Heart diseases are a leading cause of death for both men and women around the world. If not managed well, they can be life-threatening. It is important to take steps today to prevent your risk of having a heart attack in future. Let’s take a look at how you can make your heart stronger for a healthier, happier life.
10 Tips for a Stronger Heart
Eat a heart-friendly diet
Having balanced meals should be the goal of every individual because that’s how the body has been made to function. The body needs adequate proportions of fats, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals for optimum function. Increasing the portion of even one of the above for a prolonged period can create an off-balance in the body’s physiology and indirectly hamper heart function. Hence, we suggest you eat a diet that not only nourishes the body overall but also helps you maintain heart health.
Maintain optimum weight
If you are overweight or obese, your body needs to work extra to maintain internal harmony and to keep you going. For example, the heart needs to pump a little harder to ensure that oxygen-rich blood reaches every part of your body, including the lower limbs, brain and fingertips. Maintaining an optimum weight lowers this additional load on the heart and thus, maintains its well-being.
Make exercise a part of your routine
Exercising keeps our body healthy and muscles active. Doing cardio workouts like running and cycling is good for the heart because they boost your heart rate and make your heart work harder. However, do not depend only on cardio. One must do different forms of exercise to make each part of the body healthy. Doctors suggest 150 minutes of exercise a week is enough to maintain good health. You could do 30 minutes every day or 1 hour 3 days a week.
Quit harmful habits such as smoking and drinking alcohol
Smoking and drinking alcohol may be fun while you do it. But within the body, they only destroy cells and adversely affect the heart and lungs. If you cannot quit on your own, seek external help such as consulting your doctor, or visiting the nearest public health centre.
Manage stress
Managing stress is not only good for your heart, but also your mood. Did you know exercising is the most underrated activity for mental stimulation and lowering stress? Well, including activities like yoga, exercise and meditation can keep your heart in a healthier state than you ever imagined.
Manage your cholesterol, high blood pressure or diabetes
Having high cholesterol levels can lead to atherosclerosis (the buildup of fats, and cholesterol in and on the artery walls). In addition, elevated blood pressure and diabetes have been linked with the risk of having heart disease at some point in life if not timely managed. Hence, if you can maintain your blood sugars, cholesterol levels and blood pressure within the normal range, you can prevent the risk of heart disease.
Get quality sleep
Sleep helps our body rest and maintains overall health. People who sleep less are at a higher risk of being obese, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack and others.
Limit salt intake
Salt is known for increasing blood pressure since it retains fluids in the body. That is why, people who have hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, renal diseases must avoid taking too much salt since it may aggravate your condition.
Avoid consuming too much sugar, carbs and fats
Sugar, carbs and fats are known to be prominent risk factors in causing atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis often leads to a heart attack if not managed. Hence, balance your meals and reduce the consumption of sugar. You can lower the frequency of consumption, if not avoid it altogether.
Get regular screening tests
Getting your blood tests done at regular intervals will keep you alert about what changes are working in your favour and what aren’t. If you have a family history of heart disease, we suggest bi-annual testing for medical conditions, and annually, if not.
Conclusion:
It is essential to keep your heart healthy than to regret visiting the hospital several times later. You don’t have to change everything overnight. Do it step by step and build healthier habits over time. Habits stay with you throughout your life while sudden changes may be temporary.
