Maintaining a healthy heart takes work, but certain jobs may be working against you. The following are five of the worst jobs for your heart.
According to a 2016 study, there may be a link between your heart health (specifically heart disease and stroke) and your job. The research points to five types of jobs that are likely to have plenty of heart health risk factors.
Some of these risk factors include blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, diet, physical activity, body mass index (BMI), and smoking. The study, conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service, assessed over 5,500 men and women age 45 and older, their heart health, and risk factors. Based on the study, the following are some of the worst jobs for your heart.
1. Sales and Office Jobs
According to the study, these workers are more likely to be physically inactive at work, eat an unhealthy diet, smoke, and have hypertension. In fact, two out of three had bad cholesterol and poor eating habits while four out of five didn’t exercise enough.
2. Food Service
It might be too on the nose, but the study suggests that foodservice employees have worse eating habits than any other profession. According to their results, about four out of five of these workers report a poor daily diet.
3. Truckers
Smoking is a significant risk factor when it comes to health issues and truckers have the highest smoking rates compared to other professions. To illustrate, over one out of five transportation workers had a smoking habit.
4. Protective Service
Protective service jobs include police officers, security guards, firefighters, and more. While you may expect them to be in good shape, the study shows that nine out of 10 are overweight or obese. In addition, three out of four report bad cholesterol levels, and one out of three have hypertension.
5. Managers and Corporate Professionals
About 72% of white-collar professionals and finance workers in the business sector had poor eating habits. Furthermore, employees with desk jobs are typically less active for about eight hours of the day. Some other factors that may affect these workers’ heart health include poor air quality, long and odd hours, and work-related stress.
The Outlook
When it comes to improving your health regardless of your job, it’s important that you find time to be physically active. “Adding physical activity, like a lunch-time walk, can also create multiple benefits since it can help you wind down, possibly improving sleep, and reducing stress-related eating and smoking,” said lead researcher Capt. Leslie MacDonald.
In addition to moving about, you can give your 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 health the way it deserves, then look for ways to make your job healthier and take L-arginine Plus.