If you want to start living a healthier life, start with the heart! You can never go wrong adjusting bad habits and adding new and better ones that exercise and reward your heart. To avoid the possibility of heart attacks or other cardiac events, there’s no time like right now to create a heart-healthy lifestyle. Here’s how to keep your heart healthy and happy.
Eat Right!
If you’re considering the vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, you’re already on the right track! Having no meat in your diet means reduced fat and cholesterol, and less likelihood of plaque building up in and blocking your circulatory system. More fiber means less cholesterol as well. Eating your fruits and vegetables is great for your blood pressure as well since they add the right vitamins and nutrients to your body.
Get Out and About
Exercise, of course, is never a bad idea. But don’t think that you must train like an Olympic athlete to enjoy the benefits of fitness. Try to incorporate at least two to three hours of aerobic exercise into your week, every week. If it’s been a while, work up to it gradually. Take a brisk walk for an hour or more. Do a series of calisthenics for a half-hour, followed by a short run. Hit the machines at your local gym or activity center. Just keep those lungs breathing and that heart pumping a little harder for a while, and your cardiopulmonary system will grow stronger.
Stub Out the Cigarettes
Nowadays, it’s hard to believe it still needs to be said, but if you smoke, stop immediately. You’re doing your lungs no favors, of course, but you’re also setting the stage for several heart problems. Smoking causes conditions that lead to blood thickening and creating clots. Those clots can grow and become stuck in your blood vessels, cutting off the flow of oxygen to your heart and other organs. When that happens, you can experience cardiac arrest—if not heart failure.
Stay Cool
Here’s a final tip on how to keep your heart healthy and happy. Avoid stress, or at least find ways to deal with it. Some stress is good, as it challenges us to be our best selves and can keep life fun and interesting. But too much stress is never effective. Exercise, meditate, and find outlets for that stress to take the edge off and not put your heart through the paces. Make stress an ally, not an enemy!
