Know your family history. How did your mother’s two aunts die? And Uncle Julio? Knowing this helps you prepare an informed health preventive plan for longer term life and fulfillment. Check out the U.S. Surgeon General’s Family Health Portrait site at: (familyhistory.hhs.gov ) . It has easy instructions.
Know your waist to hip ratio. Why? Because it is the best test to predict heart attacks. Measure the smallest point of your waist and the largest part of your hips. Then divide the first number by the second. A ratio of .8 or lower is good.
Know your body compensation. A normal BMI (body mass index) for women is between 19-25. To test for body fat, your gym can use calipers or a bioelectric impedance analysis. Your family doctor can do this also. Here is a BMI calculator from the American Heart Association.
Your resting heart rate. How do you do that? Measure it first thing in the morning. Count it for 60 seconds, or just count for 10 seconds and multiply by 6. A healthy pulse is between 60-80, or even lower for athletes. That means your heart doesn’t have to work as hard to move oxygen throughout your body. http://www.americanheart.org
Know your cholesterol levels. When is the last time you had this checked? It’s a simple, quick and very informative test. You should do this at least every 5 years beginning at age 20. Shoot for saturated fat being less than 10% of your total caloric intake and strive to eliminate ALL trans (partially hydrogenated or fake) fats. Read labels. Products can say “0” trans fats and yet still contain trans fats in it (they lower the servings so they can say that). www.americanheart.org/transfats
For a good starting point for healthy living, check out the recommendations for the health related numbers, exercise and diet tips from the American Heart Association. Get moving today. Your body will thank you. AND, so will your children.
For more information and facts about heart disease, visit Dr. Oz’s recommendations found at: http://www.oprah.com/health
Sphere: Related Content
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.