How To Improve Your Heart Health After 50—and Reduce Your Stroke Risk Too

Wondering how to improve your heart health without overhauling your entire life? Good news: A few small tweaks can make a big difference in reducing your risk of heart disease and stroke—no grueling workouts or restrictive diets required. The payoff: A study in the journal EClinicalMedicine found that a fitter heart can help add up to five healthy years to your life. Plus research in the journal Circulation suggests your risk of developing diabetes, dementia and cancer drops too. Read on to see the best science-backed tips to help prevent heart disease. 

How to improve your heart health: 11 easy tips

You know the drill: Follow a heart-healthy diet, get 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a week and maintain a healthy weight. While those are great first steps toward reducing risk factors for heart disease such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, there are other surprisingly simple tips that also help keep your heart and blood vessels healthy.

Try ‘exercise snacks’

Trouble finding time to work out? An Australian study published in Circulation found that among people who don’t exercise, those who weave in around five minutes a day of brisk “incidental movement” like carrying groceries, taking the stairs or even power vacuuming slash their risk of heart attack or stroke by up to 38 percent. These tiny bursts of movement (anything that makes you breathe a little bit harder) get your heart pumping, burn energy and improve blood sugar levels, giving your heart a workout even if you never break a sweat.

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Brew a double latte

Your morning latte isn’t just a treat for your taste buds— the combination of coffee and milk may also improve your heart health. A University of Colorado study suggests that drinking 2 cups of coffee daily reduces the risk of heart failure (or weakened heart function) by 30 percent. Meanwhile, British research suggests that milk lowers harmful fats in the blood, reducing your risk of coronary heart disease.

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Snack on nuts

These tasty snacks are one of the easiest ways to improve your heart health naturally. Researchers reporting in the journal BMC Medicine analyzed 12 studies and found that eating 28 grams (about a handful) of nuts such as peanuts, cashews, almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios daily reduces heart disease risk by 29 percent. Credit goes to nut nutrients such as fiber, magnesium and polyunsaturated fats, which reduce heart disease risk factors such as high cholesterol and insulin resistance. 

Cue up soothing music

You know music soothes the soul, but a seven-year Serbian study finds it helps improve your heart health too. When scientists asked study participants who were taking medication after a heart attack to add 30 minutes of soothing music to their day, they experienced around a 25 percent drop in heart-related problems like angina (chest pain and pressure), compared to those who relied on medication alone. Calming songs dial down the body’s fight-or-flight response, reducing stress on the heart.

Stay hydrated

Start your day by measuring out five drinking glasses of water into a pitcher, then sip throughout the day. Loma Linda University research suggests that women who adopt the simple habit may lower their risk of a heart attack by as much as 41 percent compared to those who drink two cups or less. 

Water helps keep blood flowing smoothly, making it harder for it to produce clots that block blood flow to the heart—the leading cause of heart attacks. Tip: Add citrus rounds or muddled berries to the pitcher. A study in the journal Foods found the fruity infusion makes water significantly more appealing, which may help you drink more without trying. 

Meet up with friends

A weekly gab session with your favorite girlfriends can lift your spirits and improve your heart health. Boosting feelings of togetherness and curbing loneliness dials down stress, a key player in heart trouble. This lowers your risk of cardiovascular disease by 30 percent, suggests University of California, San Diego research. (Discover more natural stress relievers here.)

Supplement with vitamin E

Taking vitamin E daily can cut your heart disease risk by 44 percent, even for people who are smokers. So say Harvard investigators, who found the effect in women who took 100 to 250 IU of vitamin E daily for an average of two years. The vitamin keeps “bad” LDL from undergoing oxidation, a process that causes it to stick to and stiffen arteries. Tip: Opt for a supplement that contains d-alpha-tocopherol. It’s a natural form of vitamin E that’s utilized more efficiently by the body than synthetic forms. One to try: Solaray High Potency Vitamin E.

Enjoy a nightly soak

Ending your evening with a relaxing bath for 30 minutes three times a week might be as beneficial for your heart as exercising for the same amount of time, according to Australian research published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine. Experts say that warming the body from head to toe encourages vessels to dilate more efficiently. This enables the heart to pump blood through arteries and veins with less effort, improving your heart health naturally.

Sip hot cocoa

Cozying up with a cup of cocoa can actually be part of a healthy eating plan that improves your heart. British findings suggest consuming the amount of cocoa in one cup of hot chocolate daily can lower the odds of developing heart disease by 25 percent. As researchers point out, cocoa is full of plant compounds called flavanols. That’s key, since flavanols curb heart-harming inflammation. Plus, they boost production of nitric oxide, a substance that helps relax blood vessels and lower blood pressure. 

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Get more sleep

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A study in the European Heart Journal suggests that restful sleep cuts the risk of fatal heart disease in half. Good sleep lowers the body’s production of stress hormones, which can increase blood pressure and heart rate and damage blood vessels. The sweet spot? Greek research finds sleeping between seven and eight hours a night reduces the risk of plaque buildup in arteries by up to 54 percent.

Tip: If you sometimes have trouble dosing off, consider supplementing with melatonin 30 minutes before bed. This natural sleep hormone helps sync your internal body clock so it’s easier to drift off to dreamland. One to try: Wholesome Story Melatonin.

Enjoy a concert in the park

In a Swedish study, people who attended fine arts events at local theaters, museums and cinemas at least once a week were significantly less likely to be diagnosed with heart disease over a 36-year period compared to their stay-at-home counterparts. Experts explain that experiencing the arts in person eases stress and social isolation, both of which have been shown to heighten heart disease risk.