How to Improve Your Heart Health
From diet, to sleep, to dental exams, board-certified cardiologist Dr. Mary Menz with Morris Hospital Cardiovascular Specialists says there are a number of ways we can improve our heart health through simple lifestyle modifications. Spend a few minutes with Dr. Menz to find out what you can do to take care of your heart.
What are some ways to live a heart healthy lifestyle?
Dr. Menz: It’s very important to follow a heart healthy diet as much as you can, including whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and seafood that is high in Omega-3 like salmon, cod and tuna. It’s also important to move. Any movement is better than no movement. Managing your weight is important, and of course, stop smoking if you are a smoker and don’t start if you’re not. Getting a good night’s sleep and making sure that you get adequate rest is also helpful. So is having good, regular dental care because your teeth play a very important role in heart health as well. And of course, it’s important to keep up with vaccines to limit the possibility of infectious diseases that can affect your heart health.
How does exercise help improve heart health?
Dr. Menz: Over the past 20 years, I have been telling everybody that they need to do aerobic exercise: walk, run, jog, swim, bike. In other words, do something that gets the heart rate up. And while that is true, research now shows that strength training is also important for heart health. Both aerobic exercise and strength training help reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, and they do that by helping keep blood pressure in the normal range. Additionally, both forms of exercise have a positive effect on cholesterol. They both help lower triglycerides, which are a type of lipid that negatively impacts the heart arteries. Aerobic exercise and strength training can also help increase HDL, which is a form of protective cholesterol that keeps the heart arteries healthy. Research shows that strength training may actually have a significantly bigger impact on HDL, or good cholesterol. I added strength training when I turned 50, and within one year, I saw my HDL cholesterol go from 40 to 60, which is a pretty impressive increase. I was very surprised with my bloodwork results because we usually expect a 20% increase in HDL with exercise and I experienced a 50% increase. And that HDL protective cholesterol is really, really important.
What about body fat?
Dr. Menz: Yes, exercise also helps reduce body fat, and specifically the amount of visceral fat, which is the fat that’s around our organs. Visceral fat is particularly dangerous as far as heart health goes. Regular aerobic and strength training exercise actually change your body composition by decreasing fat and increasing lean muscle mass, which in turn helps you stay healthy.
What’s the impact of exercise on mental health?
Dr. Menz: Exercise is very important for mental health. In one study, patients with mental health issues who were assigned to regular exercise had a significant improvement in their overall health as far as anxiety and depression when compared to people who had traditional care with medication and counseling. So regular aerobic exercise is critically important to your mental health as well. Not only does exercise help with brain chemistry, it also leads to better sleep. And if you have better sleep and better rest, overall you become a healthier person.
Dr. Mary Menz is a board-certified cardiologist with Morris Hospital Cardiovascular Specialists. She see patients at office locations in Channahon (Morris Hospital Ridge Road Campus) and Morris (Morris Hospital YMCA. Along with Dr. Menz, the practice includes Dr. Syed Ahmed, Dr. Mostafa Ghanim, Dr. Athar Saeed, and Nurse Practitioner Sherese Pruss. To schedule an appointment, call 815-705-1000.
