Dr Zoe Astroulakis has spent two decades saving the lives of patients who have had heart attacks. As a consultant cardiologist at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and New Victoria Hospital, she wishes patients would take their health more seriously in midlife, instead of waiting to make changes too late.
After Jeremy Clarkson, 66, revealed he was treated for heart issues in hospital during the filming of the latest series of Clarkson’s Farm, Astroulakis shares the eight things all midlife men should know about keeping their hearts healthy.
Swap ‘bad’ fats for healthy ones – and don’t pile pasta on your plate
You don’t need to eat a fat-free diet to protect your heart. The key is to reduce your saturated fat consumption and choose healthier polyunsaturated fat alternatives. Reduce your dairy and red meat intake (beef, pork and lamb), and swap in lean meat such as chicken, oily fish, olive oil, avocados, unsalted nuts and seeds.
No one is ever going to eat a perfect diet all the time, but you want to aim for your staples to be healthy, with unhealthy options as an occasional treat, instead of the other way around. Try to make sure you eat home-cooked food more than you eat ready meals, for example.
Portion control is also important. You don’t need more carbohydrates in a meal than you can fit in your hand. Often, we cook ourselves these enormous plates of pasta – that’s far too much carbohydrate and can cause blood sugar spikes, which can lead to health problems in the long term.
Look out for purple food and stock up on porridge oats
Purple foods like blueberries, black grapes and aubergines are great for boosting “good” cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein, or HDL). Making sure something purple is added to the colours on your plate is a good way to keep your diet heart-healthy.
Porridge is one of the healthiest breakfast options because oats are full of soluble fibre, which helps your body clear out triglycerides – a type of fat which is bad for your heart health – and reduces “bad” cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein, or HDL).
Stop taking cocaine – even occasional use could harm your heart
Regularly taking cocaine at the weekends has become more normalised socially but it is dangerous: it can provoke a massive heart attack, even in younger people who don’t have existing problems with their arteries.
People who use cocaine need to know that there is a risk of causing damage to their heart every time they take it. I think people are well aware now of the dangers of smoking, but I see a lot of men in their thirties, forties and fifties who are not smokers but who use cocaine socially and don’t realise how harmful it can be.
Cocaine drives up your heart rate and can raise blood pressure to critical levels. It can cause arteries to “spasm”, blocking blood flow to the heart and triggering a heart attack. It can also accelerate the process of arteries becoming “furred”, where they become narrower over time, meaning blood struggles to get to the heart.
Don’t treat the 14-unit weekly alcohol limit as a target
The NHS recommends we should not be consuming more than 14 units of alcohol per week. But I always tell my patients: this isn’t a target you have to reach. The safest level to aim for is zero but if you do drink, try to stay below the limits.
Many of the men I see in my clinic, who have already developed heart problems, regularly drink around 30 units a week – that’s equivalent to two pints of 4 per cent beer or half a bottle of wine every day.
If you’re drinking, make sure you have some alcohol-free days each week and space out drinking – binge drinking puts a strain on the heart because alcohol can temporarily raise your blood pressure and cause heart palpitations. Alcohol is also full of sugar and empty calories, which cause weight gain – and being overweight is also bad for your heart. So even if you stick to 14 units a week, that’s still more than 1,000 additional calories you’re consuming with no nutritional benefit.
Strength training isn’t enough, cardio matters too
Muscle bulk might make you look toned, but it says nothing about how healthy your heart is. If you go to the gym, don’t only focus on lifting weights and strength training. Although this can help burn fat, you need to do cardio exercise too.
The NHS recommends you do at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise at least three times a week. That means you’re out of breath – but not so bad you can’t speak – and you work up a sweat.
Not everyone wants to go to the gym and that’s fine. Find something that is easy and enjoyable for you to do, whether that’s walking as much as you can or going on a bike ride with the kids. And stick at it. Little and often is always better than intense exercise occasionally, or doing nothing at all.
Get your blood pressure and cholesterol levels checked
Most people have no idea what theirs is – and you can’t tell whether you’ve got high blood pressure or cholesterol based on how well you feel. You can get free checks in many pharmacies or you can buy a blood pressure monitor for around £30 to use at home.
If you do discover you have high blood pressure or cholesterol, speak to your GP. They may offer you medications to help lower your blood pressure or statins, which reduce cholesterol, to avoid putting strain on your heart.
Taking these can reduce the chances you’ll end up having to see a cardiologist like me in a few years. Around 70 per cent of all heart disease cases are caused by modifiable factors, which means they could be prevented with lifestyle changes and/or medication.
Avoid working night shifts
Research shows that night shift workers are at a higher risk of heart attacks. Being awake at night disrupts the body’s circadian rhythm and studies show it can lead to increased weight gain, increased cholesterol, higher blood pressure and insulin resistance – which can lead to diabetes, also increasing your risk of heart problems.
Especially as men get older and are more at risk of developing these issues generally, they should focus on working in daylight hours. But if you have an office job, it’s also important not to spend all day sitting at your desk. Research shows that being sedentary can have just as negative an effect on your health as a poor diet.
A beer belly is a sign you need to make urgent changes
If you’ve got a large round belly, it’s usually a sign you’re drinking too much alcohol. Men tend to store fat around their internal organs first, which puts them at high risk of heart problems. So, by the time your belly starts to bulge, it’s a warning sign that you’re consuming excess calories and storing too much fat internally.
More people die from heart disease in the UK every year than the entire population of the city of Oxford – and about 30 per cent of them are younger than 75. Some people are at a genetically higher risk of having heart problems but while you can’t help your genetics, you can stop smoking, reduce your alcohol intake, get fitter and change your diet. And the earlier you can make those changes, the better.
Hence then, the article about i m a cardiologist eight dangerous things middle aged men do was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( I’m a cardiologist – eight dangerous things middle-aged men do )
Also on site :