Research
Adherence
Adopting a combination of healthy lifestyle habits—maintaining desirable body weight, eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, not smoking, and consuming moderate alcohol—can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 84%.
To significantly lower your heart disease risk, focus on five key areas: keep your weight in a healthy range, eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly, do not smoke, and if you drink alcohol, do so in moderation. These combined lifestyle changes are the most powerful tool for primary prevention.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Data from the Nurses Health Study, for example, suggest that in women, maintaining a desirable body weight, eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, not smoking, and consuming a moderate amount of alcohol could account for an 84% reduction in risk.
Why this rating
Based on long-term prospective studies (Nurses Health Study) cited in the text.
Source
AHA Guidelines for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke: 2002 Update
Thomas A. Pearson et al. · Circulation · 2002
DOI 10.1161/01.cir.0000020190.45892.75
clinical_guidelineCited 1,858×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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