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One of the main organs in our body after the brain is the heart. Its function is to pump the blood throughout the body. That blood contains essential nutrients and oxygen. So, now you can see why keeping your heart in optimum condition is crucial.
However, human activities (and many times inactivity) could lead to various issues that can restrict the functioning of the heart.
Our cardiovascular system consists of the heart, blood, and blood vessels. This system runs the heart. There are certain factors that determine the smooth running of this system. Those factors are called Cardio metabolic health.
What factors determine cardio metabolic health?
There are several factors that could determine cardio metabolic health or simply heart health. But, we will mainly focus on 5 of those factors.
- BMI & waist circumference
- Blood sugar levels
- Cholesterol level
- Blood pressure
- History of heart ailments or disease.
In this blog, we will discuss these factors individually and identify ways by which we can keep our heart health good.
1:BMI & waist circumference
These 2 are nothing but ways to determine the fat percentage in your body. BMI stands for body mass index. It tells you if you are underweight, healthy weight, overweight or obese.
You can calculate your BMI with this calculator.
Generally, Below 18.5 is considered underweight
18.5- 24.9 is considered a healthy weight, 25.0-29-9 is considered overweight and 30.0 and above is considered obese. This is also a kind of ideal weight calculator.
Being overweight and obese can lead to type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, sleeping disorder, kidney disease, some types of cancers, and more.
Obesity can directly affect heart health. Obese people can have high cholesterol, which can lead to fatty deposits in the blood vessels. This will put pressure on the heart & then the heart will pump faster to try to fulfill the demand for blood throughout the body. But, at the same time, it’s working with reduced efficiency.
According to a survey done in 2016 more than 1.9 billion adults are overweight.
Carrying fat around the hips, thighs, and belly is termed visceral fat or abdominal fat. This coats the organ and makes it difficult for them to function efficiently.
Waist circumference is used to determine the danger levels.
For females, 80 cm or more means there’s a risk and 88 cm and more means great danger.
For males, 94 cm means increased risk and 102 cm or more means great danger.
Right now, after losing 24 kg my waist circumference is 88.9 and my BMI is 25.7 ( overweight), I still need to lose 5 kg to be in the healthy weight category.
What are the limitations of BMI and waist circumference?
These methods are not applicable to children, taller people, pregnant women, people with more muscle mass, or people with more bone mass. Even people belonging to different regions, and climates. Also, weight and height are insufficient to measure fat levels.
2: Blood sugar levels
The amount of glucose or sugar in the blood is called blood sugar levels. Insulin is a hormone (in the pancreas) that help glucose from food to reach the cells to be used as energy. If the body is unable to make sufficient insulin or any insulin, it means that the glucose remains in the blood.
Having glucose in the blood for too long can invite many diseases including diabetes and heart disease.
On an empty stomach, Ideal blood sugar levels are 80-130 mg/dL and after 2 hours of meal it should be below 180 mg/dL.
High blood glucose can damage the blood vessels and nerves that control the heart. This can lead to heart disease.
Adults with diabetes are more likely to have heart disease than adults with no diabetes. And in that, Males have a higher risk of heart disease than females.
537 million adults are living with diabetes, and it is predicted to rise to 643 millions by 2036
This data will tell you more about how diabetes varies country-wise.
Who can have diabetes?
Anyone can have diabetes, it’s not an age based thing. It could be due to hormonal imbalance, or lack of physical activity, eating too much sugar based food is another reason. Being overweight is also a reason for diabetes, when a person has too much abdominal fat, it could lead to diabetes. Diabetes could also be genetics based and run throughout the family.
Gestational diabetes is more common in women during pregnancy, and if it’s left untreated then it could even make delivery difficult.
3: Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a fat-like substance, which is generally considered a villain, but its role is to make cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D, and other metabolic functions. Lipoprotein carries it around the blood.
Cholesterol is of 2 types, Good cholesterol or HDL and bad cholesterol or LDL.
When LDL is high, it can clog up the arteries, which doesn’t sound good. LDL increases due to lack of activity, certain food, genetics, age, obesity, smoking, and abnormal levels of cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia).
Normal cholesterol levels are 200 mg/dL. Our main focus should be to increase the good cholesterol so that the heart can function properly.
Curious to know more about cholesterol? Then read my blog on cholesterol.
4: Blood pressure
It is the pressure of blood on the arteries as the heart pumps the blood. There are 2 readings that we have to focus on and these are systolic and diastolic.
Systolic is the pressure in arteries when the heart beats.
