How important is it for you to protect your heart? The beats indicate life and nothing more important than preserving them for a healthy well-being. Apart from obvious daily habits like quitting smoking and avoiding tobacco, there are a few other changes to ensure a healthy heart. Want to know about them?
As advised by Centres for Disease Control (CDC), AHA, and NHLBI, intake of tobacco products or smoking poses the biggest health risk. Quitting it can improve your heart health along with other lifestyle changes like focusing on mental health, diet modification, and daily exercise routines.
We have divided the guide on daily healthy habits to protect the heart into three parts: diet, exercise, and mental wellness. Let’s delve into the details.
Dietary Changes for a Healthy Heart
- Managing Body fat: Several research studies indicate that higher belly fat can result in high blood pressure and lipid levels. Watching your food portion sizes can make a big difference here.
- Add Fibers to Diet: Fiber helps lower bad cholesterol and the risk of heart attack. Intake of soluble fibres such as apples, pears, barley, avocados, oats and beans is highly recommended.
- Breakfast is a Must: A nutritious breakfast is important for staying active all day. It must comprise whole-wheat toast, oatmeal, lean proteins, whole grains, and peanut butter. Eating fresh fruits and veggies further makes your heart healthier and risk-free.
- Fish Intake: Tuna, Salmon, and herring contain high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which are responsible for fighting heart disease. Intake twice a week can impart numerous healthy heart benefits.
- Have Nuts: Consuming walnuts, Almonds or tree nuts releases healthy fats, fibre and protein in your body. Adding them to your diet can lower the risk of various cardiovascular disorders.
- Low Salt Intake: Excessive salt intake, in various forms, like processed foods or junk items, is a key reason for the development of coronary heart disease. It is better to avoid salt, as it spikes sugar levels and causes heart failure.
- Avoid Saturated Fats: Be cautious while reading nutrition labels to cut down your daily calories and reduce your risk of heart disease. Replace them with healthy fats like eggs, avocados, and olive oil.
- Tea and Dark Chocolate: Having a cup of black or green tea each day can reduce heart problems to an extent and prevent heart attacks. Dark chocolate is also a good option as it contains heart-healthy flavonoids and tastes delicious. It consists of compounds that reduce inflammation and lower the chances of heart disease.
Including Physical Activity in Routine for Heart Health
- Keep Moving: Irrespective of your weight or health, not moving for a longer period can reduce your lifespan. It’s advisable to get up and go for a walk to manage blood sugar and remove unhealthy blood fats. Walking and exercising in leisure time are always great ideas.
- Yoga Helps: Yoga improves strength, flexibility, and balance. Regular yoga sessions can relieve stress and help reduce the risks of cardiovascular diseases.
- Strength Training: Aerobic fitness is a great idea for a healthy heart, but it should not be the only workout you rely on. A few strength training sessions as a part of your weekly workouts are fine. Muscle building leads to burning calories and maintaining a healthy fitness level.
- Interval Training: Alternate intense workout moments followed by lighter activity to help burn calories. It’s a boon for heart health.
- Dancing Workout: Grooving to your favorite beats is therapy for both body and mind. Like other types of aerobic exercise, dancing regulates the blood flow in your lungs and helps you burn up to 200 calories every hour.
- Keep Walking: It is a great habit to step out for a walk, whether you are feeling anxious, bored, overwhelmed, or irritated. A 5-minute walk can lower stress levels and improve physical and mental health.
- Take Stairs: Use stairs instead of elevators to keep the heart pumping healthily. Climbing up the stairs is a great exercise routine if you want to step towards overall fitness.
- Housework Helps: Mopping the floors or dusting the house, followed by washing clothes, can be a great physical activity while completing daily chores. It aids in burning calories while indulging in your favourite workout session.
Mental Wellness Helps in Protecting Heart Health
- Hobbies Help: Whenever you suffer from anxiety or stress, try to distract your mind with other activities, as this reduces heart stress. Activities such as sewing, knitting, or painting can be a stress reliever and make you feel happy on dull days.
- Laugh and Giggle: Keep the child inside you alive by laughing over random Facebook posts or watching a light comedy flick. Sharing jokes with beloved friends or family is also therapy for a happy heart. It can lower your stress hormones, increase HLD levels, and reduce inflammation in arteries. This can also support good cholesterol.
- Stress Management: Stress, anger, and anxiety can trigger the risk of heart stroke or other such diseases. Try to find ways to manage it to stay healthier for a longer time.
Regular Health Checkups
Apart from the above daily habits to protect heart health, monitoring your blood sugar levels, cholesterol, and triglycerides is important. This helps keep you stress-free about medical reports and allows you to enjoy life to the fullest.
Other ways to keep yourself stress-free and happy include seeking unconditional pet love. Playing around with your playful pooches can keep lung function intact, and studies prove that people with pets have a lower risk of heart disease.
Key Takeaways- ‘Looking for Help on Lifestyle Changes?’
Hopefully, the above changes can help you care for your heart and keep it strong and healthy. There are several steps, such as eating well, exercising regularly, and focusing on mental health.
If you’re yet to begin improving your heart health, have a word with the medical professional today about your concerns and get an expert-recommended lifestyle plan. They can guide you according to your health goals and help you get rid of unhealthy habits.
A step today toward a healthy heart can guide you to good health in the future!
