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Every new year, people make resolutions. Typical goals include losing weight, getting in shape, spending less cash and investing money for the future. Mayo Clinic experts say the new year is the perfect time to resolve to invest in your heart health and get the best rate of return.
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Just like the banker who invests a little every month and ends up wealthy, investing in four positive health habits today can help make your future healthy.
"One is don't smoke," says Dr. Stephen Kopecky, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist, who says smoking is a biggie.
"Two is eating five fruits and vegetables a day."
Three is maintaining a healthy weight. Your body mass index, or BMI, should be under 25.
And No. 4 is exercise. "For every hour you're active vigorously as an adult, you live two hours longer. There's nothing else we have, really, in medicine with that good of a return on investment," says Dr. Kopecky.
Dr. Kopecky says if you start investing today, you reduce your risk of heart attack in four years by 40 percent. And if you continue your health investments for two decades, that risk drops by 80 percent.
