Better health in a heartbeat

How can I stop it happening?Show all

Some simple changes to your lifestyle can greatly reduce your risk of getting CHD, below are some suggestions

Avoid eating saturated fats Hide

Saturated fats, which are found mainly in dairy and meat produce, raise blood levels of LDL or 'bad' cholesterol. Bad cholesterol forms the fatty deposits that occur in atherosclerosis. Try and replace saturated fats in diet, like butter, with unsaturated fats, such as olive oil.

Reduce your total fat intake Hide

Cut down on the amount of fat you eat overall. It will help lower your risk of CHD, and you're also less likely to become overweight. Try eating more starchy foods such as pasta, rice or potatoes instead.

Eat more oily fish Hide

Oily fish such as mackerel, sardines or salmon contain a type of fat called omega-3. Some research suggests that eating omega-3 may reduce the risk of heart disease. Government advice recommends eating at least two servings of fish, or other sources of omega-3 fats, a week.

Eat your 5-a-day Hide

A diet high in vegetables and fruits lowers your risk of heart disease. Aim to eat at least five portions of fruit or vegetable every day. Try a glass of fruit juice with breakfast, having one or two portions of vegetables or fruit with each meal, and the occasional fruit snack.

Stop smoking Hide

Giving up smoking not only reduces your risk of developing heart disease, but also reduces the risk of many other serious illnesses, like cancer and emphysema.

Whatever your age, it's never too late to stop smoking. As soon as you do, your health will improve. Within one year of giving up, your risk of a heart attack is halved. Fifteen years after giving up, your heart attack risk falls to the same level as someone who has never smoked.

Giving up smoking isn't easy and you may need to try several times before you succeed. Passive smoking (inhaling smoke from nearby smokers) may also increase your risk of heart disease – you should try to prevent your exposure to this.

Have your blood pressure checked Hide

High blood pressure (hypertension) increases your risk of heart disease. High blood pressure usually has no symptoms, so you may not know you have it. If you’re 40 or over, you should get your blood pressure checked by your GP or a nurse. He or she will be able to tell you how often it should be measured.

 

Exercise Hide

Taking regular exercise is one of the best things you can do for your heart. Doing 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity on five or more days of the week halves your chance of developing heart disease. If you have a busy schedule, you can break up the 30 minutes into shorter sessions – it's the total time per day that you exercise for that counts.

Being physically active also helps you to maintain a healthy weight. This is because exercise burns calories and increases your resting metabolic rate.

 

Relax Hide

Some research shows that stress, anxiety and depression are linked with CHD. Learn some relaxation techniques, and if you think you are depressed or very anxious, talk to your GP.

Moderate drinking Hide

Moderate consumption of alcohol (between one and two units of alcohol a day) may help to reduce the risk of ischaemic heart disease in men over the age of 40 and women after the menopause. But drinking too much can damage your heart, causing high blood pressure, damage to your heart muscle and abnormal heart rhythms. If you have heart disease or a heart condition, you should talk to your cardiologist or GP about drinking alcohol.

A safe limit of alcohol for men is no more than three to four units of alcohol in any one day, and for women, no more than two to three units in a day.

Having one or two alcohol-free days each week is beneficial to your health. Binge drinking is not. If you haven't had any alcohol during the week, don't assume it's safe to drink 21 units (for men) or 14 units (for women) at the weekend.

The list below shows the number of units of alcohol in various drinks.

A pint of ordinary strength lager or bitter contains around two units. A pint of ordinary strength cider contains around two units. A 175ml (standard) glass of red or white wine contains around two units. A pub measure of spirits contains around one unit. An alcopop contains around one and a half units. Try to think about the number of units you drink. Some drinks may be stronger than you think. The labels of many bottled and canned drinks will tell you the number of units they contain.
 

Healthy eating Hide

A healthy diet can help prevent heart disease. Aim for a balanced diet, basing your meals on starchy foods with some dairy and non-dairy sources of protein, and plenty of fruit and vegetables. Limit the amount of salt, sugar and fat in your diet.

Choose healthy cooking methods (grill, bake, steam or microwave instead of frying), trim fat off meat and remove skin from chicken. Eating more fish may help to reduce your intake of saturated fat.
 

Maintaining a healthy weight Hide

Being overweight increases your chances of developing heart disease. Your GP will be able to advise if you need to lose excess weight. To lose excess weight you will probably need to follow an exercise programme, as well as eating healthily.
 

Reducing your cholesterol levels Hide

Reducing cholesterol levels in your blood can help you prevent heart disease. Eat a healthy, low-fat diet. Even if you already eat healthily, you may still have high cholesterol levels, particularly if other members of your family have high levels. As a last resort, you can use medicines to reduce high cholesterol and slow or even partially reverse the progress of heart disease.
 

Diabetes Hide

Diabetes (type 1 or type 2) puts you at high risk of heart disease. You're also more likely to have high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure. Diabetes can also increase the effect of other risk factors for heart disease, such as smoking and being overweight.

If you have diabetes, it's important to control your blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, to minimise your risk of heart disease.