Want to know how to have a healthy heart? Wikiyeah.com introduces top 11 useful diet and lifestyle tips to help you improve heart health naturally. Check out now!
How To Have A Healthy Heart – 11 Diet & Lifestyle Tips
1. Limit Solid Fat
Reduce the amount of solid fats like butter, margarine, or shorten the amount of solid fat you add to food upon cooking or serving. Rather than cooking with butter, for instance, flavor your delicious dishes with herbs or lemon juice. Also, you could limit solid fat by trimming fat off the meat or opting for leaner proteins.
2. Change Your Habits
It is recommended that the best manner to avoid saturated or trans fat is to modify your own lifestyle practices. Instead of chips, you had better snack on fruit or vegetables. Moreover, you should also challenge yourself to cook with a limited amount of butter. When eating outside, such as at a restaurants, you can ask that sauces or dressings be put on the side—or left off altogether. [See: how to increase brain power]
3. Substitute
The next tip on how to have a healthy heart is to substitute certain foods with other proper ones. Swap out high-fat foods for their lower-fat counterparts. Furthermore, you can top your baked potato, for instance, with low-fat yogurt or salsa rather than butter, or use low-sugar fruit spread on your toast instead of margarine. Upon cooking, you need to use liquid oils such as canola, safflower, olive, or sunflower, and substitute two egg whites for one whole egg in a recipe.
4. Be Label-Savvy
Check the food labels on any prepared foods. A lot of snacks, even the labeled “decreased fat,” might be made with oils containing trans fats. If you want to find a clue that points out a food has some trans fat, just simply look at the label and watch the phrase “partially hydrogenated.” And look for hidden fat; refried beans might contain lard, or breakfast cereals might have significant amounts of fat. [Read: how to lower your cholesterol naturally]
5. Drink A Little Alcohol A Day To Keep Heart Disease Away
For females, just one glass of alcohol each day and, for males, up to two glasses each day could reduce the risk of heart disease. Alcohol might help the human heart by enhancing levels of HDL cholesterol. Yet, bear in mind: More is not merrier. Moderation is the key. Alcohol also has a certain amount of calories, and too much could result in high blood pressure, worsen heart failure, and lead to heart rhythm abnormalities.
6. Weight Training For A Healthy Heart
Strength training can decrease the percentage of body fat, keep your weight healthy, and increase your massive muscle and endurance for aerobic exercise. To make use of weight training properly, you had better do some weight training with free weights about two times per week. However, you should make sure to concentrate on both your upper and lower body. As your aerobic capacity might improve through strength training, so your good HDL cholesterol levels will also increase. [Read: how to improve digestion naturally]
7. Measure Your Waist Size To Gauge Your Heart Health
Take a certain tape measure and starting measuring your middle. If your waist size is beyond 35 inches in females or beyond 40 inches in males, the index might tell you that you are at promoted risk for heart disease as well as type 2 diabetes.
The best manner to make a dent in that spare tire? Well, think seriously about being more active and remove simple sugar and white-floured foods in your diet, adding these foods tend to take up residence around the middle.
8. Reduce Salt Consumption
How to have a healthy heart? Reduce the consumption of salt right instantly. High blood pressure is considered as the main risk factor for heart disease and heart stroke as well, and reducing salt intake could help people reduce blood pressure levels. Cook with herbs in place of salt, and simply warrant you read the food labels to realize just how much salt is in prepared foods. Besides, you should aim for less than 2.3 gr, about one teaspoon of salt a day. Additionally, keep up the good work as you are dining out. Ask for the salad and sauce dressings on the side of the dishes because those restaurant foods tend to be heavily salted. [Read: healthy eating habits]
9. Sleep Well
It is pointed out that those people who sleep fewer than 7 hours per night tend to have higher blood pressure and higher levels of the stress hormone – cortisol than those who sleep well with 7 hours per night. If you do not sleep enough the amount of time recommended, you might make the arteries more vulnerable to plaque buildup. In reality, the latest research shows that those people who do not get enough sleep are more than twice as likely as others to die of heart disease. Thus, it is important for you to avoid caffeine after noon, and develop a stress-free wind-down ritual before hitting the hay. Hint? Take a bath, and avoid paying your bills right before going to sleep.
10. Kick The Habit
When it comes to how to have a healthy heart, a good lifestyle is a must. Smoking is not good for your own body and your heart is not an exception. The nasty habit, such as smoking or over drinking alcohol could increase your blood pressure, narrow your blood vessels, wreak havoc on your ration of HDL cholesterol – “good” cholesterol to LDL cholesterol – “bad” cholesterol and put you at higher risk of blood clots which lead to heart attacks as well as strokes. Nevertheless, there is a good news: even when you have been a long term smoker, you could substantially decrease drastically the risk of premature death by quitting smoking right today. Do not have unnecessarily large expectations from yourself to hope that you can cut off smoking habit right away. Begin with a plan. It is better for you to start lowering down your cigarette count to five per day and then weekly reduce to one cigarette from that number. Thanks to the ever developing medical science, there are many options available in the market for those chain smokers. Begin with a nicotine gum, or you could consult the doctor for what is the best manner for you! [See: daily healthy living tips]
11. The Rainbow Connection
How colorful is your diet? If it is bursting with reds, yellows, greens, and oranges, chances are you are eating the recommended five or more servings of fruits and veggies per day. However, most of us are not. And that’s too bad as these are filled with antioxidants- potent substances which defeat cancer, head off the hear diseases and protect against various other chronic illnesses.
Ten foods rich in antioxidants contain Spinach, Blueberries, Prunes, Strawberries, Broccoli, Tea, Cranberries, Brussels sprouts, and Grape juice, Kale. [Read: foods highest in vitamin A].
√ Readmore Symptoms of a heart attack
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Sources: Listdose, Webmd & WikiYeah
