New Heart Healthy Guidelines for Women
The American Heart Association released new guidelines to help women and doctors decrease their risk of heart disease. It is estimated that American women are at much greater danger of heart disease or stroke than previously though, and they are urging physicians to focus on the long-term risk of high blood pressure, smoking, lack of exercise and overweight as risk factors, even if her current health seems fine. It is estimated that just one risk factor for a woman at 50 years old raises her chance of heart disease or stroke later in life. Only about 10% of all American women are free of any risk factor!
The guidelines are the result of the gathering of a large amount of evidence in women and were drafted by dozens of groups worldwide.
Here are the basic recommendations and questions for you to consider:
· Exercise at least 30 minutes a day, but if you want to lose weight, you need to exercise at least 60-90 minutes a day. How much exercise did YOU do last week? Studies have also found that breaking your exercise up into 10 minute pieces is just as effective as one 30-90 minute session.
· Eat mostly fruits, vegetables and whole grain and high fiber foods, fish at least twice a week, and little salt. Limit saturated fat to less than 7-10% of total calories and trans fats to less than 1% of calories. Limit alcohol to one or less drink per day. I know this is an area many people struggle with. Plus, people who followed the low carb diets may still be avoiding these foods that have been shown time and again to be helpful to not only heart health and cancer, but also weight control! How many servings of fruits and veggies did you eat last week? Start with a goal of 3 servings per day of a combination, and then expand into 5-10. It CAN be done! Don’t smoke. If you do, get help and quit, now.
· Weight recommendations are for a BMI (body mass index) of under 25. To find out what your BMI is, go to my resources page, http://www.megfit.com/resources.htm, and find ‘Assessment links to help you determine 'where you are'.
· More and more research supports the use of omega-3 fatty acid supplements (fish oils) to support a healthy heart. The AMA recommends supplementing if you already have heart disease, but discount the use of extra folic acid, vitamin E, vitamin C and beta carotene for heart disease prevention. Are you taking a fish oil supplement?
· Keep blood pressure and high blood cholesterol under control. The recommendation for the bad cholesterol, LDL, is to be under 100 if you are at high risk for heart disease and under 70 if you are at very high risk. Many doctors are advised to medicate to keep both of these conditions under control. Do you know what your blood pressure and cholesterol numbers are? You should!
· The most controversial recommendation by the AMA is that women should take a baby aspirin daily. As a consequence, always ask your physician before starting aspirin therapy because of the negative side effects from daily aspirin. Researchers have found that benefits of a daily aspirin usually don’t show up until a woman is over 65 years old. In fact, one 10-year study on aspirin for stroke prevention showed that only one additional cardiovascular problem among 35,000 women under 65, where 20 women had such significant bleeding that they required transfusions.
· Finally, it is recommended that women do not take estrogen or progesterone supplements to prevent heart disease. Several years ago, it was shown that taking menopausal hormones can actually raise the risk of heart disease as well as cancer.
If you are not exercising, if you tend to eat little fruits, veggies and whole grains, you’re not a fish eater, and you’re a bit, or a great deal overweight, now is the time to start making some changes in your lifestyle. If you smoke or drink and have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, you are taking an even greater gamble! Look at what little change you could make, today. It doesn’t have to be much. Maybe add one extra apple to your food intake! Maybe see who will walk with you at work. I know many people who have ‘unexpected’ heart attacks at a very young age. Everyone is surprised, but now we can’t say we didn’t know!
To read all the entire report, click here: http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/115/7/936
To learn more about YOUR risk, go to this site: http://www.goredforwomen.org/
The guidelines are the result of the gathering of a large amount of evidence in women and were drafted by dozens of groups worldwide.
Here are the basic recommendations and questions for you to consider:
· Exercise at least 30 minutes a day, but if you want to lose weight, you need to exercise at least 60-90 minutes a day. How much exercise did YOU do last week? Studies have also found that breaking your exercise up into 10 minute pieces is just as effective as one 30-90 minute session.
· Eat mostly fruits, vegetables and whole grain and high fiber foods, fish at least twice a week, and little salt. Limit saturated fat to less than 7-10% of total calories and trans fats to less than 1% of calories. Limit alcohol to one or less drink per day. I know this is an area many people struggle with. Plus, people who followed the low carb diets may still be avoiding these foods that have been shown time and again to be helpful to not only heart health and cancer, but also weight control! How many servings of fruits and veggies did you eat last week? Start with a goal of 3 servings per day of a combination, and then expand into 5-10. It CAN be done! Don’t smoke. If you do, get help and quit, now.
· Weight recommendations are for a BMI (body mass index) of under 25. To find out what your BMI is, go to my resources page, http://www.megfit.com/resources.htm, and find ‘Assessment links to help you determine 'where you are'.
· More and more research supports the use of omega-3 fatty acid supplements (fish oils) to support a healthy heart. The AMA recommends supplementing if you already have heart disease, but discount the use of extra folic acid, vitamin E, vitamin C and beta carotene for heart disease prevention. Are you taking a fish oil supplement?
· Keep blood pressure and high blood cholesterol under control. The recommendation for the bad cholesterol, LDL, is to be under 100 if you are at high risk for heart disease and under 70 if you are at very high risk. Many doctors are advised to medicate to keep both of these conditions under control. Do you know what your blood pressure and cholesterol numbers are? You should!
· The most controversial recommendation by the AMA is that women should take a baby aspirin daily. As a consequence, always ask your physician before starting aspirin therapy because of the negative side effects from daily aspirin. Researchers have found that benefits of a daily aspirin usually don’t show up until a woman is over 65 years old. In fact, one 10-year study on aspirin for stroke prevention showed that only one additional cardiovascular problem among 35,000 women under 65, where 20 women had such significant bleeding that they required transfusions.
· Finally, it is recommended that women do not take estrogen or progesterone supplements to prevent heart disease. Several years ago, it was shown that taking menopausal hormones can actually raise the risk of heart disease as well as cancer.
If you are not exercising, if you tend to eat little fruits, veggies and whole grains, you’re not a fish eater, and you’re a bit, or a great deal overweight, now is the time to start making some changes in your lifestyle. If you smoke or drink and have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, you are taking an even greater gamble! Look at what little change you could make, today. It doesn’t have to be much. Maybe add one extra apple to your food intake! Maybe see who will walk with you at work. I know many people who have ‘unexpected’ heart attacks at a very young age. Everyone is surprised, but now we can’t say we didn’t know!
To read all the entire report, click here: http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/115/7/936
To learn more about YOUR risk, go to this site: http://www.goredforwomen.org/
posted by Margie Geiser, MBA, RD, NSCA-CPT at
8:38 AM
1 Comments:
This is indeed a great post for over weight people who are trying to cut down on the extra flab and stay healthy. I loved the list of advise you have posted on your blog. It surely will be very helpful. Do drop by my blog too for some interesting stuffs.
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