There are plenty of simple ways to reduce heart disease risk. They say precaution is better than cure and that holds true for heart diseases as well.
Some of the heart diseases symptoms that you shouldn’t ignore are nausea, stomach pain, heartburn, indigestion, chest discomfort, irregular heartbeat, continuous coughing, snoring louder than normal, sweating, jaw or throat pain and getting tired easily.
When you hear about bypass surgery, angiography, angioplasty, pacemaker and other heart related stuff, doesn’t it simply run a shiver down your spine? You can reduce heart disease risk by simply making little changes to your lifestyle and every day routine. Those little changes together become a powerful shield to protect your heart and serve as an effective method for heart disease prevention.
No, you simply don’t have to allow those wires into your arteries. These are very simple and doable things that can keep cardiovascular disease at bay and also ward off other illnesses along with keeping you energetic.
10 Ways to Reduce Heart Disease
1. Quit Smoking
Smoking remains the leading risk factor for your heart and surely tops the list of heart disease prevention tips. 60 to 70% of heart attacks are because of tobacco. When you quit smoking, the risk of heart disease begins to reduce simply in few months and within few years there is no difference between you and someone who never smoked.
When you quit smoking, you will notice that your blood pressure decreases, your oxygen supply improves and your blood circulation becomes better. This will make you more energetic on the whole and with time your body will heal. Also, steer clear from people who smoke as passive smoking is equally risky.
2. Eat a little Dark Chocolate
It is in different researches and studies everywhere that dark chocolates can actually be good for your heart. Mind you, not the sugary sweet milk chocolates but DARK chocolates. The milk chocolate is going to only increase your cholesterol.
Dark chocolate owes its quality of reducing heart disease to a chemical known as flavonoids which aids in making the arteries more flexible. According to Web MD stats, dark chocolate reduces the chances of heart disease by 40% if taken more than once a week. However, this dark chocolate needs to be 70% cocoa.
3. Get your Vitamin Dose
Antioxidant-rich Vitamin supplement is a highly effective method to reduce the risk of heart disease after regular exercise. Vitamin supplement specifically containing homocysteine lowering agents like B6 and folate along with vitamin C and E play a major role in preventing heart diseases. Did you know that a high level of homocysteine is as dangerous for your heart as high levels of cholesterol? The B vitamins particularly the B12 and folic acid are efficient at bringing it down to a normal level.
4. Remain physically active every day
Remaining physically active every day is the key to reducing heart diseases. In a way, it acts as a major heart disease treatment. Incorporate some exercise into your life. It doesn’t have to be vigorous or intensive exercise. Even moderate levels of exercise can help. Simply maintain a minimum of 30 minute exercise routine every day which is no rocket science.
You can simply do brisk walking, take your dog out for a walk, clean your house or ride a bicycle. Regular exercise reduces heart disease by helping to lower your blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels and keep your weight in check. Make sure you consult your doctor if you are about to begin your exercise routine in case you have already suffered from angina.
5. Maintain a healthy weight
The direct result of living a sedentary lifestyle is obesity which is becoming increasingly common in the western world. Obesity is a huge risk factor for cardiovascular diseases along with other diseases. One-third of the existing population of adult women in the US are obese. Regular exercise will help maintain a healthy weight. Keep your eyes on the calories you are taking along with the exercise you are doing. You can check out your body mass index to figure out your weight loss goal. A healthy will automatically keep your blood pressure normal along with curbing other health risks.
6. Diet and Nutrition
Your diet and nutrition have a humongous role to play in keeping heart disease at bay. Many people have a family history of heart diseases and if you do, even then maintaining a heart risk-free diet is a great help. Now what is a heart disease prevention diet you should take and what are the foods to reduce heart disease?
- Take a diet that contains loads of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and omega 3 fatty acid easily found in fish. Have fish two times a week. Keep your diet low in saturated fat and high in fiber.
