- Eat Smart: Eat a healthy diet of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts, plant-based proteins, lean animal proteins like fish and seafood. Limit sugary foods and drinks, red or processed meats, salty foods, refined carbohydrates and highly processed foods.
- Move More: Physical activity helps control blood pressure, weight and stress levels.
- Manage Weight: If you’re overweight, even a slight weight loss can reduce high blood pressure.
- No Nicotine: Every time you smoke, vape or use tobacco, the nicotine can cause a temporary increase in blood pressure.
- Sleep Well: Short sleep (less than 7 hours) and poor-quality sleep are associated with high blood pressure.
“What this shows us is how important an overall assessment of one’s cardiovascular health is, based on these eight factors,” says Nathan Wong, a professor and director of the Heart Disease Prevention Program in the Division of Cardiology at the University of California, Irvine. “It’s not just one or two things.”
About 42 percent of the gain in life expectancy was attributable to fewer cardiovascular-related deaths.
But that means nearly 58 percent of life years gained from having a better cardiovascular health profile were not related to cardiovascular disease, according to Wong, who was not involved in the research. “That indicates the impact of maintaining good cardiovascular health extends to other causes of death.”
Wong says the findings should motivate people to better understand their own cardiovascular health risks through annual health exams and the use of online tools, such as the AHA’s My Life Check, which can provide a personalized cardiovascular health score based on Life’s Essential 8. “The consumer can get a good idea of their cardiovascular health from such an assessment and what they can do to improve their cardiovascular health risk,” he shares.
While Life’s Essential 8 includes many key metrics of cardiovascular health, Wong says, future research should look at the extent to which other factors might also play a part.
“Information on psychosocial factors such as stress and depression, as well as on social determinants of health such as access to health care, may also play an important role and modify the impact that the key cardiovascular health metrics have on cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular outcomes,” he notes. “As the study looked exclusively at mortality, effects on non-fatal cardiovascular outcomes should also be examined, given their substantial impact on health care utilization.”
By American Heart Association