When it comes to your heart health, there are certain numbers you need to know. Here are the key numbers to check for a healthy heart.
If you want to know where you currently stand on your cardiac fitness, then you just need to know a few key numbers. By knowing these metrics, you can motivate yourself to maintain them at a healthy range and improve them as necessary.
“It’s important to remember that all of these numbers fall on a continuous scale,” says Johns Hopkins cardiologist Michael Blaha, M.D., M.P.H. “It’s not enough to say you have high or low blood pressure – your doctor is looking at how high or how low.”
Five Key Numbers for Your Heart Health
1. Steps per Day
According to Blaha, by moving a lot, you can improve every heart-health measure and disease risk. He recommends taking up to 10,000 steps per day, which is about five miles. Moreover, you should aim to get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week.
2. Blood Pressure Readings
High blood pressure (hypertension) is known as the silent killer because it presents virtually no symptoms. For this reason, it’s important that you regularly measure your blood pressure and make sure it falls within the normal range. If you have a high reading, it means you need to lower your blood pressure before it leads to a heart attack or stroke.
3. Non-HDL Cholesterol
HDL cholesterol is the “good’ type, and you need to know what your non-HDL cholesterol is to figure out where your cholesterol health stands. Do this by taking your total cholesterol and subtracting your HDL cholesterol. Ideally, you’ll have a score that’s lower than 130 mg/dL. If you’re at a high risk of heart disease, it should be even lower: between 70 and 100 mg/dL.
4. Blood Sugar
Having high blood sugar levels will increase your risk of diabetes and, in turn, damage your arteries. Furthermore, type 1 and type 2 diabetes are some of the most significant risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
5. Hours of Sleep per Night
According to Blaha, what matters is that you consistently get the number of hours that work for you. For most people, this is somewhere between seven and nine hours of sleep per night. As you get that quality sleep, you’ll help lower your risk of heart disease.
The Outlook
By tracking these numbers, you’ll be able to know where you stand regarding your heart health and if you need to make changes. Regardless of what your numbers are, healthy habits like exercising regularly and eating healthily can make a huge difference.
In addition, you can give your heart health an extra boost by taking supplements like L-arginine Plus. Its ingredients effectively promote circulation, blood pressure health, cholesterol health, and more. If you’re ready to support your heart health, then keep track of these numbers and take L-arginine Plus.