- When it comes to fruits and vegetables, it is the green leafy vegetables and fruits packed with vitamin C that are most helpful to protect your heart from heart diseases.
- Take olive oil which healthy fat, eat nuts and have herbs but have red meat only twice a month.
- There are also foods that you need to avoid like foods that contain hydrogenated vegetable oil, a lot of salt and sugar and alcoholic beverages.
- Find out how much calories you should be taking and take that much only. Remember, it is important for you to eat foods that are low in calories yet highly nutritious.
- Avoid Trans fats (hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats) at all costs. Intake of such fats only decrease HDL cholesterol and increase LDL cholesterol increasing the risk of heart disease.
7. Deal with Stress
It is no hidden fact that uncontrolled stress can lead to various diseases including heart diseases like heart stroke. When you don’t manage stress over a long period of time, it results in harmful effects on your blood lipids. Chronic stress usually exerts more pressure on your heart and makes it work harder increasing risk of heart disease.
You can go for a variety of relaxation methods like breathing exercise, yoga, meditation, exercise and other stress management techniques useful for protecting your hair against cardiovascular diseases. Meditation, in particular, is known to facilitate tolerance and enhance better blood circulation to the heart along with decreasing cholesterol. Acupuncture, on the other hand, improves blood circulation and relaxes myocardium.
8. Treat Diabetes
If you happen to be a patient of diabetes, then risk of heart disease automatically increases. Men suffering from diabetes are at risk of cardiovascular disease by two to three times where as women by three to seven times. Almost fifty percent of the deaths among non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus patients are because of heart disease.
Being diabetic, to protect yourself from risk of heart disease, take your medications, exercise regularly and have a healthy diet. Making small changes to your lifestyle can keep your harmful effects of diabetes at bay.
9. Limit Alcohol Consumption
Like they say excess of anything is bad and so is the case alcohol. Excessive consumption of alcohol causes stroke, increases blood pressure, increases cardiomyopathy and other health issues. It can make your obese, prone to accidents and make you addicted along with producing irregular heartbeats and raising triglyceride.
On the other hand, having a moderate amount of alcohol can protect your heart. If you are an alcohol drinker, then do not drink more than one drink in a day in case you are a woman and not more than two drinks in case you are a man. Saying this in no way means that if you are nondrinker, you start drinking alcohol or increase the amount you drink. Not drinking it protects you from a lot of things apart from heart disease. Better safe than sorry.
10. Lower your blood pressure
When your blood pressure increases, it exerts pressure on your heart making it stressful for it to pump. If you get a stroke, there are chances you might get disable for the rest of your life. The ideal blood pressure is 120/80 mmHg and that number needs to remain just that. When those numbers increase, so does the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
The best way to keep you blood pressure in check is by reducing stress, putting a stop to smoking, managing your weight, exercising and controlling your diet. Shake away your salt habit and reduce alcohol consumption. Keep in touch with a doctor and keep taking the prescribed medicines.
Wrap up!
Remember if your heart IS, then you ARE. Taking care of your heart is something you just can’t ignore or take lightly. These lifestyle changes and tips have considerable significance to prevent heart disease. Apart from these ways, drinking two cups of tea (black, green or any tea) in a day, drinking 8 ounce glass of water every 2 hours, drinking orange juice instead of soda and treating depression if you suffer from any are some other useful ways to reduce heart disease.
Resources
http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/stroke-heart-risk
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HeartAttack/PreventionTreatmentofHeartAttack/Lifestyle-Changes_UCM_303934_Article.jsp#.V20cgrh97IU
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/in-depth/heart-disease-prevention/art-20046502
http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/guide/heart-disease-risk-factors
http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/features/never-ignore-symptoms?page=2
http://www.healthline.com/health/heart-disease/prevention#Overview1
http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/30-ways-to-reduce-your-risk-of-heart-disease-and-stroke/
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/hd/prevent
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Coronary-heart-disease/Pages/Prevention.aspx
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