You need your heart to function optimally for quality life and overall good health. It is possible to keep heart diseases at bay with a few lifestyle tweaks. Leading a healthy lifestyle is a great way to minimize the risk for strokes and heart diseases. There isn’t a perfect time to start taking good care of your body and heart. That said, starting early means you will reap the benefits of your choices longer. Here are some tips that doctors advise for promoting a healthy heart:
Choose healthy food options
For optimal heart health, you need to maintain healthy eating habits. Incorporate more fruits, whole grains, lean proteins and vegetables into your diet. With an overall healthy lifestyle, you can indulge in some yummy treats every once in a while. Always have colour on your plate. The different vegetables in various colours have various vitamins and minerals that your body needs.Try to avoid heavily processed packaged foods like potato chips, crackers and drive through foods. Also, consume more healthy fats.
Our bodies need saturated, polyunsaturated and unsaturated fats. While it is okay to consume some fats, you should stay away from trans fats. They may heighten your likelihood of having heart disease or stroke. The main reason for that is that they increase unhealthy cholesterol levels and clog your arteries. Eliminating or at least minimizing them improves blood flow throughout your body.
Maintain a healthy weight
A higher body mass index means an increased risk for high cholesterol, high blood sugar levels and high blood pressure. Being overweight and obese also increases the risk of breathing complications, liver disease, cancers and gallbladder disease. All these issues can strain your heart leading to further complications. To keep the troubles at bay, consider making healthy food choices and movement a part of your life. Getting rid of the excess fats go a long way towards reducing the risk for heart attacks and strokes.
Move your body
A couch potato lifestyle is a sure way to reduce your lifespan and have heart problems. Leading a sedentary lifestyle can affect your blood fats and blood sugar. You, therefore, need to find ways to move your body. You can take walks to the office, use the stairs instead of elevators or join a gym. Setting achievable fitness goals will help you stick with a workout schedule. Most people think they have to run marathons to take care of their hearts. That is not necessarily true.
Some moderate-intensity aerobic exercises like dancing or taking walks are enough to get your heart pumping. To gauge your heart health, you can speak to top cardiologists at San Diego Cardiac Center to conduct the right diagnostic tests. A specialized assessment can help identify any heart issues before they become dire.
Get enough sleep
Adequate sleep is necessary for heart health. Too much or too little of it could increase the risk of getting heart attacks. It is essential to introduce healthy sleeping habits to your routine. Also, practice proper sleep hygiene to ensure that you get the daily recommended hours of sleep every night.
Final remarks
A few healthy changes to your life are enough to get on a path to a healthy heart. It does not matter that you do not have heart issues; the power of protection still reigns supreme. Speak to a cardiologist if you have any symptoms or risk factors that might affect the health of your heart.