AARP Smart Guide: Healthy Heart

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Never underestimate the heart-healthy power of small changes.

Saying yes to a bowl of juicy grapes instead of a handful of salt-and-vinegar chips, clicking “off” before another episode of your favorite binge TV series rolls, even letting in rays of

early-morning sunshine primes your metabolism, your arteries and your heart for optimal performance, says noninvasive cardiologist Pelbreton Balfour, M.D., of Baptist Heart and Vascular

Institute in Pensacola, Florida.

“People may not realize it, but these healthy behaviors can have a big impact on heart health — preventing cardiovascular disease and helping people with heart disease stay healthier,”

Balfour says. “And you don’t have to make a lot of changes at once. That can be overwhelming. Pick one — like getting more activity or eating a healthier diet — and stick with it until it’s

a habit. Then, add another.”

There’s hard science behind the benefits of little upgrades. Cardiologists like Balfour see the results when they look at images of the heart, measure how well their patients’ tickers are

functioning and track major heart-health indicators. “Comprehensive lifestyle improvements prevent the natural age-associated increase in blood pressure, glucose, weight and cholesterol,”

says cardiologist Roger Blumenthal, M.D., director of Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease. “Better lifestyle habits are the cornerstone of preventive

strategies.”

Bottom line: Healthy choices could reduce your risk for cardiovascular disease by 50 percent or more, according to a 2020 review of 20 studies involving more than a million people. If you

already have heart disease, they can cut odds for a second heart attack or worsening heart failure and even allow you to use fewer or lower doses of your medications, Blumenthal adds.

So, what helps? Start with these easy, research-proven and expert-endorsed ways to make heart-smart choices every moment of your day, separated by morning, afternoon and night (and even

weekends).

1. Open the curtains

Soaking up bright morning light early in the day sets your body’s internal clock so you’ll feel drowsy and ready to snooze at night and full of physical and mental energy when the alarm

clock blares.

In her 2018 study of 1,978 older adults, sleep researcher Jessica R. Lunsford-Avery, an assistant professor of psychology at Duke University Medical Center, found that those whose sleep

schedules varied the most from night to night got 48 fewer minutes of bright natural light exposure during the day and were more likely to have heart risks like obesity, high blood sugar and

high blood pressure compared to regular sleepers — even though both groups logged nearly the same amount of sleep per night.

An all-over-the-map bedtime may harm hearts by interfering with metabolism, by boosting depression and anxiety or by making you feel less inclined to be physically active and eat healthily,

Lunsford-Avery says: “Irregular sleep patterns may negatively impact heart health even when someone is getting ‘enough’ sleep.” Duration and regularity are both important.