10 Easy Steps to a Healthy Heart

Even if you follow just the first seven (7) tips below (and don’t smoke, of course), you’ll reduce the chance of having a heart attack by as much as 90 percent compared to a typical person your age!

1. Walk 30 minutes a day every day, no matter what. Walking a half-hour a day decreases the risk of having a heart attack by 30 percent.

2. Know your blood pressure and do whatever it takes to get it down to 115/75. The best way? Getting little exercise and losing some belly fat.

3. Eat an ounce of nuts a day. Nuts raise HDL good cholesterol and decreases inflammation. They have a heart benefit independent of those too.

4. Learn your HDL number and do what you can to raise it to 50. We have no idea why, study after study shows that the higher the number, the better (50 is fine). Easy ways you can increase it: exercise; eat healthy fats, such as olive and canola oil and nuts.

5. Eat ten (10) tablespoons of tomato sauce a week. Tomato sauce is loaded with blood-pressure-slashing potassium.

6. Floss your teeth regularly.  Avoiding periodontal disease prevents inflammation in the arteries, which helps your head off heart disease. Most people don’t know that your oral health affects all your arterial health and that includes blood flow to the heart.

7. Eat no more than 20 grams of saturated fat a day and as little Trans fat as possible. Saturated fat and Trans fat lead to inflammation in the arteries.

8. Read labels and throw out all food that has sugar in the first five (5) ingredients. Don’t be fooled by foods that are low in fat but higher in sugar.

9. Eat nine (9) servings of colorful fruits and vegetables a day. Make sure you wash fresh produce carefully and thoroughly.