7 Heart Healthy Tips For All Ages, Most Importantly: Keep Blood Pressure

Illustration of tips for keeping a healthy heart (Pexels/Jens Mahnke)

JAKARTA – High blood pressure increases the risk of heart disease. According to the American Heart Association, nearly half of all adults in the United States have hypertension. The condition is associated with stroke, heart attack, vision loss, and heart failure.

The American Heart Association (AHA), reported by Healthline, Friday, January 28, also summarizes Life's Simple 7 that is done in your 30s can reduce the risk of high blood pressure in your 40s. This is evidenced in a study involving 30,000 adults in the United States, 42 percent of whom developed hypertension during the 9-year study.

According to Academy of Nutrition and Dietitics spokeswoman Caroline West Passarrello, MS., RDN., LDN., actions taken today have an impact on health today and for years to come. To be a guide and help take good care of the heart, here are guidelines for managing high blood pressure, cholesterol, nutrition, and other healthy lifestyles.

Illustration of tips for keeping a healthy heart (Pexels/Gustavo Fring)

The AHA's health metrics model considers health behaviors and factors such as:

Body mass index (BMI) Diet Smoking Physical activity Blood pressure Cholesterol Blood sugar

Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, ScM. FAHA., chair of the department of preventive medicine at Northwestern University and president-elect of the AHA developed the Life's Simple 7 criteria scale above. He also considers stress and sleep on the list of Life's Simple 7.

The factors used to measure stress are very difficult. But according to Lloyd-Jones, we can rely on a normal blood pressure measure. Stress factors also vary, the effect is the tendency to not eat healthily, do not do physical activity, do not sleep, and have implications for body weight and blood pressure.

Lloyd-Jones says, you don't need to tackle the 7 points above to get significant health benefits.

“Choose what you are ready to work on today and improve it, and it will have real benefits for your health,” Lloyd-Jones says.

Lloyd-Jones also adds, in some people intermittent fasting will be effective for limiting calories in a sustained period of time. But for others, who find it difficult to fast intermittently, he suggests eating between noon and 8pm.

For those of you who smoke, reduce first to finally quit. Because, quitting smoking can reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke by half.

Experts also recommend doing the DASH diet (Diet Aproaches to Stop Hypertension), because this diet has a flexible approach. Passarrello provides a hint that the DASH diet doesn't limit what foods are and aren't. But recommend heart-healthy foods that include vegetables, fruits, whole seeds, nuts, fish, lean poultry, and healthy oils.

By focusing on Passarrello's food recommendations above, you can naturally limit your sodium intake. You're also likely to avoid processed red meat, processed foods, and sweets.