Ensuring you’re doing everything you can to care for your heart health is essential to a balanced lifestyle, as it’s crucial to your body’s overall function.
One of the best ways to know what to do and not do for the sake of your heart health is to listen to medical professionals, particularly cardiologists. Luckily, a cardiologist and content creator on TikTok recently shared a video about all of the things she would not do to protect her heart. Nicole Harkin, MD, calls these poor lifestyle habits “heart health mistakes,” and there are five that she thinks you should definitely avoid making. Read more about them below.
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1. Smoking/Vaping
These days, there are still so many people who are reliant on cigarettes or vape products. While we've heard a lot about how these can harm our lungs, Dr. Harkin reveals they're also terrible for your heart.
"Almost all of the heart attacks I've seen in young women are [happening to] women who smoke," explains Nicole.
If you're a smoker, even if it's just an "occasional" habit, you should look into ways to cut it out of your life immediately in order to take better care of yourself.
2. Dismissing Chest Pain
Whenever you experience a dull or sharp ache in your chest, you should not be ignoring it. Chest pains can occasionally just be heartburn from something you ate. Still, they could also indicate something more serious, even if you're at a "low risk" of heart attacks or other cardiac-related events.
"A shocking amount of heart attacks happen in people who would be considered low risk by traditional screening criteria," says Dr. Harkin.
"People are always so much sicker when they roll into the hospital having had chest pains for hours."
3. Eating Bacon
Sorry, bacon lovers, but Dr. Harkin says that regularly consuming processed meats, which also includes hot dogs, hamburgers, and deli meats, have been shown to "increase the risk of heart disease in a robust linear fashion."
"AKA, it trashes your arteries," she continues.
Other health professionals will tell you that eating bacon is fine in moderation, but if you have a hard time doing that and tend to go overboard whenever it's in your fridge, you may want to consider cutting it out entirely.
4. Ignoring Your Family History Of Heart Disease
If you know relatives of yours or any immediate family members who have suffered from heart disease or had cardiac events, you should not ignore it, especially during doctor's visits.
Genetics plays a huge role in our health, and how we should approach self-care, so you'll want to inform your doctor or any specialists you see of your family history if possible.
"This is the other reason I see people coming in with heart attacks," explains Dr. Harkin.
"Check in regularly with your doctor and get screened."
5. Not Getting A Good Night's Sleep
Dr. Harkin says she "cherishes" her sleep and will never be ungrateful for getting decent sleep at night, especially as a busy doctor and mother.
According to the CDC, getting enough sleep is crucial for your heart health, as a lack of sleep can cause a series of health problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes, unhealthy weight gain, and more, which can deteriorate your heart and bodily functions over time.
