{"id":7931,"date":"2025-02-17T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-17T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7931"},"modified":"2025-02-17T15:30:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-17T15:30:00","slug":"nourishing-your-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7931","title":{"rendered":"Nourishing your heart"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"tni-source-date\"><strong>Originally published:<\/strong> 2025-02-17T15:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ahajournals.org\/doi\/10.1161\/HCQ.0000000000000089\" rel=\"noopener\">Recent research<\/a> shows that factors like your housing situation, environment and access to resources can influence your heart health. Access to health care, stress levels, availability of grocery stores with healthy options and local attitudes toward healthy behaviors all play a role in your ability to maintain a heart-healthy lifestyle.<\/p>\n<p>While it\u2019s not always possible to control where you live, VA can help identify and implement changes you can make in your daily habits to support your heart health.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key lifestyle adjustments<\/h2>\n<p>Here are some key lifestyle adjustments to focus on:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Follow a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nutrition.va.gov\/docs\/UpdatedPatientEd\/TLCShortVersionNov2023.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\">healthy eating plan<\/a>. Include plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy and lean proteins in your diet. Heart-healthy fats, like those found in avocados, nuts and olive oil can help lower unhealthy cholesterol levels.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.move.va.gov\/docs\/veteranworkbook\/movewbm09.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\">Increase your movement<\/a>. Regular physical activity improves heart function and helps maintain a healthy weight.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.veteranshealthlibrary.va.gov\/Search\/142,HLM002_VA\" rel=\"noopener\">Avoid tobacco products<\/a>. Smoking is a major risk factor for heart disease and can damage your blood vessels over time.<\/li>\n<li>Prioritize <a href=\"https:\/\/www.veteranshealthlibrary.va.gov\/Search\/142,Rotator_Video_9_VA\" rel=\"noopener\">sleep<\/a>. Aim for 7-9 hours each night, as quality sleep helps regulate stress hormones and blood pressure.<\/li>\n<li>Speak to your health care provider about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.veteranshealthlibrary.va.gov\/Resources\/VideoLibrary\/?e=0#player:138,a90340\" rel=\"noopener\">checking your blood pressure<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.veteranshealthlibrary.va.gov\/Search\/142,90339_VA\" rel=\"noopener\">blood glucose<\/a> and cholesterol levels regularly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Improving options<\/h2>\n<p>If access to healthy food is a challenge, there are ways to improve your options<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Consider shopping at local farmers\u2019 markets for fresh, affordable produce. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/sfmnp\/senior-farmers-market-nutrition-program\" rel=\"noopener\">Seniors Farmers Market Nutrition Program<\/a> is designed to provide low-income seniors with access to locally grown fruits, vegetables, honey and herbs.<\/li>\n<li>Many communities have programs that bring healthy foods directly to underserved areas, such as mobile food markets or community-supported agriculture subscriptions.<\/li>\n<li>Online grocery services or delivery programs can be another way to get fresh and healthy ingredients if transportation is limited.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nutrition.va.gov\/Food_Insecurity.asp\" rel=\"noopener\">VA can help connect Veterans<\/a> with resources to access nutritious and affordable food. VA facilities across the country also offer Healthy Teaching Kitchen programs which teach Veterans about food, nutrition, and how to make healthy and delicious foods.<\/p>\n<p>Visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PL3AQ_JVoBEywA0DxUr5WalEVr6iGcnjYf\" rel=\"noopener\">Healthy Teaching Kitchen YouTube Channel<\/a> to watch video recipes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re interested in learning about a heart-healthy diet or any other nutrition related topic, contact your local VA to speak with a registered dietitian.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"tni-attribution\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/138299\/nourishing-your-heart\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Access to health care and healthy behaviors all play a role in your ability to maintain a heart healthy lifestyle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":339,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-veterans-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Nourishing your heart - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Access to health care and healthy behaviors all play a role in your ability to maintain a heart healthy lifestyle.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7931\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nourishing your heart - 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