Harvard Cardiologist Reveals His Daily Habits for a Healthy Heart

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. One person dies every 33 seconds in the U.S. from cardiovascular disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But, unlike many other diseases, we can significantly lower our risk of developing heart disease through simple daily habits. To learn more about what we can do as individuals to protect ourselves from heart disease, Newsweek spoke to Harvard cardiologist and Brigham and Women’s Hospital Physician, Haider Warraich, about what he does every day to keep his heart healthy.

First up is exercise. “I exercise five to six times a week,” Warraich told Newsweek. “I use my stationary bike for 30 minutes (and read fiction while I am at it) and then do resistance training for another 30.”

Our heart is a muscle and, like any other muscle, it gets stronger when we exercise it. Aerobic exercise—including walking, running, swimming and dancing—strengthens our heart while lowering our blood pressure and helping us maintain a healthy body weight.

The U.S. Surgeon General recommends getting 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise every week, which can include brisk walking and cycling. Children and adolescents are recommended to get 1 hour of physical activity every day.

Next, we need to look at our diet. Not only is our diet a major contributing factor to our overall body weight, but what we eat goes a long way to either support or suppress our heart health. For example, foods high in saturated fats, sodium, and sugar have been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

“I recommend a Mediterranean diet and mostly try to have a high protein diet with little added sugars, sodium and saturated fats,” Warraich said.

And what about what we drink? “Coffee when taken in reasonable amounts appears to be associated with health benefits,” Warraich said. “However, too much coffee can be detrimental to health, and it makes one very dependent on it. As a physician and researcher, I am quite busy and, therefore, simply keeping my intake down to three cups a day can feel like a win.”

For healthy adults, the FDA recommends keeping caffeine consumption to around 400 milligrams per day—around four or five cups of coffee. However, certain health conditions and medications can make you more sensitive to caffeine’s effects, and people who are pregnant or breastfeeding should limit their caffeine consumption.

Then, of course, there is alcohol. “Unfortunately, most of the recent data suggests alcohol in any amount can be harmful for heart health, and the risk increases with intake,” Warraich said.

Regular alcohol consumption has been linked with higher blood pressure, which can put a strain on our heart muscle and increase our risk of heart disease. According to the CDC, women should limit alcohol consumption to one drink per day and men to two.

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