Five Daily Habits That Are Secretly Harming Your Heart (And What To Do Instead)
Your heart health is influenced by much more than just diet and exercise—daily habits you might not think twice about can have a significant impact. Putting stress on your cardiovascular system can lead to a number of health issues, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, heart attack, chronic kidney disease, and so much more.
If you're unknowingly putting stress on your cardiovascular system, it’s time to take control.
Here are five surprising habits that could be harming your heart and simple strategies to protect it.
1. Starting your day without a plan
We lead busy lives, balancing work, family, and social commitments. Unfortunately, health and wellness often take a backseat because they don’t come with urgent deadlines.
It is up to us to force these life-saving activities into our daily schedule. Unless we incorporate a “Health Agenda” into our day – like time for exercise, preparing healthy meals, self-reflection and mindfulness and for getting adequate sleep – we are setting ourselves up for failure and frustration.
What to Do Instead: Take a few minutes over the weekend to map out your upcoming week, ensuring that your "Health Agenda" is included. Even if you don’t achieve every wellness goal, having a plan increases your chances of success. A structured routine supports not just physical health but also mental and emotional well-being, creating a foundation for a healthier heart.
2. Ignoring Calories from Drinks or Sauces
Many people focus on food intake but overlook the calories in their beverages and sauces. Sugary drinks like sodas, fruit juices, and energy drinks can contain 120-200 calories per 8 ounces, while alcohol adds another 120-200 calories per glass. Similarly, sauces like creamy dressings, ketchup, and barbecue sauce can add hidden sugars and unhealthy fats, contributing to excess calorie intake and inflammation.
Why It’s Harmful:
Liquid calories don’t promote fullness (also known as satiety), making it easy to overconsume.
High sugar content in drinks and sauces causes blood sugar spikes, leading to energy crashes and cravings.
Excessive alcohol intake increases the risk of heart disease, liver issues, and high blood pressure.
Processed sauces often contain unhealthy fats and sodium, which can contribute to hypertension and heart problems.
What to Do Instead: Stick to water, herbal teas, or carbonated beverages without artificial sweeteners. For sauces, opt for homemade or low-sugar alternatives like olive oil and vinegar, mustard, or fresh salsa. Limiting sugary and alcoholic drinks, along with processed sauces, helps maintain a healthy weight and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.
3. Smoking or Excessive Alcohol Consumption
Did you know that even one cigarette or occasional cigar can destabilize cholesterol plaques in your arteries, increasing the risk of heart attacks or strokes?
This is because smoking accelerates plaque buildup, leading to clogged arteries.
Almost half of men over the age of 50 and 1 of 4 females 65 and older have mild cholesterol plaques in their heart or brain arteries. Once a cholesterol plaque becomes unstable, a clot can form as fast as within one minute and can transform an artery with a 30% narrowing into a 100% clogged one that can cause a heart attack, stroke or sudden death. It’s important to keep your plaques stable so that they never threaten your health or your life – even one cigarette or cigar can transform a stable plaque to a catastrophe.
Similarly, drinking more than two alcoholic beverages per day (or more than one for those over 65) can hurt your heart, brain, and liver, which has been shown to do the following: increase your blood pressure, cause irregular heart rhythms and heart failure, contribute to Alzheimer’s, anxiety, depression, cause fatty liver, cirrhosis and liver cancer.
In the short run, drinking more than the recommended amount of alcohol can impair your judgment and coordination, lead to accidents, injuries and risky behavior and make you more aggressive. In the long run, it will destroy your health, relationships and lives.
What to Do Instead: Quit smoking completely – Even one cigarette can trigger serious health issues. Stick to the recommended guidelines for consuming alcohol to protect your heart, brain, and liver (1-2 drinks per 24-hour period).
4. Neglecting to Monitor Your Blood Pressure
High blood pressure (hypertension) affects nearly 50% of U.S. adults and is a silent but deadly risk factor for heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure. Early on, blood pressure is not accompanied by complications; it causes zero symptoms. This stealthy health risk is directly (or indirectly, since it causes many other ailments) responsible for as many deaths in the US as all forms of cancer together. As I frequently say to my patients and colleagues: before they were the catastrophic diseases they are, the heart attacks, strokes, AFibs, heart and kidney failures, were simply undetected and untreated high blood pressure.
There are typically two blood pressure peaks that happen: one 1-2 hours before we wake up and the second between 6-9 PM (for those who work during the day). Since blood pressure fluctuates throughout the remainder of the day, checking it in the morning provides valuable insight into potential health risks.
How should you monitor your blood pressure?
After waking, empty your bladder. Then find a chair in front of a table, so that your back and your arm are supported. Sit quietly for 3-5 minutes, keep your legs uncrossed and then take your blood pressure with an automatic cuff that your primary care provider has checked for accuracy. Write down your results in a detailed blood pressure log – this is a great resource for your primary care provider or specialist who deals with blood pressure (like a cardiologist or a nephrologist).
Make it a daily habit! Aim for a systolic (top) number of ≤130 mm Hg and a diastolic (bottom) number of ≤85 mm Hg. For those under 25, an ideal reading is 120/80 mm Hg or lower.
5. Not Weighing Yourself Regularly
While weight fluctuations due to water retention are normal, gradual weight gain can be a warning sign of metabolic or cardiovascular issues. In the U.S., nearly 75% of adults are overweight or obese, increasing the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and joint problems.
The scale is a tool to help us monitor trends, mostly fluid retention or fat accumulation. By looking at the trends, you can get an accurate count of what your daily routine should look like. For example, if you see a continually trending upward weight each day and each week, there is a good chance it’s due to an increase in body fat. However, if you see your weight spike two pounds and then dips a pound the next day, you’re most likely dealing with fluid retention.
When does weight gain begin to be an issue? Anything more than 6-8 pounds. Waiting too long to address weight gain increases your chances of cardiovascular diseases and other health issues.
What To Do:
Weigh yourself daily at the same time each morning (ideally in the morning after emptying your bladder but before eating or drinking).
Monitor trends rather than fixating on minor day-to-day fluctuations.
If you notice consistent weight gain, adjust your diet and exercise routine accordingly.
It’s important to note: There are several medications that can easily cause 5-10 pounds of weight gain if you take them daily. For example, NSAIDs (ibuprofen, Advil or Aleve); Lyrica or gabapentin; medications to treat depression or anxiety; certain high blood pressure or prostate medications; steroids and estrogens. Talk to your doctor if you are experiencing significant weight gain while taking these medications.
Small Changes, Big Impact
Heart disease is preventable, and small daily changes can significantly improve your cardiovascular health. By creating a plan, monitoring your intake, avoiding harmful habits, and tracking vital health indicators, you can take control of your well-being and reduce your risk of heart-related complications.
Prioritize your heart today—your future self will thank you.