This Is the One Thing You Can Do to Ward off Heart Disease in Your 40s, According to Cardiologists

Emily Laurence
Updated ·5 min read
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Cardiologists break it down.

It’s a bit of a conundrum that the number one cause of death in the U.S. is largely preventable. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 200,000 of the roughly 695,000 deaths from heart disease and stroke each year can be avoided. Here’s what else is interesting: More than half of preventable heart disease and stroke deaths happen to people under age 65.

The good news is that it’s never too late to start living in a way that significantly decreases your risk. If you’re in your 40s, cardiologists say that there are important—even life-changing—actions you can start putting into place now. Dr. Briana Costello, MD, FSCAI, a cardiologist at the Texas Heart Institute, says this starts with knowing what your blood pressure, cholesterol and hemoglobin a1c levels are. “Know your numbers!” she says. “Achieving ‘normal’ ranges in these areas will help you live a long healthy life.”

Whether your numbers indicate that you are at high risk for heart disease or show that you are in good health, there’s one action Dr. Costello and other cardiologists say everyone in their 40s can do to lower their risk of heart disease: exercising for 30 minutes a day, five days a week.

Related: Your Live-Well Guide to Maintaining Heart Health and Preventing Heart Disease

The Link Between Exercise and Heart Disease Prevention—and Why How Often You’re Active Matters

“The old saying ‘eat right and exercise’ is still true, but what I’ve found in my cardiology practice is that many people don’t intuitively know how to do either,” says Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, MD, a preventive cardiologist and the CEO and founder of Heart-Tech Health. She emphasizes that knowing exactly how to do this is what’s most important for protecting oneself from heart disease. When it comes to exercise, she says this means getting moving for 30 minutes, five times a week—which is what the American Heart Association recommends as well. Dr. Costello agrees that this is a key way to keep your heart healthy. “More than 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise [a week] actually makes you live longer,” she says.

Related: This Is the #1 Best Workout for Heart Health, According to a Cardiologist

The reason why exercising regularly is so effective in preventing heart disease is that it lowers blood pressure and insulin levels—both of which are key to having good cardiovascular health. Exercising also increases cardiac output (the amount of blood pumped by the heart), which makes the heart stronger.

Dr. Steinbaum says that there are many ways to put this heart disease-preventing tip into practice. “Fast walk, dance, hike, jog, bike, pacing while talking on the phone, using a treadmill while watching a TV show…Just move. I truly believe exercise is the best medicine,” she says.

She adds that another important part of living out this advice is making it a habit; it needs to be done consistently to have an effect. “Change starts with our most powerful tool: our brain. Mindset shifts are crucial,” Dr. Steinbaum says. She recommends keeping yourself accountable by scheduling exercise just as you would a meeting or appointment.

Just as important, she says, is making it enjoyable. Otherwise, you might not stick with it. This means finding a way to be active that you truly enjoy. Dr. Steinbaum says that enlisting a friend to join you is another way to make exercise something to look forward to. It’s another way of holding yourself accountable too.

Related: Make These 7 Lifestyle Changes for a Healthier Heart

Other Important Heart-Healthy Habits to Adopt in Your 40s

In addition to exercising for 30 minutes five days a week, Dr. Steinbaum says eating a diet rich in heart-healthy foods is important for protecting yourself from heart disease too. Foods that have been scientifically shown to benefit heart health include vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, low-fat dairy and fish. The Mediterranean diet and DASH diet are two eating plans that prioritize eating these foods while minimizing foods that are high in sugar and sodium, which negatively impact heart health.

Just like with exercise, Dr. Steinbaum says that mindset is key for eating with heart health in mind; you have to keep it up to truly benefit. “Start with a single shift, such as having no sugary drinks with dinner,” she says. Making slow, incremental changes to eating healthier can often be more effective than drastically changing the way you eat all at once.

If you smoke or vape, Dr. Leonard Ganz, MD, Chief Medical Officer & Division Vice President of Medical Affairs at Abbott’s Cardiac Rhythm Management division, says that quitting is the most important change you can make.

“Quitting has a myriad of health benefits, some of which manifest over days to weeks, while others develop over longer terms,” he says. “Smoking contributes to atherosclerosis—hardening of the arteries—in the coronary, cerebrovascular and peripheral circulations. Quitting smoking, therefore, will reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke and peripheral arterial disease. In addition, quitting smoking can reduce the risk of progressive lung diseases such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis. It can also lower the risk of lung, head and neck, and other types of cancer.” Dr. Ganz says that it’s never too late (or too soon!) to quit smoking.

Every action you take today, including what you eat, how much you move your body and how well you manage your stress, will either negatively or positively impact your health. It bears repeating that heart disease is largely avoidable through healthy diet and lifestyle habits.

Scheduling a brisk 30-minute walk into your daily routine is a great place to start if you aren’t sure what to prioritize first. It just might add years to your life.

Next up, find out how sleep and heart health are connected and what the ideal bedtime for keeping your heart healthy is.

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