“Keep your heart healthy; your body will become healthy itself.”
It was one of the sayings of my old grandmother, who lived over 90 years. As a kid, I never understood the importance of these statements. I realized this after losing one of my family members.
We all have the basics of a healthy heart. However, there are some habits that we continue doing without realizing how dangerous they are for our hearts. Call it social pressure or our own negligence; the victim is always our heart.
We all are aware of the fact that out of four individual deaths, one is caused by heart-related disease. According to GMCC clinics, this ratio can increase even further if we are not careful enough.
So what can we do to prevent heart diseases effectively?
How Can We Maintain A Healthy Heart?
We all know that good exercise and a healthy diet can keep your heart healthy. But what else can we do to keep the health meter rising?
Well, I will talk about some of the day-to-day habits that can help you keep your heart healthy.
1. Eat Healthy Fat, Instead Of Trans Fat
Yes, we need fat in our diet. But that doesn’t mean that you will consume trans fat. The only fat that you can consume to maintain health is saturated, polyunsaturated, and unsaturated fat. Consuming trans fat increases the risk of heart attacks.
Trans fat sticks inside the inner lining of your arteries and clog the passageway. This restricts the blood flow in the arteries, increasing bad cholesterol and decreasing good cholesterol. Hence, by cutting trans fat from your diet, you can reduce the risk of affiliating yourself with heart diseases.
2. Practice Good Dental Hygiene
Dental health is a good sign that your heart is healthy. The reason is very simple.; we have periodontal diseases that have risk factors similar to heart diseases. There have been several studies in this theory, and it has been seen that the dental bacteria mix with the blood and cause an elevation in c-reactive protein.
This reaction creates inflamed blood vessels. Hence, it clogs the blood flow and increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.
3. Get Enough Sleep
Sleep can cure most of the diseases inside your body. Having enough sleep boosts your heart’s health. If you are not having enough sleep, you have cardiovascular diseases regardless of your age.
Researchers believe that lack of sleep causes disruption in underlying health conditions and biological processes. These biological process can be:
- Hormonal disorder.
- Blood pressure.
- Slow metabolism.
- The strain on your nerves.
- The strain on muscles (including heart muscles).
4. Don’t Sit For Too Long
In recent studies, it has been found that sitting for too long can be dangerous for your health. It doesn’t matter how much exercise you do; if you sit in one place for too long, your body becomes inactive. This causes the disease to infiltrate your body.
In research, it has been seen that if you sit for too long, you are inviting deep vein thrombosis (Blood clots). Hence, try to move your body whenever you get the chance.
5. Avoid Smoking
Smoking is one of the worst habits you can get into. Even if you are not smoking, talking with people who smoke in front of you will be considered the same. According to the American Heart Association, exposure to tobacco results in premature heart disease deaths.
The chemical emitted from the smoke reacts with the body and creates plaque in the arteries. If this plaque goes unchecked, it can clog the arteries resulting in a heart attack.
Take Away
In order to keep your heart healthy, you need to see what you are eating and what the constituents of the food. You also need to ensure that you are moving your body at regular intervals.
You can keep your body active by doing yoga, dancing, swimming, cycling, pace walking, or any other relevant workout for 30 minutes daily. This is recommended by WHO (World Health Organization) for people aged between 18 years.
