The smartest plan for attacking a heart attack is, of course, preventing one from ever happening. Choose three of the following strategies and make them a habit. The closer to the top, the more you reduce your risk of heart disease.
1. Convince Your Wife to Stop Smoking
Nonsmoking husbands of smoking wives face a 92 percent increase in their risk of heart attack. Breathing secondhand smoke boosts bad cholesterol levels, decreases good cholesterol, and increases your blood's tendency to clot.
2. Work Out for 30 Minutes, Four Times a Week
Middle-aged men who exercise vigorously for 2 or more hours cumulatively per week have 60 percent less risk of heart attack than inactive men do.
3. Lose 10 to 20 Pounds
If you're overweight, dropping 10 to 20 pounds lowers your risk of dying from a heart attack. A 10-year study found that overweight people had heart attacks 8.2 years earlier than normal-weight victims.
4. Drink Five Glasses of Water a Day
Men who drink that many 8-ounce glasses are 54 percent less likely to have a fatal heart attack than those who drink two or fewer. Researchers say the water dilutes the blood, making it less likely to clot.
5. Switch from Coffee to Tea
A recent study found that people who drink three cups of tea a day have half the risk of heart attack of those who don't drink tea at all. Potent antioxidants, called flavonoids, provide a protective effect.
6. Eat Salmon on Saturday, Tuna on Tuesday
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health say that eating fish at least twice a week lowers heart-disease risk by more than 30 percent. The magic ingredient is the omega-3 fatty acids.
7. Ask Your Doctor About Vitamin E and Aspirin
Men who take both cut the plaque in clogged arteries by more than 80 percent, according to a recent University of Pennsylvania study.
8. Eat a Cup of Total Corn Flakes for Breakfast
This cereal contains one of the highest concentrations of folate (675 micrograms) of any cereal. Taking in that much folic acid daily cuts your risk of cardiovascular disease by 13 percent, according to researchers.
9. Count to 10
Creating a 10-second buffer before reacting to a stressful situation may be enough to cool you down. Men who respond with anger are three times more likely to have heart disease and five times more likely to have a heart attack before turning 55.
10. Eat Watermelon
It contains about 40 percent more lycopene than is found in raw tomatoes, and a new study shows that your body absorbs it at higher levels due to the melon's high water content. Half a wedge can boost heart-disease prevention by 30 percent.
要想打敗心臟病,最明智的計劃當然是永遠不患上這種病。從下面選擇三個方法,并使之習慣化。越是靠前的方法,越有助于降低患心臟病的危險。
1 說服你的妻子停止吸煙
如果丈夫不吸煙,而妻子吸煙的話,那么丈夫的心臟病患病風險就會增加92%.吸二手煙會增加不良膽固醇的水平,降低有益膽固醇,并增加血凝的傾向。
2 每周運動4次,每次30分鐘
每周累積運動2小時以上的中年男性,比不運動的男性減少60%的心臟病風險。
3 減肥10到20磅
超重者減肥10至20磅,可以降低因心臟病發作而死亡的風險。某項歷時10年的研究發現,在心臟病病人中,超重的人比正常體重者早8.2年患病。
4 每天喝5杯水
比起那些一天只喝一兩杯水的男性,喝水較多的男性減少了54%患上致命性心臟病的風險。研究人員說,水可以稀釋血液,使之不易發生凝結。
5 把咖啡換成茶
最近的一項研究發現,每天喝三杯茶的人比不喝茶的人降低了一半患心臟病的危險。茶中的類黃酮是有效的抗氧化劑,為心臟提供了保護作用。
6 周六嘗鮭魚,周二品金槍
哈佛公共衛生學院的研究人員稱,每周至少吃兩次魚可以降低30%以上心臟疾病的風險。其中的神奇成分是ω- 3脂肪酸。
7 按醫囑攝取維E與阿司匹林
根據最近賓夕法尼亞大學的一項研究,同時攝取維E和阿司匹林的男性減少動脈阻塞的幾率達80%以上。
8 早餐吃玉米片
玉米中葉酸的含量在谷類里最高。研究表明,每天攝取葉酸達到675微克(一杯玉米片就足夠),就可以削減13%心血管疾病的風險。
9 倒數10秒
面對壓力時,請在反應過激之前給自己10秒的緩沖,使自己慢慢冷靜下來。以生氣應對壓力的男性患病率達3倍之高,55歲之前的患病率甚至達5倍。
10 吃西瓜
西瓜含有的茄紅素比生番茄多40%.一項新的研究表明,由于西瓜的含水量較高,人體更容易吸收其中的茄紅素。一塊西瓜就可將心臟病患病率降低30%.