Here we’ll discuss how to gauge your risk for heart disease, what you can do to prevent it, and how to manage it once diagnosed.

February is American Heart Month, an awareness month for heart health. Heart disease is one of the leading causes of disability and death. The good thing though, there are lifestyle changes and habits we can create to significantly decrease our risk. 

Heart Disease Overview

Heart disease is a general term covering anything that decreases your heart’s ability to do its job properly. Your heart is an amazing muscle that provides the ENTIRE body with oxygen, has its own blood supply, and has an electrical system. If any of these systems go haywire, you have heart disease.

Risk Factors for Heart Disease

Like with any disease, there are modifiable risk factors and unmodifiable risk factors. Modifiable risk factors are risk factors that you can take action on. These are things like quitting smoking, eating healthier, drinking more water, and exercising. Non-modifiable risk factors are things like age, ethnicity, genetics, etc. 

Modifiable Risk Factors	Non-modifiable Risk Factors
Being sedentary, not getting enough exercise	Getting older
High-fat, high-sodium diet	Family history of heart disease
Smoking	Birth abnormality
High blood pressure	Being male
High cholesterol & low HDL
Obesity
Drinking too much alcohol

READ MORE: Lung Cancer – How to Decrease Your Risk Today! 

How to Check for Heart Disease at Home

I want to start off by saying that you should have a primary care doctor. They can talk to you about your risk factors, run labs that check your cholesterol, and listen to your heart. Depending on what their concerns are for you, they may even do an EKG which is a test that checks on the electrical system of your heart. 

However, in between your annual physicals, you can keep tabs on your heart at home without knowing how to use a stethoscope. A blood pressure machine can be found at relatively any pharmacy and many mainstream grocery stores for $20-$50. I get mine from Amazon. Click below to get yours ordered today!

DISCLOSURE: THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS, MEANING I GET A COMMISSION IF YOU DECIDE TO MAKE A PURCHASE THROUGH MY LINKS, AT NO COST TO YOU.

Take your blood pressure at rest and follow the instructions in the manual that came with your machine. Ideally, you want your systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure value) to be less than 120. 

So if you check your blood pressure regularly and it was always normal but lately it’s over 140, you should call your doctor. You don’t want to do that if it was one abnormal blood pressure. We’re looking at trends here. Do the same if the trend is that your blood pressure is getting lower and lower.

The same machine also checks for your pulse. That number should be between 60 and 100. Same principle here. If your trend is creeping up or down, talk to your doctor.

5 Actions You Can Take to Prevent Heart Disease

Prevention is emphasized a ton on Our Green Life. Prevention is and ALWAYS will be cheaper than treatment. Not all heart disease can be prevented. However, in the vast majority of cases, it can. 

1. Get a primary care practitioner and see them regularly. Ideally, you want to see them at least once a year. However, depending on your medical history, you might see them less often or more often.
2. Maintain healthy blood pressure and cholesterol. For most people, your blood pressure goal should be less than 120/80 and total cholesterol less than 200. 
3. Eat healthier! Don’t make it a chore. Just swap out some unhealthy items with healthy choices. 
4. Move more. Exercise for at least 30 minutes 3-5 times a week. You want to choose something you’ll enjoy so you can remain consistent. You also want it to be effective so make sure the activity you pick increases your heart rate for those 30 minutes.
5. Quit habits like smoking or excessive drinking. These dramatically increase your risk for heart disease and they are EXPENSIVE habits. Protect your heart and your $$$ at the same time by chucking these habits.

3 Treatment Food Recommendations for Heart Disease

What can you eat to decrease your risk for heart disease? Or maybe you already have heart disease and are looking to decrease your symptoms? Your diet can be enough to reduce your risk or symptoms if you catch it early enough. 

1. Eat more fiber. Fiber affects how food is digested so it can help decrease the amount of cholesterol your body absorbs and can help with weight management. Fiber can be found in fruit, vegetables, grains, and as a supplement. 
2. If you eat meat, choose leaner cuts. Some meats are naturally very lean, like venison. Others have leaner and fattier options. For example, chicken breasts and chicken thighs are both still chicken. However, chicken breast has way less fat. So whatever meat you prefer, just Google “lean cut of …” and pick it up instead during your next grocery run.
3. Eat more whole foods. Look at the nutrition label of the food you eat the most. Can you read and understand the ingredient list? If not, then it is likely completely processed and should be avoided as much as possible. Notice I didn’t say it should be eliminated. While avoiding it completely would be great for your heart, we want to create realistic and attainable goals. 

Heart Disease & African-Americans

February is also Black History Month. Diseases like hypertension (high blood pressure) and diabetes, which contribute to heart disease, are prevalent in the black community. Fortunately, in researching this article, I found that we are not the only ones at risk for heart disease. However, it is still important to work toward managing our risk factors and leaving a healthy legacy.

So let’s take advantage of American Heart month and make better choices to safeguard our hearts. Another great resource for more detailed information is MedlinePlus. It connects to reputable sources such as the CDC, the American Heart Association, and the National Library of Medicine.