12 tips to take care of your heart and keep it healthy
Bad habits can take over our life without us being too aware of it. When this happens, our health suffers, and one of the organs that suffers the most is the heart.
In today's article we will see what are the best ways to take care of your heart and keep it healthy and active. Thanks to a few simple tips we can improve the health of our heart, and at the same time, our quality of life. Sometimes it just takes a moment to reflect and change old bad habits or add certain healthy habits.
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The best 12 recommendations to take care of the heart
Many times only by changing small things in our life we can obtain a great return. With age it is easier to realize that it is convenient for us to put off old bad habits and embrace new customs. We see that it is essential to improve our quality of life.
If we keep the heart healthy, the risk of cardiovascular diseases will decrease. It should not be forgotten that ischemic heart disease is the number 1 cause of death in the world, and heart attack is the second (WHO, 2016).
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1. Use our body more
In our day to day we use elevators and take public transport, but it is highly recommended to give our body small doses of exercise. Going up three floors is very good to have a healthy heart, so it is better to forget the elevator in general. On the other hand, if we have work within a 20-minute walk, it probably doesn't make much sense to take 10 minutes by train to sleep 10 more minutes.
2. To walk
Sometimes we don't give simple things the value they deserve. Just walking between 20 and 30 minutes straight during a day has wonderful effects on our cardiovascular health. This amount of time is enough so that, just by walking, we can have a healthier and stronger heart. It only takes a little walk each day to reduce your overall risk of cardiovascular disease.
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3. Jogging or running
Going at a brisk pace or running also benefits our heart a lot. Everyone must know their limits, and the most important thing is to do something frequently and during the time discussed above. Running two days a week beyond our means for an hour is worse for our heart than maintaining a regular activity of less duration.
4. Strength training
Sometimes we tend to think that lifting weights is counterproductive for the heart, and that this is only for those who want to enlarge their muscles. Nothing is further from reality. Weight training has been scientifically proven to be very good for cardiovascular health. Of course, we must adapt the weight according to our initial physical conditions. Then, we can adapt a more ambitious plan if we want.
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5. Exercising in general
Before we have seen that walking or running brings us a lot of health, but obviously it should be extended to any type of physical activity. Within our possibilities, any physical activity guarantees that we move in magnificent for our hearts. Whatever activity it is, from swimming to paddle tennis, our hearts will work and in the long run we will appreciate it.
6. Healthy diet
Along with exercise, diet is essential for the prevention of heart and cardiovascular problems in general. We should eat much more fruit, vegetables, and whole grains than the average population is eating. Conversely, eating too much saturated fat, sugar, refined carbohydrates, and processed products from the food industry is bad for our hearts.
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7. Avoid salt
Salt causes our blood pressure to rise. It is a problem that does not seem serious at first, but that can seriously take its toll on our hearts. When there is hypertension, the heart has to work hard and associated problems appear, such as the enlargement of its walls. We must keep this important organ healthy and young to have a better quality of life, health, and life expectancy.
8. Eating omega-3 foods
Foods that contain essential omega-3 fatty acids help our heart a lot. It is a type of healthy fat that helps improve cardiovascular health. There are not many sources of omega-3 fatty acids, but we highlight: blue fish (sardines, tuna, mackerel, etc.), nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, etc.) and chia and flax seeds.
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9. Avoid stress
Anxiety and stress seriously harms the heart. When we are in these conditions, the heart rate and blood pressure rise, and also the blood vessels suffer hardening. It goes without saying that all of these conditions are harmful to our hearts, which are forced to work harder and under adverse conditions.
10. Don't work too much
Working too much is bad for our hearts. It has been scientifically proven that people who work more than 45 hours a week have a higher risk of coronary heart disease than the rest of the population. Having a good quality of life should come first. If you see that the job is being too demanding, maybe it would be a good idea to think about changing your professional activity.
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11. Give up smoking
Smoking is the worst for our health. To maintain a healthy heart, as well as the entire cardiovascular system and overall health, you should avoid exposing your body to tobacco at all costs. Quitting smoking is an essential step to take care of your heart, as the circulation of the vessels is improved blood and tissues do not suffer the wear and tear caused by the harmful substances in the smoke of the tobacco.
12. Avoid being overweight
The heart suffers a lot when we are overweight. Its main function is to bombard the blood so that it can reach all the cells in our body, so if we have a lot of body mass we demand more from our heart. This and other associated complications make caring for the heart more difficult in these circumstances. For example, we have more limitations to exercise.
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Bibliographic references
Micha, R. and Mozaffarian, D. (2010). Saturated fat and cardiometabolic risk factors, coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes: a fresh look at the evidence. Lipids. 45 (10), 893–905.
Ornish, D. (1993). Can lifestyle changes reverse coronary heart disease? World Rev Nutr Diet, 72, 38-48.
WHO (2016). The 10 main causes of death. Retrieved November 18, 2018 from: http://www.who.int/es/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death