Pump it up

4 surprising ways healthy heart habits benefit your whole body

- NINA AGRAWAL

Doctors have long endorsed a handful of practices that protect against heart disease, the leading killer of adults in America.

A new review shows that following this heart-healthy guidance also benefits the body in other surprising ways, including lowering the risk of cancer and dementia, improving mobility and even increasing the chances of a healthy pregnancy.

Researchers examined a decade of studies on “Life’s Simple 7”, a set of guidelines established in 2010 by the American Heart Association that reduce one’s chances of developing and dying of heart disease.

The guidelines include eating a heart-healthy diet, exercising, abstaining from smoking, and maintaining body weight, blood glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure within healthy limits. (Getting good sleep was added in 2022, when the list became “Life's Essential 8”)

The new review underscored how the measures collectively staved off cardiovascular disease, and also found that their positive health effects extended beyond the heart, said Liliana Aguayo, a research assistant professor of nursing at Emory University and the lead author of the paper. Following the guidance may prevent a number of chronic diseases, as well as help maintain mobility, vision, hearing and other functions.

The benefits begin at the cellular level by reducing inflammation and most likely affecting other processes of ageing, too, said Anthony Molina, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego, who specialises in the science of ageing. Heart disease and many other chronic conditions are primarily diseases of ageing, but you can start accumulating risk earlier in life.