PREVENTION: Many health conditions are preventable by living a healthy lifestyle. You cannot control your genetic makeup, age, or gender. However, by controlling your health, you can lower your risk of future disease and help manage and fight already formed diseases.

The U.S Institutes of Health recommends the following to maintain a healthy, disease-fighting lifestyle:

See your doctor for regular screenings

Maintain a healthy weight

Eat a variety of healthy foods

Be physically active

Control blood pressure and cholesterol

Quit smoking

Limit sun exposure

REVERSING BAD HEALTH WITH DIET: Many characteristics of bad health can be reversed through lifestyle and diet. Knowing your current health conditions can help you determine what kinds of foods you should eat to ensure your body receives the vitamins and nutrients it needs. It is never too late for your body to start getting healthy.

For instance, a person with coronary heart disease should get less than 30 percent of their calories from fat and less than 7 percent from saturated fat, according to the American Heart Association. Knowing these numbers, heart disease patients can focus on their diet and improve their condition.

Changes in diet can have quick and lasting results. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, French researchers studied 212 patients following the healthier-fats Mediterranean diet for three months. Researchers saw a 15-percent reduction in cardiovascular disease risk factors in the short time period.

REVERSING BAD HEALTH WITH EXERCISE: Exercise can also greatly improve one's health. For instance, metabolic syndrome is a collection of abnormal findings from lab results, which serves as a risk factor for diabetes, heart disease and cancer. It is said that metabolic syndrome can be reversed through exercise. To reverse this, patients should exercise moderately for at least 30 minutes, five to six days per week.

For More Information, Contact:
Erica Foreman, Media Relations Manager
Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland, OH (216) 444-7935 foremae@ccf.org