Healthy Diet and Lifestyle Cuts Heart Failure Risk
Two studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association confirm what experts have often repeated: a healthy diet and lifestyle cuts the risk of heart failure dramatically.
Both studies were carried out by Harvard Medical School, Boston. One study (led by Dr. Luc Djousse) examined data from 20,900 men, and the other (led by Dr. John P. Forman) analysed of data from 83,882 women.
The men's study identified a number of key positive factors:
Maintaining a normal body weight, not smoking, regular exercise, moderate alcohol intake, consumption of breakfast cereals, and consumption of fruits and vegetables.
Men who managed four or more of these had a 10.1% risk of heart failure, whereas men who had none of these factors had double the risk at 21.2%.
The women's study looked at similar factors, though with a different focus on supplementation, and taking into account the use of pain medication:
Normal body weight, vigorous exercise for an average of 30 minutes per day, consuming a healthy diet, modest alcohol intake, use of pain medications less than once per week, and use of supplemental folic acid, a form of vitamin B.
If you put the two together, it may seem like a lot to stick to. But, one crucial point to note is that in the female study, one factor provided the most reduction in heart-disease and high blood pressure risk: normal body weight.
The factor with the single greatest impact on high blood pressure was body weight. Women who were obese were 4.7-times more likely to develop high blood pressure than were women of normal body weight.
If you have a medical history of high blood pressure, establishing and maintaining a healthy body weight is one of the best things you can do to cut your risk.
It just seems like common sense to me. If you eat better, move, don't smoke, maintain normal weight etc. then you should have lower blood pressure & be healthier in most cases.
ReplyThat's the thing Jody, a lot of the 'findings' from this kind of research is nothing but common sense!
ReplyI think it's useful to actually run these studies and come up with hard numbers.
You call it "common sense", but a lot of people still don't know this stuff. Also, a lot of people have this mentality that because they know some 90-year-old who smokes, drinks, and eats fast food all the time, that this one individual negates all the evidence that these habits are bad for you.
ReplyI agree! Make the best choices for yourself rather than getting influenced by all the advertising and hype companies bombard us with.
ReplyWeight Loss and healthy eating is about learning good habits and following a healthy lifestyle.
Besides maintaining a normal body weight, I think working out regularly is a huge factor in having normal blood pressure. If you don't regularly use your arteries by exercising, they don't move much and they can stiffen up...use it or lose it, folks!
But yeah, most of those risk factors are just plain ol' common sense. Notice that reduced sodium intake isn't on either list...I'm pretty sure high sodium exacerbates hypertension more than it causes it.
ReplyI get "consumption of fruits and vegetables", but I'm not sure why "consumption of breakfast cereals" is as important. Is the goal just to make sure you have enough fiber in your diet?
I just realized I meet four of the key positive factors, but I do believe getting myself to a healthy body weight will help the most with high blood pressure. I hope the exercise helps, too!
ReplyI agree. Take your health into your own hands and plan out a productive and fun exercising type...don't pay attention to all the advertisements and catchers, they will only distract you from what YOU really need to do for yourself.
TH
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