ORLANDO, Fla. – February is American Heart Month. You might have heard of “Life’s Essential Seven.” It’s a list of the top seven ways to improve and maintain heart health.
But now the American Heart Association has updated their list to include an eighth habit.
To keep your heart running, you have to do regular maintenance. If you want to improve your heart health, the American Heart Association has a list of eight key ways.
“What they’ve added now is the duration of sleep that people have, because it turns out that sleep is such an important factor for cardiovascular health.,” said Dr. Pamela Rama, a cardiologist at Baptist Health in Jacksonville.
The recommendation is that most adults get seven to nine hours of sleep each night. The organization says that adequate sleep promotes healing, improves brain function, and lessens the risk of chronic diseases.
“So when you don’t sleep, there is an overdrive of your sympathetic system. And so, what is happening when you are awake is that your blood pressure never gets to go down. Your heart rate does not ever get to relax,” Rama said.
The other habits on the "Life’s essential eight" list are:
- Eating a healthy diet
- Getting two and half hours of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity a week
- Quitting smoking
- Keeping a healthy weight
- Managing cholesterol
- Managing blood sugar
- Managing blood pressure levels
There’s also a life’s essential eight for children. They include:
- Living a balanced life of exercise and healthy eating
- Consuming less sugar
- The importance of clean air
- Finding ways to relieve stress
- Getting a good night’s sleep without distractions.
To find the complete list you can go to the American Heart Association website.