Take care of your ticker

February is American Heart Month — a reminder to take care of it, both literally and figuratively. Just as the individual capacity for giving and receiving love is key to quality of life, the heart’s physical health is key to extending its quantity.

According to the 2019 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics reported by the American College of Cardiology on Feb. 19, 2019, heart disease remains the leading cause of adult death. Every 40 seconds an American has a coronary event — a heart attack or stroke. The average age for women is 65. For men, it’s 72.

What can you do? Plenty. While genetics do play a role, American Heart Association statistics in the report indicate we have a lot more control than we think. About 90 percent of stroke risk is due to “modifiable” risk factors and 74 percent is due to “behavioral” risk factors.

Those factors include blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, exercise, and fat. In other words, simply treat the body better and the risk of heart disease decreases.

Simple ways to lower risk of heart disease include:

- Exercise more. Doctors can’t repeat this enough.

- Don’t smoke. No matter how late you quit it can add to your life span.

- Eat poultry without the skin and bake it, don’t fry.

- Eat more fish and less beef. If you buy beef, choose the leanest option.

- Drink water, juice, or fresh-brewed tea instead of soda. Pretty soon you’ll stop missing it. As the body consumes less sugar it adjusts so you crave less.

- Avoid packaged, processed snacks (chips, cookies); their cholesterol and fat contents tend to be high. Again, the more fresh foods you eat, the more the body shifts cravings.

- Drink less alcohol. Recommendations are no more than one serving per day for women, or two for men. Note that’s “serving,” not a full glass. A serving is 8 to 12 ounces of beer (ales and microbrews have more alcohol, so they’d be less), 4 ounces of wine, and 1.24 ounces of liquor.

Portion sizes matter. A less frustrating way to lose weight without giving up favorite foods is to eat less at a time. After a few weeks of smaller meal portions the body feels more full with less food.

Hate exercise? Walk. A brisk, 20-minute walk daily improves heart function. Better yet, do it with a partner and nurture both “hearts.”

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Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at [email protected].