Alternatives to hrt: heart and blood vessel health

ALTERNATIVES TO HRT: HEART AND BLOOD VESSEL HEALTH
Regular exercise that stimulates the lungs and blood flow (aerobic exercise) has a beneficial effect on blood clot formation and blood fat levels, lowers blood pressure and reduces the tendency to be overweight. Brisk walking, running, swimming and cycling are all excellent choices. Recent research indicates that muscle-strengthening resistance exercises like weight training also have a favourable effect on blood fat levels.
Reassuringly for those who do not have the urge to run or swim marathons, most of the benefits for heart health; occur with moderate exercise programs. You can walk for a total of six hours a week, play golf for five hours or swim for four hours to achieve about the level of activity necessary to provide significant protection against heart disease. Nearly 40 per cent of women around the menopause do not get this amount of exercise, however, if the Melbourne Women's Midlife Health Study is any guide. A further 15 per cent have borderline energy expenditure levels, while just under half have good or very good weekly activity levels.
Smoking endangers heart health, as well as being bad news for bones. If you are a twenty-cigarette-a-day smoker, you will suffer more from atherosclerosis (narrowing and plugging of arteries) than comparable non-smokers. You have double or triple the risk of sustaining a crippling or fatal heart attack than someone of the same age, family history and activity level who does not smoke. Giving up smoking achieves a rapid improvement in heart health. Twelve months after quitting, your risk of sudden death from heart attack is almost half that of persistent smokers and, after five years, this risk is almost identical to that of non-smokers.
Apart from smoking^ what you eat and drink are the most important environmental influences on whether or not you will develop heart disease. Healthy eating should not be bland or restrictive, but enjoyable and satisfying. Important features of healthy eating include low levels of fat and sugar and plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. To reduce the fat content of your meals you should
- remove visible fat from meat and poultry;
- grill, steam, microwave and boil foods rather than frying them;
- use minimal oil and margarine in cooking, sauces and spreads (one to two tablespoons a day);
- eat more fish (but don't fry it!);
- choose low-fat dairy products; and
- limit your intake of 'hidden' fat foods such as processed meats and pastries.
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