Monday 22 October 2012

Taking Steps to Avoid Heart Disease

Your body's strongest muscle also gets the most exposure to risk factors that can cause it to slow down, or stop functioning well. Inasmuch as most of your body's functions rely greatly on your heart's ability to supply blood throughout your body, you need to take good care of it to sustain its energy. The things we do every day and our lifestyle can greatly affect our heart's health, which means that we have full control over its health, that is, if we choose to.

A healthy life means a healthy heart, and a healthy heart means a healthy, not to mention longer life. What we do to our body can directly affect the functioning of our heart, and most of our habits put our heart at risk for diseases. Heart diseases have been recorded to be the number one cause of mortality in the world's population, and whilst it's early, it's better to tread a path away from them. Here are some of the things you can do to avoid getting heart diseases easily and effectively, leading to a healthier, longer life.

1. Have a heart-friendly diet. Too much fat, cholesterol and calories are harmful to your heart. These are commonly linked to an elevated blood pressure, which puts you at risk for developing heart diseases. On the other hand, consumption of food that is high in Omega-3 fatty acids as well as fruits and vegetables can help prevent the development of heart diseases, aside from protecting your heart from other risk factors.

2. Be nicotine-free. Smoking poses a great risk for your heart to develop diseases. The tons of harmful contents of a single stick of tobacco can compromise your heart's health, making it vulnerable to damages in the blood vessels and arteries which may lead to atherosclerosis, which leads to heart attack. Moreover, avoiding secondhand smoke may just be as effective as avoiding or quitting that smoking habit. The carbon monoxide one can get from second hand smoke will replace some of the oxygen as soon as it hits our system, making the heart work harder, thereby increasing our blood pressure.

3. Work those muscles. At least thirty minutes of exercise daily is good for the heart, not to mention it has great effects to our physical appearance, too. It's like hitting two birds with one stone. Even making walking a habit is beneficial to the heart, and you can do this if you don't have enough spare time for a thirty-minute exercise every day.

4. Visit your doctor regularly. Also have your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar checked regularly. Any significant change in the values or levels of the aforementioned can pose a risk to your heart in developing diseases, no matter how much you try to avoid them.

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