Here’s Everything You Need To Know To Keep Your Heart Healthy
Our heart is the most important organ in our body. Without it, there is no way we’d be alive. It is also one of the most hard-working organs too, as it has to continue beating throughout our lifetime. So keeping your heart happy and healthy is vital. There are lots of ways you can help your body look after it to make sure it keeps pumping for as long as possible. Keen to find out more? It’s all in this guide to a healthy heart!
A Healthy Diet Equals A Healthy Heart
A lot depends on the food we put into our body. If we eat a good, well-balanced diet, you will find that you can easily lose weight, and your moods will also improve. But it is also a great way to keep each and every organ in your body functioning as they should. If you eat healthily, you will reduce the risk of heart disease. Next time you are cooking, make sure you use lots of fresh vegetables. Try to reduce the amount of fatty foods in your diet. Too much fat can clog up your arteries and make things harder for your heart. However, not all fat is bad fat. Some healthy fats can actually help your heart. You will find these in fatty fish and olive oil. However, fats in red meats and processed foods can be dangerous when eaten in high quantities. When you are cooking with rice, pasta, or bread, try to stick to whole-grain products. These can help to lower your cholesterol and improve your heart health.
Stop Smoking
Smoking is one of the worst things you can do to your heart! Not only does it put you at high risk of cancers but it can also cause coronary diseases. This is because all the tar and chemicals in the cigarettes can damage the lining of your arteries. This will lead to lots of fatty deposits building up inside them. This results in an increase in blood pressure and your heart will have to work much harder than it should. Ultimately, this can end in a heart attack. Smoking also increases the chance of blood clots which can also cause a heart attack. It can be super hard to give up smoking, but it is extremely worth it. After a year of being smoke-free, your risk of a heart attack will have halved!
Be Active
Exercise will keep your heart working at a good rate. One thing to remember is that you need to keep up a regular amount of exercise. Even if you were a very sporty child, all that sitting around you do now can be harmful to your heart. You need to keep on exercising as often as possible. Once you stop for a long period of time, your heart will be at risk. So get into a good routine with exercising. Adults need to be doing at least two-and-a-half hours of physical activity each week. There are various ways you can incorporate this into your lifestyle. Why not start jogging or just walking to work?
Get Checked Out Regularly
As you get older, it is important to start seeing your family doctor more often. They will be able to do a full check-up to make sure everything is ok with your health and body. If you have any niggling worries, ask him or her about them. They will be able to put your mind at ease and let you know whether there is anything you need to do to improve your health. Doctors usually have a lot of literature about various heart diseases and illnesses so ask them if they have any leaflets. Learning everything you can about heart issues is one of the best ways to better equip yourself against diseases. Don’t be worried about pestering your doctor too much. Heart problems are very serious, and it is much better to get tested rather than do nothing and risk a heart attack.
Cut Down On Alcohol
Drinking too much can cause serious illnesses such as liver and kidney failure as well as some cancers. It doesn’t have a direct effect on the heart. But if you go over your daily allowance of units regularly, your risk of heart disease will slowly increase. If you are a long-term, excessive alcoholic, you will be at a very high risk of a heart attack. Binge drinkers are also putting their lives in danger. What is binge-drinking? It is when you don’t drink all the time, but when you do, you exceed the recommended daily allowance. After a heavy drinking session, you can easily become breathless and develop an irregular heart rate. To make sure your heart is always in top form, reduce your drinking and make sure you have a few alcohol-free days each week.
Treat Atrial Fibrillation
If you sometimes get palpitations or feel like your heart is beating very irregularly, you may have atrial fibrillation. If you aren’t sure whether your heart is regularly beating or not, try to count it. Place a finger on your wrist and find your pulse. While you are resting, it should be beating between sixty and a hundred beats per minute. If you think it is beating too fast, there is a good chance you have atrial fibrillation. There are other symptoms you should watch out for as well. Shortness and breath and dizziness are both signs of this illness. Atrial Fibrillation is usually the very first sign that you are at risk for a heart attack or other coronary disease. If you think you may have it, you should visit your doctor as soon as possible. There will be some hospitals in your local area that specialize in treating patients with this condition. You can find out from Abbott EP.
You only get one heart, so it is very important to take good care of it. After all, it keeps you going all the way through life! So start looking after it today.
