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Nine rules for a healthy heart

For the first time in years the rates of heart attacks are rising. What can you do to protect yourself? Peta Bee on the lifestyle changes that will make a difference.

How healthy is your heart? After decades of declining rates of heart attacks, experts from the University of Oxford warned that they were on the rise again in England, fuelled partly by obesity and unhealthy lifestyle habits. Researchers tracked adults aged 15 to 84 for more than 40 years, documenting 3.5 million hospital admissions for heart attacks, and found the groups that experienced the most marked increases were women aged 40 to 49 and men aged 15 to 34. Rates rose by 7 per cent a year for both groups.

A heart attack happens when the coronary arteries become blocked, affecting blood supply to the heart’s muscles. Starved of oxygen, the heart cannot pump properly and can stop beating. So what can we do to help keep our hearts healthy? Here we ask experts for the latest advice:

1. Watch your salt intake – most of us have too much

Research by Graham MacGregor, the chairman of the scientific campaigning group Action on Salt and professor of cardiovascular medicine at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine at Queen Mary University of London, has shown that too much salt in the diet is the main factor that increases blood pressure, which can lead to heart attacks. A high intake of salt makes it harder for your kidneys to remove fluid, causing a build-up of fluid in your system that increases blood pressure. MacGregor says this is responsible for many heart attacks every year. ‘‘Over time untreated high blood pressure can lead to a thickening of the heart muscle, which can reduce the effectiveness of the heart pumping action,’’ he says. ‘‘We should be aiming for no more than 6g of salt daily.’’

2. Cut down on cheese, red meat and processed meats

A diet that contains too many saturated fats is bad for your heart. ‘‘Too much saturated fat from butter, cheese and processed meats can increase the risk of developing high cholesterol, a risk factor for coronary heart disease,’’ says Joanne Whitmore, a senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation (BHF). Processed meats such as bacon and sausage not only contain saturated fats but are often high in salt. This year a study involving more than 19,000 participants showed that a higher intake of red or processed meat was associated with a greater risk of heart problems.

3. Eat fatty fish and use nut oils

The BHF advises that you choose seed or nut oils over butter and coconut oil to reduce the saturated fat in your diet and improve your heart health. And eating at least two portions of oily fish each week has been shown to help prevent heart attacks. In an analysis released in May of studies from more than 60 countries, researchers reported that the omega-3 fats in fish oil had a significant protective effect on heart health in those with existing cardiovascular disease.

4. Up your intake of kale, spinach and beetroot

A study this year involving 53,150 Danish participants (aged between 52 and 60) showed that eating at least one serving of green leafy vegetables providing 60mg per day of vegetable nitrate could significantly reduce the risk of hospital admissions for heart disease. Those who consumed the most nitrate-rich vegetables, such as kale, rocket, Swiss chard, spinach, romaine lettuce and beetroot, had lower blood pressure and up to a 26 per cent lower risk of heart disease. ‘‘Our results have shown that by simply eating one cup of raw – or half a cup of cooked – nitrate-rich vegetables each day, people may be able to significantly reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease,’’ said Catherine Bondonno from the Institute for Nutrition Research at Edith Cowan University in Australia.

5. Take up meditating

High levels of stress have been shown to cause a cascade of hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol that narrow the arteries and raise

blood pressure over time. ‘‘There isn’t enough solid evidence at present to suggest that stress alone causes heart disease, but if you cope with stress by turning to unhealthy habits such as smoking and drinking, your risk of a heart attack increases,’’ Whitmore says. ‘‘Activities such as mindfulness, meditation and yoga can help to modify stress.’’ A study released in 2012 found that people with heart disease who meditated every day had a 48 per cent lower risk of a heart attack when followed for more than five years compared with those who attended lessons in the importance of reducing stress. The meditators were asked simply to sit with their eyes closed for about 20 minutes twice a day practising the technique, allowing their minds and bodies to rest deeply while remaining alert.

6. Yoga: excellent for heart health

Downward dogs and tree postures are also thought to be beneficial for heart health. In research presented at the American College of Cardiology’s annual meeting this year, Dr Kenechukwu Mezue suggested that yoga helps by minimising stress signals in the brain that can raise the risk of a heart attack. And a paper in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in 2013 showed that twice-weekly hour-long gentle yoga classes had a calming effect that helped to prevent the speeding up or slowing down of heartbeat in people with an irregular heart rhythm (atrial fibrillation or AF).

‘‘Atrial fibrillation happens when electrical impulses in the top two chambers of the heart fire chaotically instead of in a steady and regular way, causing them to flutter,’’ Whitmore says.

7. Do two and a half hours of walking, swimming or cycling a week. . .

Cardiorespiratory fitness is a key factor in the prevention of heart attacks because it improves the efficiency of the heart, lungs and arteries. Any regular cardiovascular physical activity, from brisk walking to running and circuit classes to cycling and swimming, will gradually boost heart health. A study from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s Cardiac Exercise Research Group that was published in the European Heart Journal found that higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness halve the risk of a heart attack and poor cardiovascular fitness raises the risk even if no other symptoms are present. ‘‘Any form of exercise is going to have an immediate positive impact on your health and protect your heart for the future, whatever your age,’’ Whitmore says. ‘‘We recommended building up to a total of 150 minutes of moderateintensity aerobic activity each week – such as brisk walking or cycling – or 75 minutes of vigorous activity such as running.’’

8 . . .but don’t push yourself too hard

However, consistently pushing yourself to physical extremes is not good for the heart. The authors of a review published in the British

Journal of Sports Medicine recently found that competitive athletes were two and a half times more likely to experience irregular heart rhythms or AF than non-athletes. Athletes aged 55 and under were more likely to develop AF than older athletes, and those who participated in mixed team sports such as rugby, football and netball were at a higher risk than endurance athletes such as cyclists and runners. ‘‘If you have an underlying heart condition or any other health issue you should check with your doctor before embarking on a new exercise programme,’’ Whitmore says.

9. Stop smoking and vaping

It goes without saying that smoking cigarettes is a big risk factor for heart disease in men and women, with one large international study in The Lancet showing that it tripled the risk of heart attack. Nicotine can quicken heart rate and raise blood pressure. In the long term smoking makes the walls of arteries that carry blood to the heart become sticky, so that fatty materials stick to them, which can lead to a heart attack. Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine and release very similar toxic compounds to tobacco smoking, and a study published last year by Mohinder Vindhyal, an assistant professor at the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita, found that e-cigarette users were 56 per cent more likely to have a heart attack than those who do not use them or any tobacco products. ‘‘When we dug deeper we found that regardless of how frequently someone uses e-cigarettes – daily or just on some days – they are still more likely to have a heart attack or coronary artery disease,’’ Vindhyal said. ‘‘I wouldn’t want any of my patients or my family members to vape.’’

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2021-07-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-07-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

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