How to Stay Heart Healthy

Heart disease is consistently the leading cause of death for men and women in the U.S. As such, it’s essential that you work to prioritize your heart health in every way that you can and become knowledgeable on your cardiac risk factors. If you have regular visits to your cardiologist, you already know how important taking care of your heart is. If you’re not used to visiting a cardiac specialist, some of this may be new, helpful info for you. Below, we’ll cover some tips for keeping your heart healthy and the importance of “knowing your numbers” for cardiac risk, courtesy of the cardiology experts at Cameron Hospital.

At Cameron Cardiology, we believe early detection and prevention are essential to ensuring heart healthy lives. Important numbers to know are, cholesterol, ejection fraction and blood pressure. Cameron Cardiology can help you get and understand these numbers and understand your risks of heart disease.

Develop and Maintain Healthy Eating Habits

Healthy eating habits are a crucial part of your overall health, especially so for heart health. Most people know the basics: eat fruits and vegetables, avoid excessive sugar and caffeine intake, drink water, etc. But healthy eating habits extend far beyond the basics, and developing a strong, healthy diet can go a long way to improving your heart health. Here are some healthy eating habits you should practice to help your heart:

  • Avoid trans fat, eat healthy fats
  • Limit salt intake
  • Limit sugar intake
  • Limit Caffeine
  • Eat plenty of plant-based foods
  • Eat plenty of fish high in Omega-3 fatty acids.

Making these small, but impactful, changes to your diet is a good first step towards living a more heart healthy life.

Make Better Lifestyle Choices

Whether you’re visiting your primary care doctor, or going to see a provider, you’re bound to hear your provider talk with you about making healthy lifestyle choices. These changes can be in the form of exercise, diet (which we’ve covered), or habits like smoking. To better your heart health, you should make healthier lifestyle choices, such as:

  • Exercising regularly
  • Getting proper amounts of sleep each night
  • Quitting smoking / Avoiding secondhand smoke
  • Cutting down on alcohol intake
  • Maintaining proper oral hygiene
  • Reducing stressors in your life

While some of these may be harder than others, it’s important to take these very seriously. Habits like smoking and excessive drinking can have severely negative impacts on your life, in more areas than just your heart.

Schedule Regular Visits With Your Doctors

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle and bettering your heart health doesn’t stop at home. It’s crucial that you also schedule regular doctor visits, with both your primary care doctor and any providers, like a cardiologist, so that you can get annual health screenings. It is important to keep these appointments and take your medications as directed. Annual health check-ups with your healthcare provider ensure you’ll have up-to-date information regarding important heart-related aspects of your health. Health screenings and diagnostic tests that are critical to understanding your heart health include:

  • Type 2 diabetes screenings
  • Blood pressure
  • Cholesterol levels
  • Heart Rhythm (EKG) or event monitors
  • Stress testing
  • Cardiac Ultrasound

Stay Heart Healthy With the Cardiology Team at Cameron Hospital

Ready to start living a healthier, heart-happy life? The team at Cameron is ready to help you start living your best life. If you’d like to schedule an appointment with one of our providers, don’t hesitate to contact our offices today!

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