Long desk-bound hours, daunting deadlines, endless cups of caffeine, and fried snacks. All this for the sake of a lavish life ahead? But the question is: What if this future is devoid of a healthy heart? While we run relentlessly for financial stability, we often neglect our heart that keeps us alive.
Recent finding from ekincare’s report reveals a worrying trend: employees in the 35-45 age bracket shows a growing incidence of risk factors like hypertension, high cholesterol, and elevated BMI. These are red flags portraying how there’s an urgent need to take our heart health seriously. Think heart health is only a post-40s topic to discuss? Then it’s time to rethink on World Heart Day 2025. For many under-30 employees, relentlessly chasing success might be putting a toll on their heart health. A sedentary lifestyle, genetic predisposition, and unhealthy diets lead to an illusion of fitness: you may look fit from outside, while your heart screams for help. However, the good news is embracing the right lifestyle choices is the perfect antidote.
Happy World Heart Day (ETV Bharat)
According to Dr. Rahul Mehrotra, Chief – NIC & Clinical Cardiology, Artemis Hospitals, “People under 30 can protect their hearts by doing simple things: maintaining a healthy lifestyle with proper diet and sleep, quitting smoking and drinking, and getting regular checkups. These small, consistent changes lower blood pressure, boost energy, and strengthen your heart over time, paving the way for a healthier and more productive future from a young age.”
Tiny Choices Today, Healthier Heart Tomorrow
1. Ditch the desk and Move
It’s 2 am, you are glued to your laptop, with cups of coffee. You suddenly realize that you haven’t moved in 3 hours. Sounds relatable? Hustle culture keeps us sedentary, but small steps help. Take brisk walks post lunch and dinner; fetch your own water instead of having water bottles at your desk; find slots for physical activities every 30 minutes etc.
2. Snack mindfully
It sometimes starts with a casual midnight snack while bingeing Netflix. Soon it invades our lifestyle. Swapping nuts, berries, and fruit juices instead of chips and soda can keep your heart happy. It’s about long-term lifestyle choices to sustain your heart health.
3. Hydration is the key
Sip on water throughout the day (Getty Images)
Caffeine fixes and soda sips are cool, but water is non-negotiable. Metabolism check, blood circulation, regulating blood pressure, and more, hydration ticks all these boxes. Little choices like putting a timer for your water intake or making a daily target of water intake can keep our heart healthy.
4. Stress is the antagonist
Deadlines, back-to-back meetings, and the never-ending notifications, put a toll on your heart through stress. Micro-breaks at the office, therapy sessions, routine health check-ups, keeping a journal or sticky notes to jot down worries, etc. can be those small strategies to keep stress at bay.
5. Know your numbers through check-ups
Routine check-ups and tracking blood pressure, cholesterol, and weight are like checking your wallet after expensive purchases. Having mandatory annual or bi-annual health screenings, App reminders, and tracking are your best defence.
Celebrate World Heart Day today (ETV Bharat)
Says Dr. Bilal Thangal T M, Medical Lead at NURA, AI Health Screening Centre, “Many heart conditions tend to develop quietly, which is why routine health checkups are so important, even if you feel perfectly fine. Keeping track of blood pressure, cholesterol, sugar levels, and body fat offers an honest snapshot of how the heart is really doing. When advised, a coronary calcium scan can also highlight plaque deposits in the arteries long before symptoms set in. Having this knowledge early gives people the chance to make timely adjustments; whether in diet, exercise, or daily habits so that you can future-proof your heart.”
Says Dr. Sajeev Nair, biohacking expert and founder of health-tech startup, Vieroots, “In India, where we have noticed that cardiovascular disease is becoming more prevalent and severe, we cannot afford to wait for hidden symptoms to show up all of a sudden before intervening. With genetic testing, we may identify hidden hazards encoded in our DNA and take action decades before any such illness appears, especially heart diseases. We can create healthier families, more productive societies, and stronger hearts by fusing personalised genetic insights with preventive treatment and a good lifestyle.”
6. Avoid smoking and drinking
It’s tempting to taste a pint of your favourite alcohol or take a smoke break often. However, it gradually turns into an addiction. Here’s how you start with baby steps: swap your drinks for herbal tea, keep cigarettes out of reach, and try replacing that break with a physical activity.
Dr. Noel Coutinho, Co-Founder, ekincare, says, “The latest findings point towards a worrying rise in early heart health risks among India’s working professionals. This isn’t something to think about only when problems arise, it’s a gradual step-by-step process made by our everyday choices. The way forward is self-awareness and small steps. These in turn can reduce risk and build resilience for a healthier workforce.”
Watch what you eat for lunch (Getty Images)
Says Dr. Kushal Agrawal, HOD, Department of Neonatology and Paediatrics, KVR Hospital, Kashipur: “As young professionals under 30, it’s easy to overlook heart health, but lifestyle habits built now shape long-term well-being. Building these habits early helps prevent lifestyle-related diseases and supports stronger immunity, energy, and focus.”
The heart never sends timely notifications to warn you of its depleting health. It deteriorates silently over time. The good news? It’s all in our own hands. It starts with small, intentional choices every day like moving out of the desk a little more or understanding your body properly etc. Neglecting heart health for success and pocket-full of money isn’t worth it. Who can truly enjoy a lavish life if their heart won’t permit them to even move freely?
Read more:
