Health + Fitness: The Beat Goes On

With American Heart Month here, it’s a great time to take a look at your own heart health. Thankfully, you have a lot of control over how healthy your heart is. But do you really know what you should be doing to keep it healthy? It’s all too easy to have misconceptions based on faulty assumptions or outdated research. Let’s boost your heart smarts by setting the record straight on three common myths.

Myth: I power walk every day, so I’ve got the exercise part covered.

The Truth: Power walking is a fantastic form of cardiovascular exercise, but it can’t do the job all on its own. It’s a common misconception that cardio training—such as walking, jogging, or bicycling—is the only type of exercise we need to do for heart health. However, more recent research shows strength training is equally as important. Skeletal muscle plays a major role in overall metabolic health.

Research has suggested having a healthy amount of skeletal muscle may be protective against metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions (like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, etc.) that increase your risk of heart disease. The point is that all exercise is good for the heart. But when you combine cardio and strength, you’ll reap the best possible outcomes.

According to the American Heart Association, you should strength train at moderate-to-high intensity at least two times per week, and also do 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week.

Myth: A glass or two of wine each day is good for my heart.

The Truth: I’m sure you’ve heard it before that alcohol in moderation is an acceptable vice, potentially even boosting your heart health. Red wine has antioxidants, after all!

Turns out the research on this may have been getting misinterpreted, according to a March 2022 study published in JAMA Network Open (Journal of the American Medical Association). After studying the health records of more than 370,000 people, the researchers determined that the reason it appears moderate drinking has protective power is because the people drinking moderately engage in other heart-healthy habits, like exercising, having a lower body mass index (BMI), not smoking, and eating more veggies.

Once the authors adjusted the data by removing healthy lifestyle factors, any heart health benefits for both light and moderate drinkers completely disappeared. For example, men who were light and moderate drinkers had a 75% higher risk of coronary artery disease once the other healthy lifestyle factors were eliminated compared to non-drinkers. Men who drink heavily had a 225% higher risk. So, how much alcohol is a heart-healthy amount? Quite possibly, none.

Myth: My body is used to getting less sleep, so it’s not affecting my health.

The Truth: You can’t train your body to sleep less than it needs. According to the National Sleep Foundation, healthy adults need between 7–9 quality sleep hours each night. Chronically depriving yourself of that increases your risk of heart disease. In fact, sleep is such an important factor in cardiovascular health that just last summer the American Heart Association updated its lifestyle health guidelines (formerly called “Life’s Simple 7”) to add sleep as an eighth domain and renamed the list “Life’s Essential 8” (See below).

One of the ways poor sleep affects you is by triggering chronic inflammation, which contributes to plaque formation and hardening of the arteries. A regular lack of sleep can also contribute to higher blood pressure, regardless of age.

Obstructive sleep apnea, when your breathing repeatedly starts and stops during sleep, could be contributing to high blood pressure as well. If you snore or feel tired even after a full night’s sleep, don’t ignore it. Talk with your care provider, as sleep apnea is treatable.

The Bottom Line: In honor of Heart Month, celebrate by showing your own heart some extra love. Think about visiting your care provider for a physical if it’s been a while. It’s never too late to create healthy changes in your life. I can’t think of a more fitting time to start than right now, during American Heart Month.

The American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8

Want to Know Your Risk? Life’s Essential 8 identifies the top eight heart disease risk factors. It’s also part of a measurement tool you can find on the American Heart Association’s website. Answer the questions, and you’ll get an overall cardiovascular health score ranging from 0–100, along with suggestions on what you need to do to improve your score.

Life’s Essential 8

1. Eat Better
2. Be More Active
3. Avoid Nicotine Exposure
4. Get Healthy Sleep
5. Manage Weight
6. Control Cholesterol
7. Manage Blood Sugar
8. Monitor Blood Pressure

Heart-Healthy RVing

During your next RV trip, take a hike! Or a bike ride … or go for a swim. You get the idea. Planning your trips around active outdoor pursuits offers many rewards. It gets you “out there” doing something fun and potentially challenging, and even better— you’ll reap loads of heart-healthy benefits.