Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge and Bupa UK, the leading health insurer, have teamed up for World Heart Day (Wednesday, 29 September), to help people boost their heart health.
In partnership with the health insurer, Tom Kerridge will be cooking some heart healthy recipes, and sharing his own heart health experiences online. Over the past few years, the Michelin-starred chef has embarked on his own personal journey towards heart health in order to reduce his risk of heart disease.
Now, he hopes to help Bupa’s customers and social media followers with advice and recipes to promote better health, to inspire them to make long-lasting lifestyle changes.
Tom Kerridge said; “I’m really pleased to partner with Bupa UK to shine a light on the importance of heart health. Whilst I eat a balanced diet and regularly exercise, I also still have the odd treat like a burger, or fish and chips. I know first-hand how difficult it can be to make lasting lifestyle changes – so I’m happy to offer any advice or tips I can that will help people to stick to their goals. Often, the state of our heart health is down to us as individuals – and that’s good news, because it’s in our power to control it.”
Bupa’s Clinical Director of Cardiology, Dr Yassir Javaid outlines his top tips to help people boost their heart health:
Exercise – This may seem obvious, but the best way to reduce your risk of heart disease is to be active. Whether it’s joining the gym, walking, cycling or swimming, regular exercise can strengthen your heart muscle, lower your resting heart rate and blood pressure, help you lose weight and improve your cholesterol profile. Exercise can also reduce stress which is key to looking after your heart.
It’s important you find an exercise you enjoy otherwise it will be hard to find he motivation to do it, so test out a few different things and see what works best for you.
Enhance your diet – Diet is another key way to boost your heart health. Carb-rich foods are best consumed in moderation, including bread, pasta and rice. Avoid excess alcohol, sugary foods and drinks and cut down on saturated fats such as those found in butter, cheese and fatty meat.
Reducing portion sizes and avoiding snacking will also help.
Quit smoking – If you’re a smoker, the best thing you can do for your health is quit. Those who smoke are almost three times more likely to die from a heart problem than those who’ve never smoked. Just a year after quitting, the risk of heart disease is halved.
Monitor your own heart health – Wearable tech is now available which can help you track your heart health from home. Many of these are able to keep track of your exercise, activity and monitor your heart rate, something which can be really useful when trying to boost your heart health.
The event with Tom Kerridge is part of Bupa’s Inside Health events, a series of online webinars for customers on different health topics. It will be hosted by ITV This Morning’s Dr. Zoe Williams alongside Dr. Petra Simic, Bupa’s Medical Director for Healthcare Management and Dr. Yassir Javaid, Bupa's Clinical Director of Cardiology. The live event will be exclusively for Bupa UK customers, with content from the event then posted on Bupa UK’s Instagram and Facebook channels.
Richard Glassborow, Marketing Director for UK Insurance at Bupa said; “We’re delighted to team up with Tom Kerridge on such an important issue; as a leader in heart health and knowing of Tom’s experience in this area, the partnership aims to help our customers adopt good habits and make tangible changes to their lifestyles for the long term, helping them to live longer, healthier, happier lives.”
Notes to editor
For more information, please contact Bupa Press Office on [email protected] or call 020 7833 7040
About Bupa
Bupa's purpose is helping people live longer, healthier, happier lives and making a better world.
We are an international healthcare company serving over 31 million customers worldwide. With no shareholders, we reinvest profits into providing more and better healthcare for the benefit of current and future customers.
We directly employ around 85,000 people, principally in the UK, Australia, Spain, Chile, Poland, New Zealand, Hong Kong SAR, Turkey, Brazil, Mexico, the US, Middle East and Ireland. We also have associate businesses in Saudi Arabia and India.
