Use These Steps to a Healthier and Happier Heart
The official month of women’s heart disease awareness as just come to an end. Hopefully that won’t make the issue disappear as being healthy and harboring a healthy heart should always be a priority for both men and women.
In this article, you are going to learn some small things you can do to increase the health of your heart so you can ensure that it will keep you alive for a long time.
The first thing you want to do is eat your colorful fruits, vegetables, and eat your fish. Many of the dark colored veggies have heart healthy antioxidants in them. These antioxidants help to reduce inflammation in the heart and blood vessels keeping them clean from plaque build up.
Colorful fruits like oranges, bananas, and pomegranates are all very high in potassium which really helps you to regulate your blood pressure. On a side note, many of these fruits are also very high in fiber.
Next eat your fatty fish which are very high in omega-3 levels. Omega-3 fatty acids are great because they help you lower blood pressure and lower your triglyceride levels, which is really healthy for your heart.
While the saturated fat debate rages on, one things everybody can agree on is eliminating trans fat from your diet. These are really bad because they increase your bad cholesterol and lower your good cholesterol. Things like fried foods, bad for you oils, and margarine. But you should know not to eat these anyway.
You probably knew it was coming, but one of the best things you can do for yourself is exercise. Besides all the other benefits of exercise, when it comes to your heart, exercise is capable of raising your good HDL cholesterol and lowering your bad LDL cholesterol at the same time. That is a very powerful combination.
The final thing you should know is your family history and your personal numbers. Start with your own blood pressure. That will be a leading indicator of your risk of heart disease and knowing that will really help you take action. Then study your family history because that can have a big impact and your doctor can help with other things you should be doing above and beyond diet and exercise.