Healthy living to prevent heart disease and type 2 diabetes
Learn how healthy eating, being physically active, quitting smoking and reducing alcohol can help lower your risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
About heart disease
Heart disease happens when the blood vessels around your heart become narrowed or blocked. This can lead to chest pain or a heart attack. Heart disease is Australia’s leading cause of death.
A stroke happens when blood can’t reach your brain, because of a blocked or burst artery.
There’s no single cause of heart disease and stroke. But there are risk factors that can increase your chance of developing them, such as having high blood cholesterol and blood pressure. Creating healthy habits can help to lower your risk and support good health.
Visit the Heart Foundation or Stroke Foundation for more information.
About type 2 diabetes
In type 2 diabetes, the body is not able to keep levels of glucose (a type of sugar) in the blood within a healthy range. High levels of blood glucose over time can lead to health problems.
People over 40 are at higher risk of type 2 diabetes. But it’s also becoming more common in younger people in Australia. People with type 2 diabetes are up to 4 times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke than people without diabetes. They can also develop heart disease younger.
Visit Diabetes NSW or healthdirect for more information.
Understanding risk factors
Heart disease and type 2 diabetes are real health risks for many Australians. Risk factors are things that increase a person’s chance of developing and/or dying from a health condition.
Some risk factors can’t be changed, such as your:
- age
- sex
- genetics
- family history.
Other risk factors are known as ‘modifiable’ risk factors. This means you can change them to improve your health. These include your:
- diet
- physical activity levels
- alcohol drinking
- social connections
- smoking.
Small changes can make a big difference. It’s never too early or too late to take steps towards creating healthier habits.
Lowering your risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes
Setting up healthy habits can help prevent and manage heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Making healthy changes – like eating healthier food, getting physically active, sitting less and quitting smoking – can lower your risk of disease.
There may be other things in your life that make these activities difficult, such as where you live, your social situation and other health issues. It’s important to keep these in mind when thinking about what healthy living looks like for you.
Your health professional can talk to you about your risk of developing these diseases and ways to live a healthier life.
Here are some different ideas you might like to start with.
A healthy diet of mostly everyday foods from the 5 food groups can help prevent and treat diseases. Here are some ideas to help you eat more healthily.
- Choose wholegrains, foods with more fibre, and healthy fats to get the nutrients your body needs. Use the Eat for Health Food Calculator to learn more about the 5 food groups, how much you need and how often.
- Eat more plant foods such as vegetables, legumes, nuts, fruits, and seeds. They are full of nutrients which help to keep your heart healthy and help control your blood glucose.
- Include a variety of colourful vegetables at lunch and dinner to help you eat plenty of vegetables.
- Eating a handful of nuts each day to support heart health.
- Add legumes in your diet, such as lentils, chickpeas and beans. They are full of nutrients which can help control blood glucose.
- Include oily fish in your diet as it contains healthy omega 3 fats. Fish can be fresh, frozen or canned such as tuna, salmon, sardine and mackerel.
Try to avoid food and drinks that are high in unhealthy saturated fats, salt (sodium) and added sugars such as cakes, muffins, biscuits, confectionery, chips, deli meats, and sugar-sweetened drinks.
Check out our healthy recipes for meal ideas for you and your family.
For professional support with healthy eating, find an Accredited Practising Dietitian near you.
Physical activity lowers your risk of developing and dying from heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
It also has many benefits for your overall health and wellbeing.
Doing even a little bit more physical activity can improve your health by helping to manage your:
- blood pressure
- blood glucose
- cholesterol
- weight (particularly when combined with a healthy diet).
Meeting the Australian physical activity guidelines can help you have better physical and mental health and wellbeing. For adults (aged 18 to 64 years), to meet the guidelines, you should:
- try to be physically active on most, if not all, days of the week
- do 2.5 to 5 hours of moderate intensity activity or 1.25 to 2.5 hours of vigorous intensity activity, or a combination of both, each week
- muscle strengthening activities on 2 or more days of the week
- minimise time spent sitting.
For older adults (aged 65 years or over), the guidelines recommend at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity on most, preferably all, days.
Learn more about the recommended amounts:
- Physical activity guidelines for adults
- Physical activity guidelines for older adults
- Getting started with physical activity
If you have any concerns about your health or what type of physical activity is right for you, talk to your health professional before you start.
Smoking damages the blood vessels to your heart, brain and other parts of your body – especially if you have type 2 diabetes. It can lead to a heart attack, stroke and even premature death.
Quitting can make a big difference to your heart health.
For help to quit, visit NSW Quitline or call 13 78 48.
Heavy drinking or binge drinking can raise your risk of heart disease. Drinking a lot of alcohol over a long period can raise your heart rate, blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels. It can also weaken your heart muscle. Find out more about reducing the amount of alcohol you drink or speak to your doctor.