3 Things You Can Do TODAY To Prevent Cardiovascular Disease

By following these three simple steps, you can reduce all of the modifiable risk factors for heart disease, heart attack and stroke. 

(Period, end of story, do these three things!)

1. Stop smoking.  If you smoke... QUIT.  If you live with someone who smokes... encourage them to quit!  It is hard to do, but it is even harder to recover from a heart attack, stroke or to live with heart disease.  So quit! The sooner the better.

2. Choose good nutrition. A healthy diet is one of the best weapons to fight cardiovascular disease. The type of food and the amount eaten can also control these other risk factors:

• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Cholesterol
• High Blood pressure

Choose nutrient rich foods (foods that have vitamins, minerals, and fiber) over empty foods.  Your diet should include:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Whole-grains
• High fiber foods
• Fish
• Lean protein
• Low-fat or fat-free diary products

You also have to throw in a bit of exercise to maintain a healthy weight.  You must use up all of the calories that you consume or your weight will steadily increase. 

3. Reduce blood cholesterol. Fat hanging out in your arteries is a disaster waiting to happen.  Sooner or later it could trigger a heart attack or stroke.  Reduce your intake of saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol and get moving!  If diet and activity alone don't get your numbers down, a medication may be the key.  Talk to your doctor about your cholesterol numbers and a plan to manage your cholesterol at your next appointment.

Here is a guideline of where your numbers need to be:

Total Cholesterol: Less than 200

LDL (bad) Cholesterol:

• Low risk for heart disease: less than 100 mg/dL
• Intermediate risk for heart disease: 100-129 mg/dL
• Borderline High Risk for Heart Disease: 130-159 mg/dL
• High Risk for heart disease including those with diabetes: 160-189 mg/dL

HDL (good) Cholesterol:

• Less than 40 mg/dL for men
• Less than 50 mg/dL

Triglycerides: Less than 150 mg/dL

There you have it. Three things that you can do starting today to help prevent and protect yourself from cardiovascular disease including heart attacks and stroke.

Quit smoking, Eat well, Lower cholesterol.

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