Its National Heart Week: 28th April - 4th May 2019
Its National Heart Week: 28th April - 4th May 2019 The perfect opportunity to start the conversation about Heart Health and Heart Health Checks.
Did you know:
- Heart Disease is Australia’s biggest killer, taking 51 lives every day.
- One-fifth of Australians aged 45-74 years are at high risk of having a heart attack of stroke in the next five years.
- Heart disease kills one Australian every 28 minutes, many of these deaths could have been prevented.
What is a Heart health check? A Heart health check will assess how likely you are to have a heart attack or stroke in the next five years. Having a Heart Health Check can be a good way to take positive steps to protect and improve your health now and for the future.
What can you do now to improve your heart health? Having a healthy lifestyle is important. You can make positive changes by improving your diet, being active, quitting smoking and reducing your alcohol intake to improve your heart health.
Healthy eating for your heart includes:
- Variety of healthy protein sources including fish and seafood, lean meat and poultry, legumes, nuts and seeds
- Reduced fat dairy such as unflavoured milk, yoghurt & cheese
- Healthy fat choices with nuts, seeds, avocados, olives and their oils for cooking
- Herbs and spices to flavour foods, instead of adding salt
Maintain a healthy weight: It is important to maintain a healthy body weight because it can help lower your blood pressure and cholesterol and lower your risk of having a heart problem. The Heart Foundation recommends you aim for a waist measurement of less than: 80cm for females or 94cm for males. If you need to lose weight, speak with your doctor about how to do it in a healthy way.
Physical activity:Physical activity also helps manage heart health risk factors. Do at least 30-45 mins of moderate (e.g. brisk walking) or 15-30 mins of vigorous (e.g. running) physical activity 5 or more days of the week.
Smoking and alcohol: Smoking is a risk factor for heart disease. For help to stop smoking call Quitline (13QUIT, or quit.org.au). Drink no more than two standard drinks on any day and no more than four on any one occasion.
Thankyou to the National Heart Foundation for the information provided. Go to www.heartfoundation.org to find out more about your Heart Health.