Three ways to protect your heart health
-- More than 30% of folks won’t get a flu shot this year.
-- U.S. adults spend nine and a half hours a day sitting or lying down.
-- A full 33% of American adults sleep six hours or less a night.
That’s the trifecta for heart woes. Below, a look at how reversing those common behaviors can protect you from cardiovascular disease and heart attack.
1. Get your flu shot, especially if you have a chronic condition such as heart disease. It may reduce your risk of heart attack by 26% and the risk of cardiovascular death by 33% according to three studies, the latest in Nature. The benefits may come from a reduction in inflammation, prevention of secondary infections associated with the flu, and ensuring stability of plaque in the arteries, which can become destabilized during the flu.
2. Stand -- and walk -in protest against sitting down. The international Prospective Physical Activity, Sitting and Sleep (ProPASS) consortium looked at data on more than 15,00 folks and found that replacing 30 minutes a day of sitting time with moderate to vigorous exercise significantly reduces your BMI and waist circumference, and lowers A1C readings -all important ways to protect your heart health.
3. Plan on sleeping more than six hours a night (but not more than eight). The Mayo Clinic says data on 3,000 adults ages 45 and older shows that folks who sleep fewer than six hours a night are at around double the risk for stroke or heart attack compared with people who sleep six to eight hours per night.
For in-depth info on how to adopt these heart-healthy habits, visit Longevityplaybook.com