Heart disease prevention tips

There is no mysterious ancestral recipe for heart disease prevention. The core is to adjust the four dimensions of diet, exercise, sleep, and emotion to suit your body without forcibly violating your living habits. Coupled with regular basic screening, more than 90% of premature heart disease can be avoided.

I just met a 42-year-old programmer during a follow-up visit in the Department of Cardiology last week. Last year’s physical examination revealed 30% coronary calcification. He was so scared that he didn’t dare to go to work. He bought a bunch of imported health products and ate them at home. Later, he went to the director and asked him to stop all the health products and adjust his daily habits. After six months, he checked again. Not only did the calcified plaques not progress, but the blood lipid indicators had all returned to the normal range.

When it comes to eating, in fact, the academic community has always had different opinions. Some studies recommend a vegetarian diet to reduce blood lipids, while some ketogenic enthusiasts say that low-carb water is the core of heart protection. The unified view of more than a dozen veteran cardiology experts I have contacted is: there is no need to go to extremes. There was a 60-year-old aunt who heard someone say that she eats vegetarian food to protect her heart. She cooked vegetables with white rice for every meal. However, her triglycerides tripled after being checked for half a year. When I asked her, I found out that she put three spoons of peanut oil in every meal of cooking and mixed the soup with rice. The calories were higher than braised pork. If you really want to focus on small details, you can spend two yuan to buy a 2-gram salt-limiting spoon. Don’t eat more than two and a half spoons of salt a day. It will be more effective than any other salt-control recipe. By the way, there has been a debate about "drinking red wine to protect the heart" for more than ten years. On one side, it is said that resveratrol can soften blood vessels, and on the other side, it is said that even a small amount of drinking will increase the burden on the cardiovascular system. My suggestion is: if you like to drink, don't exceed 2 ounces of low-alcohol red wine per week. If you don't like to drink, there is no need to force yourself to "protect the heart". The gain outweighs the loss.

After talking about eating and then chattering, more people will step into the trap. Last month, there was a 68-year-old man. He heard that climbing stairs can lower blood lipids, so he climbed 20 floors every morning and evening. After climbing for half a month, he suffered an angina pectoris attack and was sent to the emergency room. He only recovered after a stent was placed. In fact, the higher the intensity of exercise, the better. For people who already have coronary artery stenosis and unstable blood pressure, if you ask them to run five kilometers a day, it will not only protect their hearts, but also harm their lives. There are also people who are confused about whether it is better to exercise in the morning or in the evening. They have been arguing for many years. There is really no need to worry. If your blood pressure is stable when you wake up in the morning and you are not dizzy, then go out for a walk and do Tai Chi. If you have morning high blood pressure, rest for half an hour after dinner before going out for a walk. What suits you is the best. Even if you sit in the office every day, standing up every hour to get a glass of water and stretch for two minutes is much more effective than doing two hours of unannounced fitness training on weekends.

Many people don’t know that sleep has a much greater impact on the heart than you think. I met a 27-year-old planner before. He stayed up all night to catch up on the plan, and slept for 12 hours the next day. When he woke up, he felt flustered and couldn't stand. His electrocardiogram showed frequent premature ventricular contractions. His biological clock was out of whack, causing his heart to beat wildly. Nowadays, everyone is talking about getting enough 8 hours of sleep. In fact, it is not absolute. Some people are born with a short sleep constitution. They can still be energetic during the day after sleeping for 5 hours a day. There is no need to force yourself to lie down for 8 hours. Lying tossing and worrying, it will hurt the heart more than sleeping less than two hours. Here’s a tip: Don’t watch those short videos that startle you one hour before going to bed. Your sympathetic nerves will be so tight that you won’t be able to calm down even if you lie down for half an hour. Play some soft music and flip through two pages of a book, and you’ll fall asleep much faster.

Finally, let’s talk about the most easily overlooked one: emotions. There used to be a 45-year-old eldest brother who was known as a good-natured man and always swallowed any grievances he had. Last year, he had been holding back his anger for half a month because of his child's admission to school. He had a heart attack and was sent to the emergency room, where two stents were placed. There are two opinions on emotional regulation. One group says that you should stay calm and avoid fluctuations, while the other group says that if you have emotions, you should release them and don't hold them in. I think the latter is more realistic. When you are wronged, you can go to a friend to scold you or cry when you are unhappy. It is much better than holding it in your heart. By the way, there’s another little detail that many people don’t take seriously: don’t hold your urine in. Especially for the elderly, if they get up in a hurry in the early morning and their blood pressure suddenly spikes, it is easy to cause heart problems. It is much safer to sit down for 30 seconds before standing up in the middle of the night.

To put it bluntly, the heart is just a "silly guy" that follows your rhythm. If you don't act on it, it will generally not get angry casually. Those exclusive tips that sound mysterious are not as practical as eating well, sleeping well, and not competing with yourself. Annual physical examinations include blood pressure, blood lipids, and electrocardiograms. If you are over 40 years old and have a family history of heart disease, get a coronary CT scan. Early detection of minor problems and early adjustments are more effective than any subsequent rescue.