According to a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, a healthy lifestyle is exactly what you need for preventing heart attack.
A healthy lifestyle involving maintaining healthy weight and eating a balanced diet, regular exercising, not smoking and moderating alcohol consumption, could prevent four out of five coronary events in men, says the new study.
For the study, scientists surveyed a population of 20,721 healthy Swedish men between the age 45 and 79 years. Their lifestyle was followed up for a period of 11 years. For assessing their lifestyle choices, a questionnaire was designed to explore the participants’ diet habits, alcohol intake, smoking habits, level of physical activity and abdominal adiposity (belly fat).
Analysis showed that among the participants non-smokers, those who walked or cycled for at least 40 minutes per day, exercised at least one hour per week, had a waist circumference below 95 centimetres, consumed moderate amounts of alcohol, and followed a healthy diet with a regular consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, reduced-fat dairy products, whole grains and fish had the lowest risk of heart attack.
Further, it was observed that there was a clear risk reduction of heart attack for each individual lifestyle factor the men practised. For instance, a healthy diet combined with moderate alcohol intake reduced heart attack risk by 35 per cent compared to those in high-risk group, who did not practice any of the healthy lifestyle factors.
Men who combined low-risk diet and moderate alcohol consumption with not smoking, being physically active and having a low amount of abdominal fat, had 86 per cent lower risk. Researchers found similar results in men with hypertension and high cholesterol levels. Besides, those who were taking medication, had an additional reduction in risk for chronic heart disease with a healthy lifestyle.
‘It is not surprising that healthy lifestyle choices would lead to a reduction in heart attacks,’ said Agneta Akesson, Associate Professor at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, and lead author of the study. ‘What is surprising is how drastically the risk dropped due to these factors,’ said Akesson.
The research hold a lot of significance as it suggests the impact of healthy lifestyle on heart health. The researchers suggest that the burden of heart disease could be significantly lowered by designing programmes that target to men to adopt low-risk lifestyle choices.
With inputs from PTI
Image source: Getty images
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