pulse and breathe. If there is no sign, then start cardiopulmonary resuscitation until the ambulance comes.