Did you know that fewer women survive their first heart attack than men? It’s often because many women don’t take their risk and symptoms seriously until it’s too late. Heart disease is the leading cause of death amongst American women, and it’s never too early to protect your heart. Here’s what all young women need to know about heart health.

Know the Risk Factors

According to the Mayo Clinic, several health conditions can increase your chance of getting heart disease:

• Family history
• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Obesity

If you have one or more of the factors above, talk to your doctor about how you can manage these conditions and lower your risk.

Learn more about heart health.

Take Steps to Improve Your Lifestyle

With heart disease causing 1 in 3 women’s deaths each year, taking precautions is important. Changing your lifestyle when you’re younger will help reduce your chances of problems later in life. To improve your heart health, try incorporating some of these changes into your lifestyle:

• Quit smoking
• Reduce stress
• Limit alcohol
• Increase your physical activity

Maintain a Heart-Healthy Diet

Healthy eating is one of the best defenses against heart disease. The American Heart Association recommends a heart-healthy diet of:

• Plenty of vegetables and fruits
• Whole grains
• Low-fat dairy
• Poultry and fish
• Healthy fats found in foods like, nuts, olive oil and seafood
• Limited amounts of red meat and added sugar

Heart-healthy doesn’t have to mean boring. Get recipes for grilled salmon tacos, almond crusted chicken nuggets and more recipes here.

Leah Newman

Leah Newman is a freelance writer with particular interest in health and wellness, law, and personal finance. Her background is in journalism, and includes several years as a staff writer and editor at a daily newspaper. She has previously worked at the YMCA of Middle Tennessee, YMCA Camp Widjiwagan and Atlanta Motor Speedway. Leah lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

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Get more information about specific health terms, topics and conditions to better manage your health on bcbst.com. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee members can access wellness-related discounts on fitness products, gym memberships, healthy eating and more through Blue365®. BCBST members can also find tools and resources to help improve health and well-being by logging into BlueAccess and going to the Managing Your Health tab.