Healthy Habits for Your Heart

The human heart is one of the busiest organs of the body. It continues to work even when you are just sitting on a chair or even while you are sleeping. The main function of the heart is to pump. Yes, the human heart is such a complicated fist-sized pump. The heart needs to pump so that the oxygen, blood and nutrients will be properly distributed to all other vital organs of the body. Therefore, we need to keep our heart at its optimal health. Otherwise, its proper functioning will be impaired thereby putting our overall health at risk. The following are some healthy habits that you need to practice in order to have a healthy heart:

Exercise

Exercise is the cheapest form of preventive medicine for the heart. Each person must spend thirty minutes of exercise every day.  These exercises do not have to be highly-strenuous. You can just opt for moderate intensity exercises in order to keep your heart healthy. One indicator that your exercise is just moderate is that you will be feeling a little out of breath while exercising. Exercise allows your heart to pump more blood and oxygen to the other parts of your body. It is when you exercise regularly that your heart will be able to function at its maximum level.

Eat more fruits and vegetables

Vary your daily intake of fruits and vegetables. It is also recommended that you place larger portions of vegetables on your plate during mealtime. This is to ensure that you will be eating more of veggies than any other foods on the table. See to it that you put your fruits at the center of the table or anywhere conspicuous. Don’t keep them inside the fridge to rot. Placing it in an area where you see it frequently will make you eat it before it becomes rotten.

According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, fruits and vegetables contain phytochemicals which include carotenoids and phenolics. These phytochemicals help protect the heart from the oxidative damage being induced by free radicals. Without phytochemicals, these free radicals will not be prevented from destroying enzymes, protein molecules and cells in a person’s body. As a result, the individual becomes at risk of heart attack and other cardiovascular diseases.

Watch out on your sodium intake

Sodium is an important mineral that helps regulate the blood volume and the blood pressure of every human being. It also helps to regulate the fluids inside the body. Unfortunately, a lot of people today are consuming sodium more than their body requires. This increases their risk of having coronary heart disease, kidney disease, gastric cancer and stroke. One way to lessen your sodium intake is to avoid processed foods.

Avoid toxins

Cigarette smoking, alcohol and prohibited drugs are huge sources of toxins. If you have these bad habits then you should start eliminating them now before everything gets too late. Cigarette smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages can certainly wreak havoc to your heart. Nicotine is a stimulant that increases your heart rate. This increased heart rate is often mistaken as a symptom of stress and anxiety. Nicotine adversely affects your heart as it acts as a stimulant to continuously increase cardiac output. On the other hand, alcohol acts as a depressant which functions the opposite way compared to nicotine. Just imagine having both alcohol and nicotine or having both a stimulant and a depressant in your body at the same time.  Please, have pity on your heart.

Reduce stress

You need to find ways to reduce stress in your daily routine. This is because too much stress often preludes the existence of anxiety, depression and other serious diseases.  Manage your daily schedule well. Be surrounded with positive people. Avoid gossipers and pessimists. They are vexations to your heart. Take the time to laugh and spend happy moments with your friends and loved ones. This way, you will be relieved from stress and anxiety which is crucial towards having a healthy heart.

This is a guest post by Ryan Rivera. Ryan used to suffer from anxiety attacks for seven years. He now advocates healthy living as the best weapon against anxiety and depression. You can read more of his writings at Calm Clinic.