Ten tips for promoting cardiometabolic health and slowing cardiovascular aging

Dr. Heart — Sat, 21 Sep 2024 03:59:46 +0000

Table 1
Healthy longevity heart code

1. Reduce waist circumference and increase muscle mass
Take action to reduce your waistline with endurance exercise and moderate calorie restriction, ensuring you consume the right amount of nutrient-rich calories for optimal functioning.

Increase or maintain skeletal muscle mass with resistance exercise.

2. Adhere to a minimally processed Mediterranean-like diet
Eat a wide range of vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and fruits. Avoid refined carbs.

Eat mostly proteins from plants (legumes, nuts, and whole grains), alongside fish, seafood, and low-fat dairy; if opting for meat and poultry, choose lean cuts on occasional basis, and avoid processed meat.

Avoid ultra-processed foods and beverages, rich in ‘empty’ calories, sugars, and unhealthy fats.

Choose and prepare foods with little salt; use iodized salt to promote thyroid health.

Use cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil in moderation, while abstaining from animal fats (butter, cream), tropical oils (coconut, palm) and partially hydrogenated fats.

3. Intermittent fasting and time-restricted feeding
If overweight, stop eating at 80% satiety; eat only non-starchy vegetables and legumes salads once or twice weekly.

Try to eat all your food within a window of 8–10 h, refraining from between-meal snacks. Emphasize mindful eating, preferably shared with others.

4. Be physical active every day
Commit to at least 30–60 min of daily physical exercise, alternating between aerobic, strength, flexibility, and balance exercises.

Minimize sitting time, and move as often as possible integrating enjoyable, friend-oriented activities into your daily routine.

5. Avoid or limit alcohol consumption
If you do not drink alcohol, do not start.

If you choose to drink, minimize intake to prevent cancer, atrial fibrillation and heart disease.

6. Do not smoke
Do not use any form of tobacco, including e-cigarettes and vaping.

7. Prioritize quality sleep
Set a bedtime that is early enough for you to get between 7–9 h of sleep.

Establish a consistent sleep schedule, creating a sleep-friendly environment, and turn off electronic devices at least 30 min before bedtime.

8. Nourish and protect your mind
Practice stress reduction through mindful meditation and slow deep breathing.

Stimulate your mind daily with activities like learning new skills or engaging in artistic pursuits for enhancing cognitive function and brain health.

Adopt a lifelong mindset of self-awareness and personal growth, seeking new knowledge, experiences, and perspectives for intellectual and spiritual vitality, and human flourishing.

9. Cultivate friendship, altruism, and compassion
Nurture deep connections with family and friends through empathetic communication and forgiveness.

Practice daily altruism and compassion to reinforce synaptic networks of peace and eudemonia.

10. Minimize pollution exposure and connect with nature
Reduce exposure to pollution, including air, water, and noise.

Immerse yourself in nature as often as possible. Exercising in unpolluted environments, particularly in parks and wooded areas, confers cardioprotective and psychological benefits.

https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/45/13/1094/7516124?login=false

Ten tips for promoting cardiometabolic health and slowing cardiovascular aging - General Discussion, Q&A

Ten tips for promoting cardiometabolic health and slowing cardiovascular aging