Heart disease is the number-one killer in the United States. Take steps to lower your overall risk now:

Step #1: Keep Your Cholesterol and Blood Pressure in Check

Here's what your numbers should be:

• Total cholesterol: < 200
• LDL-cholesterol: < 100
• HDL-cholesterol: 40 or higher
• Cholesterol ratio (total cholesterol/HDL): less than 5
• Blood pressure (the pressure of the blood against the walls of the arteries): below 120/80 mmHg

Step #2: Exercise Every Day

Regular exercise helps control your weight (which in turn helps lower LDL-cholesterol and blood pressure). What's more, according to a meta-analysis published this year in the Archives of Internal Medicine, exercise also appears to increase levels of HDL-cholesterol - that's the good cholesterol that lowers your risk for heart disease. On most days, aim for at least 30 minutes of moderately intense activity (60 to 90 minutes to lose weight or maintain weight loss). 

Step #3: Minimize Your Middle

It's always important to balance physical activity with a calorie-appropriate diet to maintain your weight (or lose weight if you're overweight). However, when it comes to heart disease risk, research shows that where you carry fat - not necessarily how much fat you're carrying - can markedly increase the risk of calcium and plaque buildup in the arteries of the heart. Abdominal fat - as opposed to fat around the hips - seems to trigger a chain of inflammatory activities that translates into harmful metabolic changes, plaque buildup...and ultimately heart disease. In other words, the "waist-to-hip ratio" (that is, the size of your belly in relationship to your hips) is a better indicator of early signs of heart disease than other common measures of overweight and obesity, such as body mass index (BMI) and height/weight charts. Here's how to calculate your own waist-to-hip ratio:

1. While standing, use a tape measure to measure your waist in inches at its smallest point or at your navel (without holding in or pushing out your tummy).
2. Next, measure your hips in inches at the widest area.
3. Lastly, divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement.

For example, if your waist measures 38" and your hips measure 38", you're 1.0. The ideal waist-to-hip ratio for men is  .9 or less, while for women, it's .8 or less.

For both men and women, 1.0 or higher is considered "at risk" for heart disease. The good news is that even small improvements prove to be beneficial.... Lose an inch or two off your waist and you're already better off.

Step #4: Eat a Heart-Smart Diet

Incorporate the following into your diet for a healthier heart:

1. Eat plenty of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.
2. Limit saturated fat to less than 7% of your calories.
3. Limit sodium to less than 2,300 mg/day.
4. Limit alcohol to one drink a day for women and 2 drinks a day for men.
5. Eat fish rich in omega 3 fats three times a week (wild salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring, lake trout, and Pacific oysters).

By Joy Bauer, M.S., R.D., C.D.N.