10 Ways to Maintain A Healthier Heart

Image by Татьяна Краснова from Pixabay   Edited by ConSCIENCE

Cardiovascular diseases are very frequent in our society and till now the highest global death occurs due to different cardiovascular diseases like, heart attack, stroke, coronary thrombosis etc.

There are several risk factors to develop any heart ailments, certainly not all can be regulated, but there is something in our hands. We can easily follow those tips to keep heart healthy.

Our lifestyle is very much different from our parents, grandparents and so our eating habits. Due to bad eating habits many of us getting heart diseases in early ages.

Not only eating habits are responsible for this, but also different bad habits are equally responsible for various heart diseases.

Leading a poor lifestyle, means not eating properly, leaning to junk foods most of the time, having deficit in nutrition, remaining sedentary always can channels you to a heart disease.

In this article, I want to discuss about some ways, based on true scientific findings only, to maintain a healthy heart, so, start reading to know how to keep the doctor at bay.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

1. Start eating a heart-healthy diet

Eating a heart-healthy diet is one of the top most thing to follow to maintain a healthy heart. It sometime happens that after knowing the bad effect of certain food on our heart, we are not able to change our eating habits.

It is very necessary to change those unhealthy habits from now in order to stay healthy [1]. Here are some points to remember related to a heart-healthy diet. I will mention a detail blog related to heart-healthy diet shortly.

i) Eat fresh vegetables and fruits as per as you can, they are rich in vitamins and minerals. Prefer foods with antioxidant property like dark chocolates.

ii) Eat fatty fish, this fat is good for your heart, as it contains omega-3-fatty acids. Avoid trans fats totally, limit saturated fat by choosing lean meat. Limit all types of junk foods, fried foods from your diet. It is a home of trans fat.

Cutting of oil, butter, margarine from cooking is very much necessary. Bad fats can build your cholesterol level up, which leads to atherosclerosis. Using of olive oil, vegetable oil, nut oil can help you a lot to maintain your heart health.  

iii) Go for whole grains only, whole grain flour, whole grain bread, whole grain pasta, brown rice, oats, quinoa, barley etc. Limit refined white flour, white rice, biscuits, cakes, doughnuts etc. Whole grains are rich in fiber and they are too much heart healthy.

iv) Reduce sodium from the diet to maintain a proper blood pressure which leads you to a healthy heart. Young healthy adults should intake 2300 mg or 1 teaspoon of salt per day. Try to limit your intake from now.

v) Don’t skip breakfast.

vi) Overeating can damage your heart. Limit your eating by portioning your amount. It works as a trigger of heart attack. So, it is necessary to change your eating habits to maintain a healthy heart. 

[Read Further: Healthy Cooking and Eating Tips]

2. Quit smoking, avoid secondhand smoking

Smoking is directly related to various heart diseases like, heart attack (myocardial infraction), heart failure, atherosclerosis etc. Prolonged smoking produces coronary heart disease (heart block) which leads to death most of the time [2].

Smoking harms nearly every organ in our body. The tobacco can damage the function of your heart and structure of your blood vessels. In the atherosclerosis, a waxy plaque buildup by prolonged smoking which hardens over time and narrows the arteries. This leads to heart block even death.

So, try to avoid smoking or limit it to maintain a healthy heart. Secondhand smoking is also dangerous, try to avoid it too. There should not be any ‘if’, ‘and’ or ‘butts’ of course.

3. Choose the stairs

Your heart remains healthy if you stay active. Do a lot of exercise at least 5 times a week. If it is not possible, then at indulge yourself in a brisk walking [3].

Don’t lead a sedentary life. Always stay active, use stairs instead of lifts. Instead of exercising, if you spend a much more hour being sedentary, your heart gets harmed.

Research suggests that sedentary life can gives you several heart diseases including death. So, move your body after each 20 mins as per possible to keep your heart healthy.

4. Don’t compromise your sleep

You need proper sleep to maintain a healthy heart. During a deep sleep at night, your body gets a lower blood pressure and heart rate which is very healthy for your heart.

Sleep deprived people are at a risk of higher level of cardiovascular diseases than a smoker. Your body recovers any damage or impurities during sleep, so, absence of sleep can harm you in so many other directions including heart. Therefor, sleep well for a maximum benefit.  

