Healthy heart tips

Be active. Physical fitness is more important than smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes in preventing death from cardiovascular disease. For example, it has been shown that walking briskly for three hours a week, or exercising vigorously for 1.5 hours, will reduce coronary heart disease risk in women by 30% to 40%. Moderate levels of physical activity can lead to a 20% decrease in the risk for stroke or death from stroke. Also, walking 30 minutes a day can help keep two to three pounds of weight off, and take almost a inch off the waistline.

Stop smoking. Smoking triples the risk of dying from heart disease among middle-aged men and women. Nearly 160,000 men and women in the United States die from cardiovascular disease attributed to smoking every year. Half of all continuing smokers will die prematurely as a result of their habit. Passive smoking can lead to progression of cardiovascular disease.

Eat well. The American Heart Association recommends that you keep your intake of total fat to between 25 percent and 35 percent, your saturated fat consumption to less than 7 percent and your intake of trans fat to less than 1 percent of your total daily calories. Eating well can decrease cholesterol levels and prevent high blood pressure and obesity, among other benefits.

Lose weight. You are obese if you weigh 30 or more pounds over your ideal body weight (about 175 pounds for an average build, 5'10" male). Obese people have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

Watch your blood pressure. Nearly one in three U.S. adults has high blood pressure, but because there are no symptoms, nearly one-third of these people don't know they have it. Your goal is less than 120/80 mmHg (systolic pressure/diastolic pressure). Each increase in systolic blood pressure of 20 units (mm Hg) or an increase of diastolic pressure by 10 mm Hg doubles the risk of a fatal coronary event. Blood pressure can be lowered in many ways, including by proper diet, exercise, weight reduction or medication.

Know your cholesterol levels (and keep them low). High cholesterol levels are associated with fat deposits in the arteries and blockages that cause heart and cardiovascular disease. Levels to shoot for: cholesterol less than 200, LDL less than 160 (and as low as 100 if you are at high risk for heart disease), HDL of 40 or higher, and triglycerides less than 150. These levels can be reached with proper diet, exercise and/or medication.

Take it easy. Young adults who react to psychological stress with spikes in blood pressure are more likely to have high blood pressure when they are in their 40s.

If you drink, do it in moderation. If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation (no more than one drink a day for women, no more than two for men). Drinking too much alcohol can raise the levels of some fats in the blood (triglycerides) to unhealhy levels, and can also lead to high blood pressure, heart failure and obesity.

Treat or prevent diabetes. People with diabetes are two to four times more likely to develop cardiovascular disease due to a variety of risk factors, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, obesity and lack of physical activity, and cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of diabetes-related death.

Watch your salt consumption. To combat high blood pressure and for overall cardiovascular health, also limit sodium to 2,300 mg or less per day. Some people - African Americans, middle-aged and older adults, and people with high blood pressure - need less than 1,500 mg per day.