A Healthy Heart: Care Instructions

Use less salt when you cook and eat. This helps lower your blood pressure. Taste food before salting. Add only a little salt when you think you need it. With time, your taste buds will adjust to less salt.

Eat fewer snack items, fast foods, canned soups, and other high-salt, high-fat, processed foods.

Read food labels and try to avoid saturated and trans fats. They increase your risk of heart disease by raising cholesterol levels.

Limit the amount of solid fat—butter, margarine, and shortening—you eat. Use olive, peanut, or canola oil when you cook. Bake, broil, and steam foods instead of frying them.

Eat a variety of fruit and vegetables every day. Dark green, deep orange, red, or yellow fruits and vegetables are especially good for you. Examples include spinach, carrots, peaches, and berries.

Foods high in fiber can reduce your cholesterol and provide important vitamins and minerals. High-fiber foods include whole-grain cereals and breads, oatmeal, beans, brown rice, citrus fruits, and apples.

Eat lean proteins. Heart-healthy proteins include seafood, lean meats and poultry, eggs, beans, peas, nuts, seeds, and soy products.

Limit drinks and foods with added sugar. These include candy, desserts, and soda pop.

If your doctor recommends it, get more exercise. For many people, walking is a good choice. Or you may want to swim, bike, or do other activities. Bit by bit, increase the time you're active every day. Try for at least 30 minutes on most days of the week.

Try to quit or cut back on using tobacco and other nicotine products. This includes smoking and vaping. If you need help quitting, talk to your doctor about stop-smoking programs and medicines. These can increase your chances of quitting for good. Quitting is one of the most important things you can do to protect your heart. It is never too late to quit. Try to avoid secondhand smoke too.

Stay at a weight that's healthy for you. Talk to your doctor if you need help losing weight.

Try to get 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night.

Limit alcohol to 2 drinks a day for men and 1 drink a day for women. Too much alcohol can cause health problems.

Manage other health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. If you think you may have a problem with alcohol or drug use, talk to your doctor.

Take your medicines exactly as prescribed. Call your doctor if you think you are having a problem with your medicine.

If your doctor recommends aspirin, take the amount directed each day. Make sure you take aspirin and not another kind of pain reliever, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol).

Chest pain or pressure, or a strange feeling in the chest.

Sweating.

Shortness of breath.

Pain, pressure, or a strange feeling in the back, neck, jaw, or upper belly or in one or both shoulders or arms.

Lightheadedness or sudden weakness.

A fast or irregular heartbeat.