Fitness Together Georgia

The most crucial way to a healthy heart is through what we eat and regular physical activity. These are not temporary fixes and should be considered long term lifestyle changes for staying healthy on into our golden years!

Eat For Your Heart

This means eating foods that are low in fat, cholesterol and salt, while being rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Legumes, low-fat sources of protein and certain types of fish also can reduce your risk of heart disease.

Know Your Fats

Most people tend to think of all fat as “bad.” The truth is we actually require a certain amount of healthy fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated) in order to function and have a healthy heart and immune system. Saturated and Trans fats are the worst and should be limited or avoided all together. Both saturated and Trans fat increase the risk of coronary artery disease by raising blood cholesterol levels. There’s growing evidence that trans fat may be worse than saturated fat because unlike saturated fat, it both raises your low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or “bad,” cholesterol, and lowers your high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or “good,” cholesterol. Omega-3 fatty acids, a type of polyunsaturated fat, have been shown to decrease your risk of heart attack, protect against irregular heartbeats and lower blood pressure. Omega-3s are present in certain fish, flaxseed and walnuts.

Prevent High Blood Pressure

Almost 76% of people on blood pressure medicine could come off the drugs by simply including lifestyle actions such as healthy diet, regular physical activity and maintaining a healthy weight! While there is no silver bullet, these efforts will help you to keep normal blood pressure levels and come off or avoid blood pressure medicines completely! A meal plan low in sodium and rich in fruits and vegetables goes a long way towards long-term heart health.

Keep Your Homocysteine Levels In Check

Research now supports findings that homocysteine, a substance found in the body is a greater indicator of ones risk for heart disease than blood pressure and blood cholesterol. Getting plenty of B vitamins such as B6, B12 and folic acid can lower blood levels of homocysteines. Avoiding too much caffeine and consuming plenty of fruits and vegetables rich in colorful pigments called flavonoids and carotenoids are also shown to reduce homocysteine levels. In addition these pigments act as antioxidants that protect heart muscle by absorbing free radicals. Vitamin E and Coenzyme Q10 are particularly potent antioxidants, both of which have been shown in medical studies to be beneficial to the heart.

Maintain a Healthy Waistline and Body Fat

We all know now that obesity is a major risk factor for heart disease. So just what constitutes obesity? Our bodies are made up of water, fat, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals.

Obesity simply means that you have too much body fat. The size of your waistline is one way to estimate body fat. A high-risk waistline is more than 35 inches for women and more than 40 inches for men. Other methods for determining your percentage of body fat include professional measurement and skin fold tests and hydrostatic testing which will produce the most accurate body composition measurements. Carrying to much body fat increases your chances for heart disease and other health risks significantly. Through exercise, nutrition and attention to our lifestyles we can dramatically improve our quality of life and reduce our risks of heart related illness now and in the future.

Jim Stringer

NPTI Certified Trainer

Nutrition Coach