How is your heart health doing?
January 20th, 2009 | by Clare |
A few years ago, heart disease was THE leading cause of death in the country. It’s now in the same league as obesity. However, that changes very little, as obesity often lead to heart disease, which just makes the argument cyclical.
If you’ve lived life to the fullest – which sometimes or oftentimes means you’ve indulged in a lifestyle that’s not very heart friendly - it may be high time for you to take a long hard look at yourself, especially if you’re getting on in years. It may now be time to look at the South Beach Heart Program. These are some things you can do right away to get your heart on a healthy path.
A Strategy of Prevention
Since heart attacks are preventable, you would be wise to change your ifestyle immediately. How do you do this? By avoiding activities that increase your risk of heart attack of course.
Stop Smoking – Cigarette smoke contains around thousands of chemicals, most of which can damage your heart and blood vessels on their own. Imagine these chemicals working together, punishing your heart and your major arteries. Nicotine also makes your heart work harder by constricting blood vessels and increasing your heart rate and blood pressure. You have to compete smoking completely, because even light smkoers are at significant risk. If you stop, your risk factor drops off the scale.
Drink Moderately - Start cuttting down on the amount of alcholol. Overindulgence with alcohol leads to high blood pressure not to mention being dangerous to your liver. If you are in a social situation, try and drink red wine, which is good for the heart. Of course, this need to be in moderate levels.
Eat a heart-healthy diet- The eat whatever you like diet you were on during your younger years probably didn’t do so much good for your heart but if you can start healthy eating now, it will still be beneficial for you. Try and eat a diet rich is fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Avoid high fat dairy products and fatty meats.
You`ve got to get physical
Now that you’ve eliminated activities that are bad for your heart, it’s now time to engage inactivities that are good for it. To make is simple and direct you need to exercise regularly.
Regular exercise whether sports or working out in the gym or your own home helps prevent heart attacks by increasing blood flow to your heart, strengthening it in the process. Exercise also lowers your bad cholesterol levels. Regular physical activities also help you manage stress, which is also a prime cause of heart disease.
Exercising is also key to maintaining a healthy weight. It is natural that as we age, our metabolism slows down that is why when we were young, we could seemingly eat as much as we want and yet stay fit. Having excess waist fat is a significant heart risk. Strive to get your weight down to the right level proportionate to your height and age.
Make Check-ups Part of Your Retirement
Another big mistake is NOT having regular doctor appointments. Not paying attention to this, can be very detrimental to your health. Sometimes it is, but sometimes its not. Some people may need to have to be on additional medication. Without testing and checkups, chances are you might miss on a condition that will not readily present itself. Regular checkups will also let you know your actual cholesterol levels so you will know what type of foods to eat and what to avoid, and also what foods you can indulge on.
Following these strategies can help you live a longer, healthier life, but only if you do them all together, not just piecemeal. And the earlier you start, the better.