Diastolic is the pressure in arteries when the heart relaxes between beats.
The normal range is Less than 120 (systolic)/80 (diastolic)
Elevated 120-129/ less than 80
High blood pressure stage1- 130-139/ 80-89
Stage2- 140+/90+
Hypertensive crises- 180+/120+
What causes High blood pressure?
Again high blood pressure or hypertension is caused by lifestyle choices, diet high in trans fat, sodium, processed/refined food, diabetes, obesity, age-related, stress, lack of sleep, excess workout, alcohol-smoking, certain drugs, kidney disease, etc.
High blood pressure is termed as the silent killer, that’s why it’s crucial to monitor it regularly.
Hypertension damages the arteries and can even prevent the flow of blood to the heart. Increase workload can make the heart stop pumping blood.
It could even cause kidney failure, stroke, vision loss, sexual dysfunction, coronary artery disease.
Low blood pressure or hypotension is equally dangerous. Here systolic reaches below 90. It could cause weakness, fatigue, dizziness, blurred vision, etc. Could be fatal if not treated on time.

5: History of ailments or disease
Family health history also provides some insights into possible heart disease. Different kinds of problems like high blood pressure, and high cholesterol run throughout the family.
Like, if your parents or siblings have a heart attack by the age of 50, then your risk also increases.
Earlier it was believed that heart attack is an issue with the elderly, but nowadays, children are also getting it. Even people who work out regularly are getting heart attacks. This could be due to various reasons like stress, diabetes, pump failure, etc. It is advisable to get diagnosed during any discomfort.
What are other reasons for heart disease?
Other reasons could be:
- Dental issues-The bacteria can reach the blood very easily
- Hormonal imbalance
- Digestive imbalance-can cause a risk of diabetes and others
- Irregular working hour
- Air pollution – Regular air pollution can build plaque in arteries
- Ignoring signs the body is giving
- Sleeping disorder-Human body needs at least 7 hours of sleep.
But the main question is
How to keep the heart healthy?
As mentioned in this blog that inactivity is one of the reasons for cholesterol, hypertension, obesity, and diabetes, so make sure you involve some kind of workout in your lifestyle. It is advisable to walk for at least 30 minutes daily. If you cannot walk then, yoga, cardio, dancing, swimming, etc. are some other great ways to involve exercise in your routine.
For those who have a desk job, prolonged sitting can be dangerous for them, make sure you include short walks in between.
Food plays a major role in our well-being. People eat trans fat, simple carbs, and highly processed food, which is very bad for them. Instead, adopt healthy eating habits which could include more home-cooked meals. A rainbow diet or a diet with multiple colors is very healthy. Make sure you pick fresh ingredients always.
Please be sure, there’s no such thing as fat-burning food. It depends on your hard work and discipline if you want to lose weight.
A plant-based diet can do wonders for your health, especially the heart.

Sodium and sugar should be limited in the daily diet. We need only 2300 mg sodium a day and 24 gm sugar. Beyond that could invite unwanted diseases. Check out my blog to know more about why reading a food label is important.
Regular diagnosis and keeping tabs on cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar, and blood pressure can save us at the right time. These tests (except blood pressure) are done by collecting a blood sample on an empty stomach.
Laughing has surprising benefits on heart health. So make sure you include laughter in your life.
Conclusion
Keeping your heart healthy is not that difficult after all. It majorly depends on our eating habits and lifestyle. Certain good changes are great for heart health. We need to make sure we give attention to these factors that could damage heart health and overall health.
A little bit of awareness will be very good for heart health.
In the comments tell me what you think about your heart health. Make sure you drop comments because I love receiving them.
If you want to write a blog for me then drop me an email at Devangupadhyaya421@gmail.com
Until next time, Keep smiling.
58 responses to “What determines the heart health”
thank you for this share, Devang.
the sad part is we refuse to take our health seriously until we are forced to.
lovely how you end with positivity 🤍🙏
Well we have to and we should 😊
I agreed 👍🤍
This is all useful information. Thank you for putting it out there. I hope it works miracles for general public.
You sound like Milena ma’am the strict teacher.
How MA would say it? ☺️
It’s very scientific that is why
I tried to avoid humor with this one.
Sometimes, Humor comes automatically. I felt this needed to be straight to the point ☺️
I see. That’s fine sometimes you’ve got to be serious
Thanks for sharing a helpful blog post, Devang. Some of the information about heart health I already knew but things like dental issues affecting heart health through blood is new. Awareness is definitely the first step to taking care of health. Daily walk after heavy meals goes a long way in maintaining fitness.
