Healthy Living Tips

Prevention is the best medicine. It’s not hard, expensive, or time-consuming to start living a healthy lifestyle and reduce your risk of heart attack or stroke. It’s actually easier than you think.

The key is to start small and start soon. Our Preventive Cardiology team offers these tips for living a heart-healthy lifestyle that won’t cost you a lot of time or money.

Reduce Stress

Relax. Stress and anxiety can have deleterious effects on your health, both directly and indirectly. While stress itself may not be a risk factor, it can lead to increased blood pressure or cholesterol. It can also lead to unhealthy behaviors such as overeating and not exercising. You may not be able to remove stress from your life completely, but yoga, breathing exercises, meditation, and other activities can help reduce stress or its effects.


Obesity affects one-third of the population and is an important risk factor to control; it may cause heart disease by itself, with no other risk factors. Obesity can also contribute to many other risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and more. Your body mass index (BMI), which is based on your weight and height, is a more precise indicator of obesity than weight alone.

Calculate your BMI online. A BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered to be normal, 25 to 29.9 is overweight, and 30+ is obese.


Eat healthy to be healthy. There are certain ingredients that are more trouble than they’re worth when it comes to your heart – sodium, saturated fats, and trans fats being chief among them. These fats can raise your cholesterol and increase your risk of heart disease. So, read food labels and limit your daily intake to about 1,500 milligrams of sodium (opt for low-sodium foods when they’re available), 16 grams of saturated fat and no trans fats. Many people don’t realize that certain foods they think are heart healthy, such as some protein bars, can have a large amount of saturated fat.

Go organic when you can. Not only do organic foods taste better, they’re also better for you. In the past, fresh, organic produce may have been too expensive to consider or too hard to find, but its popularity has led to cheaper prices and increased availability. (Try some heart-healthy recipes.)

Just as important is how much you eat. Take steps to maintain portion control, such as eating slowly and waiting a few minutes after one serving before helping yourself to seconds.


Exercise can minimize many of the risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Try to exercise five days a week for at least 30 minutes each day. Even three days a week is a good start. Push yourself, but avoid overdoing it, since overly strenuous exercise can lead to injuries.

If you can’t make it to the gym, find other ways to break a sweat:

  • Park your car farther away to make a longer walk.
  • Take a stroll through the neighborhood. Brisk walking alone has been shown to lower your risk of heart disease.
  • Take the stairs instead of the elevator.


Know your family’s medical history. Hereditary factors may affect your future health. For instance, if a close relative has suffered a heart attack or stroke, you will have a higher risk for heart disease. The closer the relative, the higher your increased risk. Advancements in the genetics of heart disease, led by UT Southwestern’s Helen Hobbs, M.D., and others, have helped diagnose and treat heart disease in its earliest stages – and sometimes before it develops.

Moderating Alcohol

Cheers to your health – within reason. Research has shown that one glass of wine a day (up to two glasses for men) can help reduce the risk of heart disease. And health benefits have been found in both red and white wines. But when it comes to alcohol, more is not better. In addition to other obvious dangers, excessive alcohol intake can increase triglycerides.

Stop Smoking

Cigarette smoking is associated with breathing disorders and lung cancer, but research has proven that cigarette smoking is also a major cause of coronary artery disease and contributes to 20 percent of all deaths related to heart disease. Cigarettes damage the heart by decreasing oxygen to the heart muscle and increasing blood pressure, heart rate and blood clotting. Smoking also damages the cells that line your blood vessels.

Quitting smoking can prolong your life by reducing your risk of fatal disease. And, if that weren’t enough, you will also benefit by looking and feeling better and saving money. A monthly gym membership or a massage are typically less expensive than most cigarette habits. Out with the bad, in with the good! Your heart – and the people who love you – will thank you.


Your statistics tell your story. Your weight, cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, and other important measurements can be indicators of heart disease risk. They can also help you track your success. For instance, a blood pressure reading of less than 120 over 80 or less is normal, while ≥ 140 over ≥ 90 indicates hypertension, which should be addressed. For cholesterol, anything less than 200 is preferred, 200 – 239 is borderline, and over 240 is high risk.