Don’t stop at just five changes to protect yourself from heart disease. Here are some more things you can do to help lower your risk of heart disease.
- Watch your cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, and triglycerides. Keep a copy of your blood work from annual check ups. LDL cholesterol should be under 100 mg/dL; HDL cholesterol should be 50 or above. Blood pressure should be 120/80 or lower. Fasting blood sugar should be 100 mg/dL or lower. Triglycerides should be under 150 mg/dL.
- Stay active! Physical activity can reduce every controllable risk factor for heart disease. Just ten minutes of cardio most days of the week can cut a sedentary person’s heart attack risk in half. Add interval training and see your heart disease risk drop by twenty percent in just two weeks.
- Keep your teeth healthy. Doctors from Columbia University have found that people who have lots of gum disease-causing bacteria are more likely to have plaque clogging their arteries. Brush and floss and get regular check ups — gum disease can raise your risk of heart disease.
- Try a Mediterranean diet that includes olive oil, leafy greens, whole grains, nuts, fruit, fish, tomatoes, and red wine. These foods have a healthy blend of good fats, antioxidants and other good stuff that can help protect your heart.
- Get the right tests. A C-reactive protein (CRP) test can measure inflammation in your artery walls. A high sensitivity test can help rule out other possible causes of inflammation, like arthritis, infection, and injury. A baseline heart scan can measure coronary artery calcium — a number that relates to the total amount of plaque in your arteries. A detailed 64 slice CT scan can pick out soft plaque, which is full of cholesterol and more likely to rupture and lead to a heart attack.