The eight habits for a healthy heart that could add years to your life
Adopting eight healthy lifestyle measures, such as regular physical activity and a good diet, can knock years off your biological age, according to a new study.
People who adhered strictly to the “Life’s Essential 8” checklist were far more likely to have good cardiovascular health – with better functioning heart, blood vessels and blood – the research found.
And people with good cardiovascular health, on average, had a biological age that was five years younger than their chronological, or actual, age, according to the research into 6,500 adults.
By contrast, people with poor cardiovascular health were an average of four years older than their chronological age.
Slowing biological aging reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke and other age-related diseases, such as dementia, while extending life.
“We found that higher cardiovascular health is associated with decelerated biological aging – as heart health goes up, biological aging goes down,” said Nour Makarem, of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York.
“Greater adherence to all Life’s Essential 8 metrics and improving your cardiovascular health can slow down your body’s aging process and have a lot of benefits down the line,” she said.
“Reduced biologic aging is not just associated with lower risk of chronic disease such as heart disease, it is also associated with longer life and lower risk of death.”
The American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8 checklist:
Eat Better
Aim for an overall healthy eating pattern that includes whole foods, lots of fruits and vegetables, lean protein, nuts, seeds, and cooking in non-tropical oils such as olive and canola.Be More Active
Adults should get 2.5 hours of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week. Children should have 60 minutes every day, including play and structured activities.Quit Tobacco
Use of inhaled nicotine delivery products, which includes traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes and vaping, is the leading cause of preventable death in the UK, including nearly 20,000 deaths from heart disease.Get Healthy Sleep
Most adults need 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Children require more: 10-16 hours for ages 5 and younger, including naps; 9-12 hours for ages 6-12; and 8-10 hours for ages 13-18.Adequate sleep promotes healing, improves brain function and reduces the risk for chronic diseases.
Manage Weight
Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight has many benefits. Body mass index (BMI), a numerical value of your weight in relation to your height, is a useful gauge.A BMI calculation in the healthy weight range is between 18.5 to 24.9.
To calculate BMI, divide your weight in kilogrammes by their height in metres squared.
Control Cholesterol
High levels of non-HDL (High-density lipoprotein), or “bad,” cholesterol can lead to heart disease.Your health care professional can consider non-HDL cholesterol as the preferred number to monitor, rather than total cholesterol, because it can be measured without fasting beforehand and is reliably calculated among all people.
Eat a healthy diet of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts, plant-based proteins, lean animal proteins like fish and seafood.
Limit sugary foods and drinks, red or processed meats, salty foods, refined carbohydrates and highly processed foods.
Manage Blood Sugar
Most of the food we eat is turned into glucose (or blood sugar) that our bodies use as energy. Over time, high levels of blood sugar can damage your heart, kidneys, eyes and nerves.As part of testing, monitoring hemoglobin A1c can better reflect long-term control in people with diabetes or prediabetes.
Manage Blood Pressure
Keeping your blood pressure within acceptable ranges can keep you healthier longer. Levels less than 120/80 mm Hg are optimal.High blood pressure is defined as 130-139 mm Hg systolic pressure (the top number in a reading) or 80-89 mm Hg diastolic pressure (bottom number).
Instead of a calendar to assess actual age, “phenotypic” age is a measure of biological age that is calculated based on your chronological age and factoring in the results of nine blood “markers”, such as glucose levels, that give an insight into the health of your metabolism, organ function and inflammation levels.
The study will be presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2023 meeting in Philadelphia.
The researchers note a limitation of the study is that the cardiovascular metrics were measured at only one point in time.
Therefore, changes in cardiovascular health were not measured, and their potential influence on phenotypic age over time could not be gauged.