[Read Further: Loss weight by simple sleep tricks]

5. Cheers a glass of red wine

Drinking alcohol is the worst always. However, once in a blue moon, wanna grab a glass, and cheer?? Okay!! It is known that red wine can prevent coronary diseases somehow only and only when in moderation. Red wine contains a high level of antioxidants which is very helpful for your heart [4].

Moderate consumption of red wine can lower the clot formation on the arteries, therefore lowers the rate of heart attacks. So, once again, cheers, to your heart health!

Photo by Hush Naidoo on Unsplash

6. Checkup regularly

A regular checkup of your blood pressure, blood cholesterol, blood sugar, body weight is very necessary to maintain a healthy heart. Most cardiovascular checkup should start after 20’s, specially after 30, it is very necessary to remain fit.

Regular checkup is very important because it can help you regarding an early detection of any risk factor of cardiovascular diseases. If any, then you have time to change your lifestyle very well.

So, a regular (once in a year at least)cardiovascular screening is must.

7. Don’t stress

Stress can trigger heart attack and stroke anytime. Try to relax in your daily life. It is very necessary for your heart to remain stress free [5].

Those who lead a very stressful life, try to make some time for yourself first, take proper rest mentally and physically. Unplug yourself from work, office, computers, laptops and mobiles.

Just sit back and relax to remain calm and motivated. If you can’t decrease your stress level, then it can be a prominent cause of various heart diseases in future.

[Read Further: Mental health awareness]

8. Shed weight

Shedding your extra weight is very necessary to keep your heart healthy. Always remember that loosing 5 to 10 percent of body weight can reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke [6].

Nowadays, cheap junk food or fast food are easily available in our hands and this is the main cause of gaining weight. It is a threat to your heart. So, try to shed your extra weight by exercising or dieting whichever is possible for you.

To know about your status of extra bad weight you can follow the given calculator to check your Body Mass Index (BMI) and you can shed your weight accordingly.

Are you overweight? Check your BMI here:

BMI is calculated by body mass or weight divided by the square of the body height. 

*Body Weight (in kilograms)
*Height (in meters, squared)

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) classifies BMI ranges as follows:

Underweight = Less than 18.5
Normal Weight = 18.6 to 24.9
Overweight = 25 to 29.9
Grade 1 Obesity = 30 to 34.9
Grade 2 Obesity = 35 to 39.9
Grade 3 Obesity = 40 or Above

9. Brush your teeth twice a day

Sounds bizarre, but it is true that brushing your teeth not only helpful for your teeth but also it has immense impact to keep your heart healthy.

By brushing twice a day, the risk of atherosclerosis reduce gracefully. Poor oral hygiene leads to formation of gingivitis, a gum infection caused by bacteria. This swollen, inflamed gum infection increased the risk of various heart diseases.

There is a connection between the mouth and heart. According to a research published on the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, brushing, flossing your teeth can actually lower the risk of atrial fibrillation, i.e. irregular heartbeat and other heart diseases [7].

Poor oral hygiene leads to bacterial growth and inflammation in the body, which is a trigger of atrial fibrillation and heart failure.

Research suggests that brushing your teeth thrice or more can actually lower the risks of atrial fibrillation by 10% and heart failure by 12% in 10 and half years of checkup [8].

So, brush your teeth well at least twice a day to have a healthy heart.

[Read Further: Health benefits of music]

10. Indulge yourself in music

Music has a great power to keep your heart healthy [9]. It can bring changes in the chemicals of your brain which in turn helps to keep a healthy heart.

Music can boost your exercising power, so, you remain active for a long hour. Listening music can ease the heart rate and blood pressure by improving the blood vessel function by relaxing arteries [10].

Music can help a lot to heart patients to get relax by minimize the anxiety level and help them to feel less pain after a surgery [11].

So, make sometime for yourself to listening your favorite tune to keep a healthier heart.

Image by InspiredImages from Pixabay

ConScience

The key to maintain a healthy heart and heart diseases is managing the risks factors. Heart attack or heart failure can occur at any time to anyone. As you can manage the risk factors of heart diseases you will be safe on a maximum level.

Maintaining a healthy heart is very necessary in today’s life. Try to follow the above-mentioned points to keep a healthy heart lifetime.

Everyone is at a risk of heart disease, but take a step to lowering the risks for your own. By maintaining some proven tips and tricks you can easily get a healthy heart and reduce the risk of heart diseases. Have a happy and healthy heart always. Have a happy life..............