Your heart is your most prized possession. Keep this precious part of your body free of any ailments to promote longevity. Maintaining a healthy diet, little bit of exercise, and regular monitoring of your health status can prevent any forthcoming fatal heart illnesses.
By following these simple steps and altering your lifestyle a little bit, you can lead a much healthier life ahead.
1. Quit Smoking
Someone rightly said, “Smoke and heart were never the best pals.” Quitting smoking is the most important thing one can do to save his heart. A smoker is twice as likely to have a heart attack than a non-smoker.
But it’s never too late to quit. So do it right away and add years to your life.
2. Cut Down on Salt
Too much salt can cause high blood pressure because of its high sodium content, which in turn, increases the risk of developing coronary heart disease.
Avoid foods like chips, salted nuts, packet soups and sauces, pickles, pizzas, and other ready meals as they carry high salt and oil content.
3. Watch What You Eat
A healthy diet not only helps in reducing the risk of developing heart disease but also increases the chances of survival after a heart attack.
Have a balanced diet containing plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, wholegrain bread, pasta, and rice.
Avoid foods made of refined flour like biscuits, cakes, pastries and dairy products that are high in saturated fats and sugar. Red meat is also a strict no-no.
4. Limit Alcohol
Apart from losing sanity, if consumed in larger quantities, alcohol can have severe damaging effects on your heart muscles and increase blood pressure.
Studies suggest that limiting your intake to one to two units a day is acceptable but beyond that it might prove harmful, if taken on a regular basis.
5. Sweat it Out
Our heart is nothing but a blob of muscle. Like any other muscle of the body, it needs exercise to keep fit, so that it can pump blood efficiently through all the body parts.
A minimum of 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a day is what every individual should aim at.
If you find gyming or any other regular mode of exercise too boring and monotonous, just take stairs rather than climbing on an elevator. Instead of opting for a car ride, take a brisk walk for covering small distances.
6. Manage Your Weight
Being overweight, by itself, adds to several complications and increases the risk of life-threatening conditions such as coronary heart disease and diabetes.
If your weight is above the normal limits, start by making changes in your diet and chalk out a regular exercise routine.
7. Visit Your General Practitioner Often
Pay regular visits to your physician and keep a check on your blood pressure as well as cholesterol.
People with high blood pressure have a higher risk of having a stroke or a heart attack. High levels of cholesterol in the blood can lead to fatty deposits in coronary arteries that increase your risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and other obstructive complications.
By eating low-cal, low-fat diet and doing regular exercise, you can keep your cholesterol and blood pressure levels within limits.
8. Manage Stress Levels
Not as an active ingredient but as a passive contributory factor, stress affects your heart’s health hugely.
When you are under stress, your blood pressure goes up, you may overeat and exercise less, and are more likely to smoke. All this eventually takes a toll on your heart.
9. Check Your Family History
If any of your close relatives has a history of coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, and diabetes, then you could be at risk too. So start taking preventive measures early in life.
10. Learn to Recognize Early Signs of Heart Disease
Educate yourself and be prepared to handle any unwelcome situations. Tightness or discomfort in the chest, neck, arm, or stomach, which initiates on exertion but goes away with rest, may be the first sign of angina. This can lead to a heart attack, if left untreated. Read about the related topics and act promptly, if the need arise.
So there you have them, the ways to be heart smart and make your heart beat longer.
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