Heart diseases are one of the leading causes of death in the world. You should take steps to make your heart healthier.
We mainly focus on prevention of the disease rather than cure here at OurHikmat, so doing the following can help prevent heart diseases:
1- Healthy eating habits
2- Active lifestyle
3- Maintaining a healthy weight
4- Quit smoking
5- Control your blood pressure and cholesterol levels
6- Find ways to manage stress
Healthy heart is the key to a healthier life.
Ways to get a healthier heart:
Eat healthy:
Eating healthy can help lower your risk of heart disease. A heart-healthy diet includes foods that are low in saturated and trans fats, added sugars, and sodium (salt).
Heart-healthy items include high-fiber foods (whole grains, fruits, and vegetables) and certain fats (like the fats in olive oil and fish).
Get active:
Getting active can help prevent heart disease. Adults need at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate aerobic activity each week. This includes walking fast, dancing, and biking.
If you are just getting started, try walking for 10 minutes a day, a few days each week. Then add more activity over time.
Try to stay at a healthy weight and also try to quit smoking.
Understanding and controlling cholesterol and blood pressure is key to your heart health.
What you eat, how much you move, whether you smoke and controlling your cholesterol and blood pressure are five things that can have a big impact on your heart.
Healthy eating tips:
Healthy eating for a healthy heart is a pattern. It doesn’t focus on one type of food or nutrient, but rather on what you eat over days, weeks and months.
Eat more fruit and vegetables
A diet full of a variety of fruit and vegetables is linked to healthier hearts and a lower risk of heart disease.
Swap to wholegrain
Wholegrain cereals include more of the natural grain. This means they have more nutrients like dietary fibre, B vitamins, vitamin E, and healthy fats.
Make healthy fat choices
The best fats to include in your diet are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated (omega-3 and omega-6) fats. You can find these healthier fats in avocados, nuts, fish and sunflower seeds.
Use herbs and spices instead of salt
Eating too much salt is bad for your heart. The sodium in salt can increase your risk of developing high blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart disease.
Tips for being more active:
Doing regular physical activity reduces your risk of having a heart attack or developing heart disease.
Move more
Any physical activity is better than none.
Choose activities you enjoy
When you enjoy being active, you’re more likely to do it more often.
Sit less
Adults who sit less throughout the day have a lower risk of early death, particularly from heart disease.
Tips to help you be smoke-free:
The first step to quitting is understanding the risks associated with smoking.
Smoking damages the blood vessels leading to your heart, brain and other parts of your body. This makes you four times more likely to die of heart attack or stroke and three times more likely to die from sudden cardiac death.
Tips to help you understand and control your cholesterol levels:
Cholesterol is a fatty substance that moves around your body in the blood. Your body produces cholesterol naturally, and it is also found in some foods. Cholesterol is essential for the normal functioning of your body.
There are two main types of cholesterol:
High-Density Lipoprotein: HDL or ‘good cholesterol’.
Low-Density Lipoprotein: LDL or ‘bad cholesterol’.
‘Bad cholesterol’ can stick to the walls of your arteries, causing a build-up of cholesterol, known as plaques. This build-up can create blockages in your arteries and contribute to increasing your risk of a heart attack or stroke.
Eat a heart healthy diet
Fresh foods should make up the main part of your diet. Choose a wide variety of fruit and vegetables and a variety of healthy protein sources including fish and seafood, lean meat, poultry, legumes, nuts and seeds.
Get to know your levels
A key step in controlling your cholesterol is finding out what your blood cholesterol levels are. If you’re 45 years or older you should see your doctor for a Heart Health Check.
Key takeaways
A heart healthy diet is a pattern of food you eat over days, weeks and months.
Regular physical activity reduces your risk of having a heart attack or developing heart disease.
Quitting smoking decreases your risk of heart attack and stroke almost straight away.
Understanding and controlling cholesterol and blood pressure is key to your heart health.
References:
https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/heart-health-education/keeping-your-heart-healthy
https://health.gov/myhealthfinder/topics/health-conditions/heart-health/keep-your-heart-healthy
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