Causes of Coronary Heart Disease | ways to prevent your heart

Coronary heart disease strikes millions of women every year. The causes of coronary heart disease can be prevented, though, so educating yourself could be literally a lifesaver!

Let’s take a look at heart disease causes and ways to prevent heart disease.

Causes of Coronary Heart Disease

Because some of the causes for coronary heart disease include lifestyle issues, some of the ways to prevent heart disease may involve lifestyle changes. Some risks include:

• Unhealthy Eating
• Lack of Exercise
• Smoking
• Alcohol Abuse
• Heredity
• Age

While you can’t control either heredity or age, you can still prevent this fatal disease. But to do so, you need to change any unhealthy habits to healthy ones.

Eating For Your Heart

Like it or not, bad food choices are a major cause of heart disease. Eating for your heart’s health is the first step in preventing heart disease.

For the most part, you should pass on foods that contain large amounts of fat, sugars and/or preservatives. I know, that’s the American diet — to our detriment.

While it doesn’t mean you should totally ban convenience foods, candy, cake, french fries, etc., know that they can be causes of coronary heart disease if they are part of your regular diet.

Better choices to make include eating a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, choosing lean cuts of meat or non-meat protein sources. In addition, cut down on the caffeine and low-calorie sweeteners – drink water instead.

And there’s an additional benefit; this style of eating not only lowers your risk for heart disease, but also can help you to lose weight!

(You can read some more on this topic in the foods that lower cholesterol post.)

Alcohol and Heart Disease

The news here is mixed. Some studies indicate that a moderate amount of alcohol can be beneficial to heart health. For example, one glass of red wine a day seems to positively affect the body.

On the other hand, more alcohol than a glass of wine can have a negative effect on the heart. And if you have a hard time limiting your drinking, your best bet is to not start at all.

All the studies agree that too much alcohol stresses out the body too much, making the heart work harder. So a general rule of thumb is if you don’t usually drink, don’t start. If you can’t stop at one drink, don’t start. But if you can enjoy one glass of wine and not yearn for more, then enjoy.

Heart Disease and Smoking

Not only is smoking unhealthy and addictive, but it’s also a major cause of coronary heart disease.

If you smoke, you should truely consider quitting. If you can’t quit, then cut down — you’ll put less stress on your body and your pocketbook.

There are many options to help a smoker quit, including smoking cessation gums and patches as well as group therapy sessions. Quitting smoking greatly reduces your risk of heart disease.

Get Up, Get Moving

If you live a sedentary life, you’ve increased your risk of coronary heart disease. I know, your schedule is hectic and you don’t have time for exercise. But do you have time to prevent a heart attack that would destroy your schedule - and maybe your life?

Taking a brisk walk several times a week for thirty or so minutes’ duration can work to greatly improve your overall health and stamina. Don’t have a 30-minute period of time to devote? Try two 15-minute sessions if that fits in better. You don’t have to exercise like you were training for the olympics. You just need to get up and moving.

(However, if you’ve been really sedentary for a long time, check with your doctor before starting a new exercise program.)

Ways to Prevent Heart Disease

These are ways you can turn the odds in your favor, when it comes to ways to prevent heart disease.

However, you could also have a healthy lifestyle and you might still end up a victim of coronary heart disease if it runs in the family. That’s why getting a yearly checkup is so important. Early detection is one of the excellent ways to prevent heart disease.

Ladies, you get a regular mammogram and pap test, don’t you? Then why should you pay less attention to your heart?

Early detection of the causes for coronary heart disease can be a true lifesaver.