Living a Heart-Healthy Lifestyle in 5 Easy Steps

According to the British Heart Foundation, 7.4 million people in the UK are living with some form of cardiovascular disease. However, the good news is that making just a few small changes to your lifestyle can significantly reduce your risk.

Your diet, level of physical activity, cholesterol, and blood pressure all play a crucial role in your heart health. To help you get started on your journey to a healthier heart, the team at Doctor Care Anywhere has put together five simple and effective ways to live a heart-healthy lifestyle. Incorporating these into your daily routine can lead to long-term benefits for your heart and overall well-being.

1. Get your sweat on

Exercise is one of the most effective and simple ways to improve your heart health. It not only strengthens your heart but also improves your mood and reduces stress. The NHS exercise guidelines suggest that adults should aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week, such as walking, cycling, or swimming. Even short bursts of exercise can make a big difference.

Whether it’s a brisk walk around the block or a fun dance class, getting moving will benefit your heart health and boost your energy levels.

The NHS also recommends muscle-strengthening activities, such as resistance training or carrying heavy shopping, on at least two days a week alongside your 150 minutes.

2. Take a load off

Being overweight can put additional strain on your heart, increasing your risk of heart disease. To reduce your risk, it’s important to maintain a healthy weight by sticking to a balanced diet that’s low in unhealthy fats and added sugars.

Try to eat whole foods, such as lean proteins, healthy fats, and plenty of fruits and vegetables. Reducing your calorie intake and opting for home-cooked meals over processed foods can help you manage your weight effectively.

If you’re unsure what a healthy weight looks like for you, a GP can check your BMI and talk through a realistic, sustainable target.

3. Get your five a day

Eating a variety of fruit and vegetables is essential for heart health. Aim to consume at least five portions of different fruits and vegetables each day. They are packed with essential vitamins, minerals, and dietary fibre, which can help lower cholesterol and blood pressure.

Quick tips for getting your five a day:

• Add sliced fruit to your breakfast cereal or smoothies.
• Add vegetables to pasta sauces, soups, and stews.
• Snack on fruit instead of sugary snacks.
  Making these small changes will help you meet your daily goals.
  
  

A portion is roughly 80g — about a handful — and while juice and smoothies count, they’re limited to a combined 150ml a day, since blending or juicing removes some of the fibre.

4. Fill up on fibre

Eating enough fibre is crucial for heart health. A diet high in fibre helps lower bad cholesterol levels, which reduces your risk of heart disease. The recommended daily intake of fibre is 30g.

To ensure you get enough, include more whole grains in your diet, such as wholemeal bread, oats, and brown rice. Don’t forget the skin on potatoes, as it’s an excellent source of fibre. By adding more fruit and vegetables into your meals, you’ll be well on your way to reaching your fibre target.

For more on building fibre-rich meals day to day, see our nutritious guide to eating well, and our guide to the gut microbiome for how fibre supports gut health too.

5. Fight this fat

Not all fats are created equal. While some fats are essential for good health, others can contribute to heart disease. Saturated fats, found in foods like fatty cuts of meat, butter, and full-fat dairy products, can raise your cholesterol and increase your risk of heart disease.

When shopping for groceries, choose lean cuts of meat, opt for low-fat dairy products, and try cooking with healthier fats such as olive oil or avocado. And remember, “fat-free” options often contain added sugar to enhance flavour, which can still negatively affect your heart health.

It’s not just about cutting saturated fat, either — swapping it for unsaturated fats such as olive, rapeseed and sunflower oils, or nuts and seeds, is just as important for a heart-healthy diet.

6. Cut down on salt

Too much salt raises your blood pressure, one of the leading risk factors for heart disease. The NHS recommends no more than 6g of salt a day — about a teaspoon — but most of it is hidden in processed foods, ready meals, bread and sauces rather than what you add yourself.

Simple swaps that help:

• Check food labels and choose lower-salt options where you can
• Flavour meals with herbs, spices or lemon instead of salt
• Cut back gradually on processed and ready meals

See the BHF guide to cutting down on salt for more.

7. Quit smoking

Stopping smoking is one of the single biggest things you can do for your heart. Smoking damages the walls of your arteries and raises your risk of a heart attack, but the effects start reversing quickly — heart rate and blood pressure begin returning to normal within about 20 minutes of your last cigarette.

NHS stop-smoking support and medicines make quitting far more likely to succeed — see the BHF guide to smoking and your heart to find out more, or speak to a GP about support that could work for you.

8. Drink less alcohol

Regularly drinking over the recommended limit raises both blood pressure and heart-disease risk. UK guidelines recommend no more than 14 units a week for everyone, spread over three or more days with several drink-free days in between — and binge drinking sharply raises heart-attack risk.

Practical ways to cut down:

• Opt for smaller measures
• Build in a few alcohol-free days each week
• Alternate alcoholic drinks with water or soft drinks

See the NHS guidance on preventing coronary heart disease for more.

9. Know your numbers: blood pressure and cholesterol

High blood pressure and high cholesterol usually have no symptoms, which is why so many people don’t know they have either — but both narrow and damage your arteries over time. Regular checks with a GP or pharmacy, alongside a good diet, staying active, drinking less and not smoking, all help keep both in a healthy range.

• Blood pressure: most people with high blood pressure have no obvious symptoms — see the BHF guide to high blood pressure.
• Cholesterol: too much cholesterol can narrow your arteries and raise your risk of a heart attack or stroke — see the BHF guide to high cholesterol.

10. Eat more oily fish for omega-3

Aim to eat two portions of fish a week, with one of them oily — such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring or trout — since the omega-3 in oily fish is recognised as good for heart health. If you don’t eat fish, walnuts, flaxseeds and rapeseed oil are useful plant-based sources of omega-3.

See the BDA guide to heart health for more on omega-3 and your heart.

11. Manage stress and sleep well

Long-term stress and poor sleep are both linked to heart health, so looking after your mental wellbeing is part of a heart-healthy lifestyle too. Regular activity, relaxation, and a consistent sleep routine of 7 to 9 hours a night all help — and it’s worth speaking to a GP if stress or sleep problems persist.

See the BHF wellbeing hub for more on stress, sleep and heart health.

Prioritise Your Heart Health Today

Making these simple changes to your lifestyle is a great way to take care of your heart and overall health. You don't have to make drastic changes overnight—start small, and over time, you’ll notice the benefits.

For personalised advice on improving your heart health or managing any cardiovascular conditions, don’t hesitate to reach out to a Doctor Care Anywhere GP or an Advanced Clinical Practitioner. With regular check-ups and professional support, you can make heart-healthy choices that last a lifetime.