• A healthy lifestyle involves understanding the risk, choosing and implementing steps to reduce your chances of developing heart disease
• Risk factors of heart disease are more when
  • You have high blood pressure
  • You have high blood cholesterol 
  • You are overweight or obese 
  • Do not practice regular physical activity 
  • Family history of early heart disease
  • Have a history of preeclampsia (a sudden rise in blood pressure)
• When blood passes through the walls of your arteries and veins creates pressure within the blood vessels. This pressure when rises over time and remains high, can damage your heart and blood vessels and cause plaque formation.
• When you have steady systolic readings of 140 mm Hg or higher or diastolic readings of 90 mm Hg or higher your blood pressure is considered high.
• High blood cholesterol is a disorder in which the blood contains unhealthy cholesterol levels — a waxy, fat-like material.
• Talk to your doctor about testing your cholesterol, and how often you need it to be tested. 
• Total cholesterol, "bad" LDL cholesterol, and "good" HDL cholesterol and triglycerides are included in your cholesterol numbers. Ask your doctor what you mean by numbers.
• DASH is a balanced eating program that helps create a heart-healthy eating style for life. The DASH eating plan requires no special ingredients and instead offers daily and weekly dietary targets. 
• This program recommends: Eating vegetables, nuts, and whole grains, limiting high-saturated fat foods, such as fatty meats, full-fat dairy products and tropical oils such as coconuts, palm kernels, and palm oils