To keep your heart healthy and to prevent heart diseases at bay you need not to do anything that is very difficult, all you need to do is to maintain the right diet, a perfect body weight and staying away from addictions of alcohol or smoke. This article will tell you how to prevent heart diseases even before they occur.
The right diet for preventing heart diseases
When it comes to preventing heart diseases, the most important thing that you need to consider and re-arrange is your diet. What you eat is responsible for your overall health including your heart health. So, to make sure that your heart is happy, it is important to have the right diet. Here is a diet guideline that can be really helpful to prevent heart conditions,
Opt for a diet with less fat
Saturated fat is the worst enemy of the cardiovascular system. It increases the cholesterol levels in the blood and results into clogging of the arteries which results into increased blood pressure as well as subsequent heart ailments. So, if you are cautious about taking the right care for your heart, get rid of the saturated fats from your diet at the earliest.
Butter, cheese, red meat, oily and rich foods are not good for your heart health. In case, it is not possible for you to discard these items from your diet completely, you can easily reduce the amount of these foods in your diet. For example, instead of having red meat every week, opt for lean meet and keep your red meat intake to once in a month or two.
Include unsaturated fats in your diet
All fats are not bad for your heart health; in fact the unsaturated fats can do all the good for your cardiovascular health. Omega 3 fatty acids are considered as one of the most healthy fats for the body and by including more of these fats in your regular diet you can easily prevent the occurrence of many common heart ailments. High amount of Omega 3s are present in fishes like Salmon, Tuna and including them in your daily diet is good not only for your heart but also for your body as a whole. Apart from fish oils Omega 3s are also present in nuts and seeds like flax seeds, walnuts and almonds hence include more of them in your daily diet.
More fibers can keep your heart happy
A diet rich in fibers is always good for your heart. Fibers help in better digestion as well as better absorption in the body. Moreover, fibers help in formation and movement of bowel, helping in relieving conditions like constipation, acidity and intestinal gas, which might be harmful for your heart health. So, opting for a diet that is filled with leafy vegetables and fresh fruits can be helpful to prevent heart diseases.
Bank on vegetables and fruits with high potassium and low sodium
To make your diet really heart friendly it is important that you opt for a diet that is high in potassium and comparatively lower in sodium. Potassium and sodium balance plays an important role in maintaining heart health. Fruits like banana, dates, dry fruits are rich in potassium. Different varieties of beans are also high in potassium. So including them in your daily diet is a good way to stay away from heart disease.
Exercise for staying away from heart ailments
It is said by the doctors, that your heart line is inversely proportional to your waistline. So, if you are overweight your first objective should be to lose weight to prevent heart diseases. Even if you have a perfect body weight right now, it is important to continue with a regular exercise regimen in order to stay fit. If you are not overweight or if you are not aiming to get a perfect toned figure like your favorite stars, you really need not to workout at the gym to keep your heart healthy. The simple cardiovascular exercises are sufficient for a healthy heart.
Cardiovascular exercises
For a healthy heart, it is suggested to do 60 minutes of cardio exercises at least for 5 days a week. Cardio exercises can be anything. Going out on running, jogging, dancing, aerobics, skipping the rope, climbing the stairs, or just playing with your dog, anything that makes your heart pump quickly and propels the rushing of blood in your body, can be counted as an effective cardiovascular exercise. So, if you are trying to prevent heart ailments, start doing cardio right from today.
Active sports
Apart from cardio, another thing that you can take up for a better heart health is an active sport. Actually any active sport will also give you the benefits of a cardio session and can be ideal for people who are not really enthusiastic about exercises. Swimming, basketball, volleyball, soccer, table tennis or any other type of active sports can be most helpful to keep your body weight in check keeping your heart away from diseases.
Stay away from alcohol and smoke
If you are maintaining the right body weight through the right diet and exercises, the only other thing you need to be concerned about is your habits of drinking and smoking. Drinking is one of the major causes of high triglyceride in blood, which is very harmful for the heart. So, keeping your drinking habit to minimum is essential for preventing heart diseases.
The other habit which is most dangerous for the heart health and is a primary cause of heart attacks is smoking. Smoking causes nicotine deposition in the arteries and it is the worst thing you can do to your heart. So, if you are trying to stay safe from heart diseases, quitting smoking today is essential.