How old is your heart? That may sound like a silly question, but there may be more to your heart health than your age. What you may not know is how other important health factors may be improving or harming your heart age. Your heart age can determine how much you’re at risk of a serious cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or a stroke.
Finding out your heart age
The most obvious factor in your heart age is your physical age. Heart age combines your actual age with other risk factors, such as:
- Cholesterol, specifically your HDL (“good cholesterol”)
- Weight
- Exercise routine
- Smoking habits
- Family history
The World Heart Federation offers a free Heart Age Calculator to determine your approximate heart age. Click here to calculate your Heart Age.
Making your heart feel young again
Thankfully, there are several steps we can take to lower our Heart Ages. Here are a few tips for helping your heart feel young again:
- Quit smoking. It can be very difficult to quit smoking, but it will help you enjoy many more years of life with those you love.
- Reduce stress – elevated stress level is one of the leading contributors to cardiovascular risks.
- Exercise regularly – both cardio exercises and weight-resistance exercises are extremely beneficial for improving heart health.
- Improve your diet – high total cholesterol, specifically LDL (“bad cholesterol”) is a notorious cause of cardiovascular disease. Increasing your HDL (“good cholesterol”) will naturally reduce your total cholesterol and lower your LDL.
- Focus on finding the right weight for your body. The bathroom scale is just a number and is not the healthiest gauge for your body type. Talk with your doctor to find the right weight range for your beautiful body. A healthy body weight can help your heart regulate its needs with putting unnecessary metabolic stress that can be associated with significant weight loss.
Hormone therapy is another excellent way to help your body stabilize throughout menopause. Healthy hormone levels allow your heart to be in balance with your body’s needs. Our ReVital care team created a FREE eBook available here to help you understand our different types of hormone replacement therapy for women. Download your FREE eBook today and schedule your next appointment today.