Simple Steps to Keep Your Heart Healthy

A healthy heart -- and a healthier you -- starts today with these quick tips from the experts.

By Wendy C. Fries

Keeping your heart healthy is so simple it can be put into catchy, two-word phrases: Eat right. Get exercise. Don’t smoke.

Putting those heart-healthy catch phrases into action, of course, isn’t so simple. Which matter most? How can you put them into daily practice?

Here are practical heart health hints you can use every day.

Get Exercise: Time to Play

Adults need at least 30 minutes of exercise five or more days a week for heart health. But improving cardiovascular and overall health isn’t only about sweating on a treadmill or climbing stairs, say the pros. Getting out to play is exercise too, and improving heart health is just as easily about kickball with your kids, walking the dog, or shooting hoops with colleagues during your lunch break.

Heart-Healthy Keys to Exercise

Get a total of at least 30 minutes of exercise daily -- and you don’t have to do it all at once. Aim for a 10-minute morning walk perhaps, a short workout with hand weights at lunch, and some digging in the garden before dinner, and you’ve met your goals.

To get the full benefits of aerobic exercise “folks should get their heart rate up so they’re somewhat breathless, but can still carry on a conversation,” says Susan Moores, RD, MS, a registered dietitian and American Dietetic Association spokeswoman. She adds that all kinds of exercises are important, from strength training and aerobics, to flexibility and stretching exercises.

Routine Exams: Get Checked

“Nobody’s going to keep an eye on your medical health other than you," says Elaine Magee, MPH, RD, author of Food Synergy, and WebMD’s "Recipe Doctor." "You are in charge."

That’s an easy thing to forget, especially when talking about the ho-hum pragmatism of routine health exams. Yet getting regular blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol checks, as well as physical exams are important steps in maintaining heart health.

“Anything you can find out about what’s going on inside your body the better,” says Magee. Especially true when you consider that heart-threatening conditions like high blood pressure and high cholesterol are “silent” -- meaning there’s almost no way to know you have them unless you get tested.

Heart-Healthy Keys to Routine Exams

Which regular exams you need depends on you age, health risks, and gender, so talk with your physician about what’s right for you. However there are some exams just about everyone needs:

For everyone: We all benefit from regular blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood cholesterol checks, as well as immunizations, eye exams, and mole checks. As we enter our 50s and 60s, colon cancer screenings, rectal exams, and bone density tests become important, too.

For women: Stay on top of regular breast exams and mammograms, pap tests, and pelvic exams, and in your 50s you’ll want to add a thyroid hormone test. How often you need these routine exams depends on your age and risks, so talk with your physician.

For men: Men need regular testicular exams at least through their 40s, and PSA-prostate exams as they approach middle age. Some men may require other exams depending on their family history and risks; be sure to check with your doctor to find out what tests make sense for you.

And if you experience anything out of the ordinary it’s always “better to be safe than sorry -- go seek medical attention,” stresses Magee. After all, you know your body.

Weight Maintenance: Keeping a Healthy Weight

Obesity in the United States is at an all-time high, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, putting a growing number of people are at risk for heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure.

Maintaining a healthy weight not only reduces your risks for these and other conditions, it can improve sleep, boost energy, and rev up self-esteem.

Heart-Healthy Keys to Weight Maintenance

Go for calorie density: Choose nutritionally-dense foods to get as much nutrition as you can from the calories you eat. A can of cola has over 120 calories and no nutrients. A palmful of mixed nuts has about 165 calories and is packed with body-building protein and heart-healthy fats.

Get physical: Get moving at least 30 minutes daily, most days of the week. Children and teens need at least 60 minutes of activity most days.

Balance calories: Be aware of the balance between the calories you consume and the calories your body needs. To lose weight, consume fewer calories than you burn.

Eat Healthy: Quick Tips

You know the drill: Eat more produce (aim for at least two and a half cups-worth a day) and whole grains, and consume less salt and fat. Here are the reasons why.

Heart-Healthy Reasons to Eat Right

Pump Up Produce: A diet rich in produce may help lower your risk of heart disease, stroke, and cancer. A bonus: “For all the nutrients fruits and vegetables provide you’re also getting few calories,” says Kerry Neville MS, RD, a registered dietitian, “And they fill you up.”

Go Grains: Whole grains help lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. “Why would anyone not be eating whole grains,” Magee asks.

Forgo Bad Fat: Lower the saturated fat in your diet and you can “reduce your risk of heart issues by half,” says Christine Gerbstadt, MD, RD, a registered dietician and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. You can start by switching to low-fat meat and dairy, and change to healthier fats like olive and safflower oils.

Cut the Salt: You can get your diet down to the recommended 2,400 mg daily of sodium (or about 1 teaspoon) by cooking without salt, limiting processed foods, and going easy on the salt shaker.

Soothe Stress: Be Good to Yourself

Nothing at all can be a big part of maintaining a healthy heart. So be sure to “relax and unplug daily,” advises Moores. “Stress is a significant villain of heart health and really any health issue. It can wreak havoc.”

Heart-Healthy Keys to Soothing Stress

Moores suggestion, echoed by everyone from the American Heart Association to the CDC: Carve out time for yourself regularly. Walk away from the computer, the phone, and other distractions. Make time to recharge your batteries, to find both energy and calm.

Quit Smoking: You Can Do It

Cancer, lung disease, a higher chance of heart disease: The damages smoking can do are well-known. Did you also know that smoking is associated with early menopause, infertility, and pregnancy complications?

Heart-Healthy Keys to Going Smoke-Free

There’s no one way to successfully give up smoking. Medications, support groups, counseling, or a combination of all three -- and more -- may be what it takes to help you quit. Reach out, get help. For you, for your heart.