Oral health does affect heart health.
I had written a blog on oral hygiene and made sure to point it out there as well.
Daily walk after meals is the most powerful cardio . infact it can shoo away so many ailments.
Is there a way to contact you professionally ?
Sorry for the delay in responding. You can contact me on Twitter msg – Ranjana Nag
I like your healthy heart graphic. Thanks for this health information.
Well atleast you like something in this 1.6 k + words blog. 😅
Thanks for your time.
I’d forgotten about the link with dental health.
A great post Devang with lots of detail
Haven’t included much about dental health in this blog.
As in that blog I haven’t talked much about heart health.
Thanks for reading
You mentioned that a dental infection can feed into the bloodstream
Yeah only that…
I have a blog about about dental health.
But in that I’ve talked very less about heart health in that.
This fact came out surprising to some.
I think I knew the link, but had forgotten
Well offcourse you know 😁
You are a savant 🙏🏼🙂
😘
High cholesterol is caused by genetics, lifestyle choices and has zero symptoms. Heart disease is 90% preventable even if it’s in your genetics by keeping your LDL low because high levels increase your risk for stroke and heart attacks.
True!!
I agree!!
These lack of activity/exercise, not eating healthy food can invite heart disease. People fail to understand that the choices they are making now, can harm them in coming future.
Definitely. If they took a little time to come to that understanding for themselves I am sure they would make those life saving choices as we have.
I agree!!
Thanks a lot for interacting
Definitely a good post to make one think about their health.
Hey thanks!!!
I hope it can make people aware
Your welcome
Healthy heart, better life!
Informative share, we must take our health seriously.
You should take care of your heart even more
Because it’s big and filled with goodness and sweetness……
Oh, is it😋
Thank you, D😊💛
☺️🔆🤩
Another great post D!!! 👏
Thank you so much for appreciating 🙇🏻♂️
Really interesting post! I recently learnt that your B12 levels also effect heart health.
True
b12 in general support nail, hair, skin, neuron, brain health. Reduces homocysteine levels in the blood, which is related to the heart disease.
Is it possible to get sufficient b12 from vegan diet itself? Some research says it’s not possible and we need to take supplements. While other says nutritional yeast, greek yogurt could be a great source.
What you feel like?
I think it’s possible. I get my B12 tested each year and it’s perfectly fine even though I never take any supplements for it.
Generally I mentioned about vegan diet due to you and other fellow blogger who’s vegan.
You are giving me something to think upon.
It’s always good to learn something new and thanks to WP you’re doing just that. I think there’s also a disease that stops you from absorbing B12 properly. Or perhaps it’s a genetic disorder. Not so sure exactly, but I heard it on a podcast (from a reliable doctor)
I think you are talking about pernicious Anemia 🤔
Need to learn more about it tho. Thanks
I think it also depends on the persons absorption because I know people who eat all animal products but still don’t absorb B12 properly.
Ohhhh…. Need to research more on this 🤔
Healthy service you are offering Devang. Hope your time and effort motivates consideration and positive change in those who take the time read the info. Small changes can make a big difference!
Yes I hope that too
And I’m trying to keep these blogs very simple and easy to understand.
I really appreciate your time for reading this 🙇🏻♂️
It is a lot of work, I imagine, but if you help one person, then it’s worth it. 😇 You are welcome!
I’m experimenting more of my work.
Trying to make it more flexible and easy to read.
How are you ML?
It is good to keep growing! I am fabulous. 😊 Thanks! You?
Stay fabulous then!!
Looking forward to read more from you.
I’m doing good health wise 😊
🙏🏻👍🏻
Very useful information..
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for reading sir
[…] am also enjoying reading books in Hindi, as knowledge is everywhere. My last blog was based on the article that I read in these […]
So much amazing information here, Devang! So many people are in the dark over the link between dental issues and heart health…and laughing is SO beneficial for many reasons! Thank you! 💞💞💞
Thanks for reading ma’am.
I appreciate you and your time.
It’s good to see you here.
Oral health is crucial and people should understand it.
Keep laughing 😀
How’s your health??
Thank you, always good to see you too 🙂 Health could always be improved, but doing well. How about you?
I agree body gives signals that should not be ignored. Obesity is the mother of many diseases. It must be checked. Rainbow diet is good. Your previous post may be quite helpful.
I hope!!
I am just sharing from my personal experience.
Thanks for appreciating sire
Hello, can you check you instagram?
Will check it for sure…..
Thanks 😀