Small changes in our lifestyle often lead to big results. Many of the jobs that exist today are sedentary. People spend 8-10 hours sitting in front of a computer and forget to get up and stretch their joints. At the same time, the stress from modern life can affect how we eat and sleep. The combination of these factors produces an unhealthy lifestyle.
There are many changes we can make to have a healthier lifestyle and a healthier heart. From the use of medical devices to increasing our sleeping hours, there are many questions around this topic that need to be answered. This is why we have partnered with Andrea Paul, MD, so she can explain to us how we can achieve better heart health through small changes in our lifestyle.
What are the benefits of medical devices for peoples’ heart health?
More health data is always beneficial, especially in regards to patient monitoring. Medical devices help patients track health data that their doctor can analyze to ensure they’re healthy or schedule a checkup if some of their device readings seem off.
The family of Qardio devices works directly with the Qardio App. This app helps you store all your health data so you can share it with your doctor and take action when needed. For more information, about Qardio devices, please visit the Qardio store.
What can people do in their day-to-day to strengthen their heart health?
Get up and walk or stretch every 60 minutes
If you work a sedentary job, it’s important for cardiovascular health to avoid extended periods seated with no movement. Getting up for a short walk or a stretch every hour is a simple but powerful habit you can build to improve your cardio health without any discomfort. It can be as simple as walking to a water cooler across the office, or standing up and stretching right at your desk.
Eliminate trans fat intake
Trans fatty acids are known to be inflammatory and may increase the risk of atherosclerosis, which is the thickening or hardening of the arteries caused by an obstruction in the inner lining of an artery. When you see”hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated” oils on the ingredients list of food you’re purchasing, avoid them. These ingredients contain trans fats and are often found in vegetable oil, margarine, peanut butter, and many processed foods.
Start swimming for cardio
Swimming is one of the best cardio exercises, especially for older adults, as it’s relatively low-impact on the joints. Swimming can also help patients train their breathing because of the extended periods without breath, and rhythmic breathing involved.
What are the potential negative effects of unhealthy lifestyle habits?
Unhealthy lifestyle habits like poor diet, poor sleep, and lack of exercise over long periods of time increase the risk of cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke. In the short term, failing to look after your heart health can make everyday activities like walking up a flight of stairs a challenge that’s uncomfortable.
What is one of the most common lifestyle mistakes people make that affect their heart health?
Lack of quality sleep is one of the biggest mistakes patients make. Nowadays there are so many distractions, and it’s easy to stay up staring at a screen emitting blue light like a phone before bed, which is proven to negatively impact sleep. Patients should be aiming for 8 hours of sleep nightly.
Achieving better heart health is simple. It just requires identifying which aspects of our daily life have a negative impact on us and starting to make small changes. You can start only with a few and then add more as time goes by. You will start feeling better in the short term and this will motivate you to make more healthy changes. At the end of the day, your body and heart will thank you for your efforts.
Andrea Paul, MD is a physician entrepreneur, advisor, and venture capitalist in the digital health space with over a decade of experience. She is a co-founder of several healthcare companies, including BoardVitals (an Inc. 500 company). Andrea is also the founder of Health Media Experts and an advisor and mentor for several healthcare startups and accelerator programs. Andrea is also Medical Advisor at Illuminate Labs, a supplement company and health media publisher.
