Enjoy a heart-healthy lifestyle with tips from cardiologist

Christopher Vaccari, M.D., an experienced cardiologist, says he regularly encounters three main issues with his patients’ heart health: coronary artery disease, irregular heart rhythms and congestive heart failure.

And all can be improved with lifestyle choices. The cardiologist has some tips to help.

“The keys are three-fold,” he said. “Diet, exercise and avoiding behaviors we know are bad for the heart.”

Eating healthy includes limiting sugar, salt and high-calorie foods. To get a handle on these, Dr. Vaccari suggests checking the labels on foods. There are also apps that help track the numbers.

Enjoy a heart-healthy lifestyle with tips from cardiologist

One of the biggest culprits when it comes to sugar is drinks. With salt, it’s not so much what you add at the table, but the sodium you get in eating processed food — deli meat, breads, fast food, among others.

Sugary drinks and processed food also tend to be high in calories and don’t offer much in return.