Heart health

Having a healthy heart is critical because diabetes increases your risk for heart disease. It also increases your risk of developing high blood cholesterol, high triglycerides (blood fats) and high blood pressure. All these contribute to heart disease.

Below are guidelines for heart-healthy living. Do not worry about trying to take them all on at once. Work with your provider to choose one to two items on which to begin working. Then add more as you become more confident.

Heart-healthy tips

• Eat a diet low in saturated and trans fats.
• Watch your cholesterol.
• Add more fruits, vegetables and whole grains to your meals.
• Watch your salt.
• Maintain a healthy weight.
• If you drink alcohol, keep below a safe limit.

Also important to good heart health is not smoking.

Targets for heart-related tests

• A1C: less than 7 percent
• Total cholesterol: less than 200 mg/dL
• LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol: less than 100 mg/dL; less than 70 mg/dL, if at very high risk
• HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol: greater than 40 mg/dL
• Triglycerides: less than 150 mg/dL
• Blood pressure: less than 130/80 mm/hg

The diabetes care schedule will help you track these tests and exams, plus others necessary for diabetes treatment.

To make an appointment with International Diabetes Center, call 952-993-3393 or toll-free at 888-825-6315.