What to cut out
Smoking: If you still smoke, give up now. Smoking is a sure way to develop heart disease. It kills thousands of South Africans this way annually, and passive smoking is just as dangerous. If you’ve tried to quit and can’t, get help.
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What to reduce
Salt:Your intake of sodium should be less than one teaspoon per day. Any salt will elevate your blood pressure levels.
Booze: If you drink alcohol, drink no more than three than tots per day.
Fat: The Heart Foundation says that fat should comprise no more than 30% of your total daily energy intake. If you already have heart disease that percentage should be even lower.
Do this, if you aren’t already
Control your weight: A weight loss programme will significantly reduce your chances of heart trouble.
Eat fibre-rich complex carbohydrates: Fresh foods, especially those rich in fibre. Aim for no fewer than five servings per day. Develop a taste for cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and brussels sprouts, which are an excellent source of antioxidants.
Work up a sweat: Exercise can reduce the risk of a heart attack by up to 50 percent - more than the best cholesterol-lowering drug can accomplish. And you won’t need to be a triathlete, although becoming one might mean bumping into Dominique Donner. Start with an easy exercise such as walking, then introduce two or three 15-minute workout intervals to your day. Working toward the optimal amount: 45 minutes of perspiration-promoting exercise, four or five times a week.
Go green: Green tea contains potent antioxidants that reduce cholesterol and even may lower blood pressure. To make a day's supply, boil two a litre of water, drop in three green tea bags (decaffeinated if you can find them), cover, and steep for 10 minutes. Remove the tea bags and refrigerate. Take a flask with you to work and sip at it throughout the day.
Develop an Italian habit: Substitute olive oil for butter or margarine at the table, drizzle it on salads, and use it to replace vegetable oils in baking wherever possible. Buy only cold-pressed, extra-virgin oil. It retains more of the olive's heart-healthy antioxidants than the other sorts.
Go nuts. It’s been shown those who eat more than five ounces of nuts a week are a third less likely to have either heart disease or a heart attack. Just don't overdo - nuts can make you fat.
Spread it around: Cutting out butter and margarine in favour of the new cholesterol-lowering spreads.
Take to fish. Meat's saturated fat will clog your arteries. On the other hand, fatty fish such as salmon and mackerel are loaded with the omega-3 fatty acids that will help your heart maintain a steady rhythm. Having just one fish meal each week may reduce your risk of death from an unexpected heart attack by half.
Eat roughly: The more fiber you eat, the less likely you are to have a heart attack. Fill up on whole grain breads and cereals that contain oats, whole wheat and wheat bran. Add beans to casseroles, soups and salads.
Juice up: Orange juice contains folic acid to help lower your levels of a heart attack risk factor called homocysteine. Grape juice is loaded with flavonoids, potent antioxidants that may discourage red blood cells from grouping together and forming the kind of artery-blocking clot that can trigger a heart attack.
Take flax seed: Flax seed oil is one of the most potent sources of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Studies in Canada show that adding flax seed to your diet can reduce the development of heart disease by 46 percent, while helping to keep red blood cells from clumping together and forming a clot that can block an artery.
Have a snort:Research overwhelmingly shows that 1 to 3 ounces of alcohol a day significantly reduces your risk of a heart attack. Unless you have a problem with alcohol or high blood pressure, you can safely have one alcoholic drink a day. William Smook - YourHealth writer
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