Tips for keeping your heart healthy

A healthy heart is the way to healthy living, they say. Quite right! But with sedentary lifestyle, munching on junk food, alcohol consumption, smoking, erratic working hours and unwanted stress ultimately leads to a troubled heart, so to say.

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Here are some tips for a healthy heart:

Quit smoking: Quitting smoking is the most important thing that a person can do to live longer. A smoker is more likely to have a heart attack than a non-smoker. The risk of heart attack reduces once you stop smoking, several studies suggest.

Less salt: Consumption of salt should be cut down as it causes high-blood pressure and increases the risk of developing coronary heart disease. Foods items such as chips, salted nuts, canned eatables, packet soups, sauces and ready meals should be avoided. Even breakfast cereals and bread that looks healthy, contains high level of salt.

Healthy diet: A healthy diet is very important to reduce the risk of developing heart disease. It also helps to increase the chances of survival after heart attack. One should include plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, oily fish and starchy foods in their balanced diet to have a healthy heart. Foods like biscuits, cakes, pastries and dairy products to be avoided as they contain high amount of saturated fats and sugar.

Reduce alcohol: Drinking too much of alcohol is not good for health otherwise as well, and can damage the heart muscle. It also increases the blood pressure and leads to weight gain. One should limit the intake of alcohol, as binge drinking increases the risk of having an untimely sudden attack.

Stay active: One should be physically active in order to keep a healthy heart. As heart is a muscle, it needs exercise to remain fit so that it can pump blood efficiently round the body with each heart beat. One should exercise at least for 30 minutes in a day. Staying physically fit benefits your mental health and well-being too.

Maintain weight: Being overweight or obese can affect the health functioning, leading to the risk of coronary heart disease and diabetes. If you are overweight one should maintain weight in order to reduce the risk of heart disease.

Regular check-up: One should regularly check their blood pressure and cholesterol levels. A person who has a high blood pressure falls under a higher risk of having an attack. The life expectancy gets shorter if you have a high blood pressure. The high levels of cholesterol in the blood leads to fatty deposits in the coronary arteries that increases the risk of coronary heart disease.

Manage stress level: Taking too much stress is not good for health, and everyone is aware of it. People who are the most stressed are more likely to have a heart attack. If you find things are getting on top of you, take a break in between and relax. Managing your high stress levels is the best way to keep your heart in healthy and thumping in the right manner.