Heart Health
A healthy heart is fundamental to overall health and longevity. As a nod to American Heart Month in February, AgeProof Your Body took a deep dive into our favorite research regarding heart health.
What did we find?
Physical activity can promote a strong and resilient heart and body for years to come.
1. ❤️ Movement Essential for Heart Health
Physical inactivity is equivalent to (or perhaps even riskier than) heart problems.
In a landmark study from the 1950s, a group of researchers found that individuals with physically demanding jobs like mail carriers had approximately 50% lower rates of coronary heart disease when compared to the more sedentary jobs like bus drivers and desk clerks. 😮
These findings jumpstarted a worldwide interest in the relationship between physical activity and cardiovascular mortality.
Exercise-induced health benefits are seen with increased physical activity or structured exercise programs. These include the reduction of cardiovascular risk factors such as:
Hypertension
Body inflammation
LDL (“bad cholesterol”) levels
Blood sugar levels
Overall body fat, and more!
Sedentary behavior can be detrimental to our heart health! Keep moving to stay in your best health today.
2. ❤️ Wearables For Better Health?
Many people are walking around with supercomputers in their pockets or on their wrists. But to what extent does using these devices affect our health?
This article specifically looked at a population with cardiometabolic conditions, such as diabetes, prediabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. Researchers compiled data from 38 different randomized clinical trials with 4203 participants in total to determine that…
Yes, indeed! wearable activity trackers were associated with improvements in physical activity levels.
Some other areas of improvement included improved:
Body weight or BMI
Blood glucose level
Blood pressure
Cholesterol levels
Furthermore, they note that regular consultations with a health professional, in addition to wearable activity tracking, is an important factor to achieve full benefit. Check with your NVFP physician to see if a wearable may be a good choice for you!
3. ❤️ Exercise to Reduce Risk for Heart Disease
The bad news – Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. The good news? We know exercise consistently reduces your risk for heart disease. But, exercise also:
Reduce the likelihood of death from heart disease.
AND reduces the likelihood of developing it in the first place!
Big wins! So, no excuses – Let's get moving and improve your heart health today!
4. ❤️ Motivation to Invest in YOU!
Are you between 20-78 and in need of some motivation? Well, listen up!
It turns out that your fitness in mid-life (defined as 20-78 years old) just might be a predictor of your heart and lung health later in life. Training for a lifetime can reflect in a lowered risk for:
Hypertension
Diabetes
Cardiovascular disease
Chronic kidney disease
Mortality
What does that tell us? There's no time to waste. Exercise now pays dividends for years.
The running theme for these heart health articles?
Exercise can significantly reduce risk factors for poor health and cardiovascular disease – no matter who you are or what pre-existing conditions you may have. 🎉
Be sure to check out the AgeProof Your Body membership to get started with regular exercise programming made specifically for healthy and independent aging.
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