Published June 29, the American Heart Association (AHA) published their healthy lifestyle guidelines to for a healthy heart and best cardiac outcomes. Now called Life’s Essential 8, the AHA added sleep to their prior 7-item list.
Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the US and worldwide. In addition, various cardiovascular diseases are a major morbidity in the US including 121.5 million people with hypertension, 100 million being obese, and over 28 million with Type 2 Diabetes. However, many of these cardiovascular diseases are preventable.
The AHA’s Life’s Essential 8 includes:
- Diet: A diet mainly of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nutes, whole grain and low in sodium with elimination of red meat, processed meat, and sweetened drinks.
- Physical Activity: 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week. Additionally, 420 minutes or more per week for children ages 6 or older.
- Nicotine: Absolutely no nicotine use including stupid e-cigarettes and vapes.
- Sleeping: 7-9 hours per night for adults. Children 5 and younger should sleep 10-16 hrs. Ages 6 to 12 should sleep 9-12 hours, and ages 13 to 18 should sleep 8-10 hours.
- Body mass index: Stop being fat. BMI should be 18.5 to 24.9
- Cholesterol: cholesterol should be low and recommended the measure to use non-HDL cholesterol, and less than 130 mg/dL
- Blood Glucose: AHA added Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) as an appropriate metric. Fasting blood sugar should be 100 mg/DL and/or HbA1C should be less than 5.7%
- Blood Pressure: should be 120/80 or less.
These are the optimal numbers and each receives 100 points. Anything below optimal, points get deducted.
So there you go, contemplate on your current state of health and behaviors, and decide whether or not you want a heart attack.
The updated recommendations were published in the journal Circulation.
DM Lloyd-Jones et al. Life’s Essential 8: updating and enhancing the American Heart Associations’s construct of cardiovascular health: a presidential advisory from the American Heart Association. Circulaiton. DOI: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000001078
