Researchers already know that stomach fat — known as abdominal obesity — increases the risk of having a first heart attack. But new research finds that having excessive fat in this specific area also increases risk of subsequent heart attacks.

Belly fay & other measures of obesity affect heart health

People with too much fat around their midsections and vital organs are at increased risk for heart disease, even if their body mass index falls within a healthy range, according to a new scientific report.

The excess fat in obesity was originally thought to be harmless (benign). However, we now know that excess fat causes chemical changes in your blood that increase your heart disease risk. When your fat cells become enlarged, they give off hormones that produce chronic inflammation.

Obesity also increases other heart disease risk factors, including:

• Sleep disorders.
• Type 2 diabetes.

Reason?

In other words, two people who weigh the same could have dramatically different risks of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes, depending on where fat is deposited in their bodies.

We aren’t very sure why belly fat is increased, but what we know is people have become less active over the past several decades. Their food choices and portions have changed. People seem to have less free time and they are more depending on processed and fast food.

SEE ALSO: How Worst Eating Habits Increase Your Risk of Heart Disease

Worldwide, around 3 billion people are overweight or have obesity. The “obesity epidemic contributes significantly” to many chronic health conditions and cardiovascular disease cases around the world.

Ways to decrease belly fat or abdominal fat

The good news is that you may be able to control your belly fat. You won’t be surprised to hear it starts with a healthy lifestyle – a proper diet and regular exercise.

More encouraging is that interventions that reduce belly fat lower the risk for heart disease and diabetes.

Meeting federal guidelines for 150 minutes of physical activity per week may be sufficient to reduce abdominal fat, the analysis found, with no additional loss from longer activity times. Exercise alone or in combination with diet changes have been shown in some instances to reduce abdominal obesity even without weight loss. [Source: www.heart.org]

Maintaining a healthy waist circumference is important for preventing future heart attacks and strokes regardless of how many drugs you may be taking or how healthy your blood tests are.
– Quoted from Medical News Today

Overview

Heart attack doesn’t happen just to older adults. It is happening to younger adults too. This is partly because the conditions that lead to heart attack are happening at younger ages. However, your risk increases as you get older.

To the surprise scientific evidence and various studies show that the prevalence of heart attacks among younger people has been increasing over the last few decades.

A heart attack usually occurs when a blood clot blocks blood flow to the heart. Without blood, tissue loses oxygen and dies. The longer the heart goes without enough blood and oxygen, the greater the damage to the heart muscle. Hence heart attacks are medical emergencies and early treatment is critical.

Age increases your risk of heart attack

As your age increases, so does your risk of heart attack. This is caused due to physical changes in your cardiovascular system and your heart muscle. There are several other reasons that your heart changes as you age:

• Over time, fatty deposits can build up on the walls of your arteries.
• As you age, your arteries can become stiffer and harder.
• The walls of your heart might grow thicker as you get older.
• Your heart valves may work less effectively.
• Your heart’s electrical impulses may also change as you age.
• Sensitivity to sodium may increase and that can raise your blood pressure.

Younger people can have heart attack too

Heart attacks and the conditions that lead to it can happen at any age. High rates of obesity and high blood pressure among younger people (ages 35–64) are putting them at risk for heart attacks earlier in life.

Smoking and substance abuse are greater among young people and is linked to an increased risk of heart attack. However, they aren’t the sole cause or earlier heart attacks. It’s likely a combination of several other factors such as:

• Obesity
• Prediabetes
• Dyslipidemia, or atypical levels of lipids or fats in the blood, such as LDL cholesterol and triglycerides

There are some risk factors that can not be changed like family history, there are many other risk factors that you do have control over. These include:

• smoking
• having high cholesterol
• having high blood pressure
• lack of exercise
• being overweight or having obesity
• having high stress levels
• an unhealthy diet
• heavy alcohol consumption
• having poor sleep quality or sleep apnea

The bottom line

Although you can have a heart attack at any age, your heart attack risk does increase as you get older. Having a family history of heart disease and being male also increase your risk.

As said many other risk factors are within your control. It just depends on your lifestyle choices.

If you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, or other conditions that can increase your risk of a heart attack, talk with your cardiologist about the best course of treatment to help lower your risk of a heart attack.

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It’s no secret to be thoughtful about the eating habits and food choices you make, to save yourself from heart disease. The battle against heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes – three of the world’s leading causes of death – may be won or lost on your grocery list.

Unhealthy eating habits standout as a major lifestyle factor that increases the risk of death associated with the chronic heart diseases, studies say.

More than two-thirds of heart disease-related deaths worldwide can be linked to food choices.

Healthy lifestyle choices reduce the risk of stroke by 80%.

Thinking food as medicine is particularly right at this time. The right eating habits can really improve your health and decreases your risk of developing heart diseases.

Foods you can avoid for a healthy heart

There are some culprits in poor diet habits that have been influencing bad heart health. Scroll to learn more:

Excessive sodium/salt intake – ranked among the top concerns

Too much of salt intake can lead to hypertension (high blood pressure) and can damage your arteries. Hypertension is one of the highest potential risk factors for a heart attack or stroke.

Eating too much added sugar

A sugar-laden diet may raise your risk of dying of heart disease even if you aren’t overweight. A high-sugar diet may also stimulate the liver to dump more harmful fats into the bloodstream. Both factors are known to boost heart disease risk.

Ultra-processed foods also break your heart

Eating ultra-processed foods — such as packaged snacks, sugary cereals and drinks, chicken nuggets, and instant soup — may leave people more prone to heart disease and an early death. [Source: www.bmj.com]

Ultra-processed foods aren’t just full of fat, sugar, salt, and calories. They’re also low in fiber, vitamins, and minerals that help prevent heart disease.

Choose your diet that helps to build a healthy heart

A healthy eating habit starts in the produce aisle with fruits and vegetables. Whether you have years of unhealthy eating under your belt or you simply want to fine-tune your diet, here are eight heart-healthy diet tips. Once you know which foods to eat more of and which foods to limit, you’ll be on your way toward a heart-healthy diet.

• Control your portion size
• Eat more fruits and vegetables
• Increase the amount of whole grains in your daily diet
• Limit saturated and trans fat
• Choose low fat protein sources

These are not just health tips for your heart these could be life-saving actions.