Keeping Your Heart Healthy
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| photo credit: medicalnewstoday.com |
Did you know that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) each year in the United States 25% of ALL deaths can be attributed to heart disease? That is astonishing!
Furthermore, heart disease remains the number one (#1) killer of women! According to figures from The American Heart Association, a heart attack strikes someone every 43 seconds, again another astonishing figure.
Together with these figures from the most authoritative organizations regarding the heart, one needs to ask themselves what can I do so that I won't appear as one of those astonishing statistics.
Being Proactive
Thank goodness heart disease, other than hereditary types can be prevented, or risks reduced significantly. Being proactive in anything starts with you. Some of the things one can do for themselves almost seems like a given yet people need to be reminded.
What Can You Do
You can change your lifestyle by either enhancing an already healthy lifestyle or changing an unhealthy lifestyle.
Stop Smoking
The #1 thing any doctor will tell you is if you are a smoker, please stop. If you cannot stop on your own, the doctor will supply you with appropriate nicotine patches, or the like to help assist you. There is a myriad of support groups to help you get through the rough patches; one just has to look.
Here are some reasons that smoking is bad for your heart, according to the Heart Foundation, when you smoke you reduce the amount of oxygen carried in your blood and eventually this damages the blood vessel walls. This will also contribute to a narrowing and the clogging of the vessels resulting in a disease called Atherosclerosis. This is a slow and silent disease that can result in stroke, heart attack and peripheral vascular disease.
Eat Healthily
Adopting great healthy eating habits is like medicine for your body. When you change your diet to a healthy one you benefit greatly. Your weight is more controlled, you help to regulate high blood pressure, and you lower your cholesterol levels.
What Should You Eat
Healthy eating includes a balance of lean protein, vegetables, fruits, and whole grains Choose to eat polyunsaturated and unsaturated fats. Trans fats should be avoided as they are a huge contributor to raising your LDL numbers (which is the bad cholesterol).
Seek out a doctor to ensure you get proper lab work and ideas on nutrition and diets. Another way to be proactive is to read all the labels of the things you buy. You would be surprised as to what you are consuming throughout the day.
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| photo credit: WebMD |
Exercise
Doctors claim regular moderate exercise can promote long term heart health strength. Note the words regular and moderate, doctors say that a walk, not a run or dancing, for example, can produce great results, but it has to be done regularly to be utmost beneficial. Plan an activity with friends (this will keep you involved and continuing). Doctors state that exercise three (3) times per week at thirty-five minutes (35) will have long-lasting health benefits.
Sleep
This is not the first time that sleep has come up as being healthy and now we are seeing that it helps to protect your heart also. Studies have been done that have shown individuals that got seven (7) hours or more of slumber had less calcium in their bloodstreams than those who slept on the average of five (5) hours per night. Calcium is a measure of early heart disease.
Last Words
Take seriously the statistics of this disease. Be proactive in your health care by seeing a doctor, getting the approved lab work, eat healthily and exercise moderately. Get glorious sleep and don't smoke. Give back all you can to the heart that loves you.
Need information? You can visit these sites online to further your education:
American Heart Association
https://www.heart.org
Centers for Disease Control
https://www.cdc.gov/
WebMd
https://www.webmd.com/
WebMd
https://www.webmd.com/
Find your beautiful lifestyle.
| photo credit: heartandstrokefoundation.ca |
For Canadians please see
https://www.heartandstroke.ca/heart
Such great info! My sister is the marketing director for the American Heart Association and this is what she preaches. Thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDeleteHappy day friend!
karianne
Wow! I'm so happy you stopped by! That's an awesome job your sister has and quit the important one. I too wanted to get the word out on heart disease and also it's importance to women and finally, what we all can do to lessen our chances to ever have it and what we can do to help ourselves live healthy lives. Great to see you KariAnne you're the greatest.
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