Some Top Tips to Keep Your Heart Healthy
Heart health is an issue that has never been more important. Since a good deal of data has shown that more than half the cases of heart disease, and nearly ninety percent of heart attacks in women can be prevented, even the smallest changes to your lifestyle can make a huge difference in the overall condition of your heart. Here are some top tips to keep your heart healthy.
1. Quit Smoking: Smoking is one of the most serious risk factors for heart disease. You can improve the condition of your heart within just minutes if you simply stop smoking all together. Within ten years, your heart will be as healthy as a person who has never smoked a day in their life. If you do not smoke, but you are around someone who does, you are also at a higher risk. Second hand smoke increases the chance of a heart attack by sixty-nine percent, peripheral artery disease by sixty-seven percent, and strokes by fifty-six percent.
2. Know Your Numbers: Knowing your cholesterol numbers, body mass index, triglycerides, blood pressure, and weight can help you understand your potential risk of developing heart related conditions. Make an appointment with your physician to establish a baseline to get an idea of where you stand. Your doctor will be able to advise you on any dietary and lifestyle changes you need to make.
3. Lower Your Trigylcerides: Triglyceride levels need to be at 150 or below. You can easily drop your triglyceride levels by thirty to fifty percent just by reducing the amount of saturated fat you consume and losing a few pounds. Lowering this number can be one of the best things you can do to help your heart.
4. Get Plenty Of Sleep: It has been shown that people who get fewer than seven hours of sleep per night have a higher blood pressure, and higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol. These two issues make arteries much more likely to become clogged with plaque. People who do not get adequate amounts of sleep are more than twice as likely to die of heart disease than those who get at least seven hours of shuteye.
5. Go Nuts: Yes, nuts can help your heart. Eating just six walnuts before lunch and dinner can do wonders to improve your health. Walnuts are very high in omega-3 fatty acids, which work to lessen inflammation of the arteries leading to the heart. Walnuts also help you to feel full, which can help to prevent overeating at mealtime. Pistachios can also be very beneficial. One to two servings of pistachios can reduce LDL levels, but make sure you do not over do it! One cup of pistachios can add seven hundred calories to your diet.
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