12 Things To Do Everyday For Your Heart Health
Contributed by Ryan Peterson.
Unfortunately, we can’t stay young forever. By the time many of us realize we’re ‘getting on a bit’, some damage has already been done to our health. By vowing to take care of your overall health now, and especially your heart health, you’ll live a longer, better quality life with fewer healthcare costs in the long run. Living a healthy lifestyle does not have to equal ‘boring’.
Here are 12 things to do everyday for your heart health:
1. Eat Healthy Fats
Healthy fats include foods like nuts, peanut butter, and oily fish. Avoid trans fats at all costs – you typically find trans fats in processed food. Trans fats increase your risk of stroke and heart disease. Consuming trans fats regularly makes you more susceptible to problems. Become comfortable reading nutritional labels before buying products to ensure you avoid foods containing trans fats.
2. Practice Good Dental Hygiene
Oral bacteria associated with gum disease can travel through the bloodstream and increase your risk of heart disease. Poor dental hygiene can lead to heart disease. It isn’t about vanity – looking after your teeth is key for overall health. Make sure you’re doing the following:
- Brush twice a day.
- Brush teeth for two minutes, but do not brush so hard you wear your enamel down.
- Floss at least once a day to get rid of debris between the teeth.
- Using mouthwash to rinse away any leftover bacteria and freshen your breath.
- Use a tongue scraper. Brushing your tongue is good, but you may sometimes just move around the bacteria without getting rid of it.
3. Get Plenty of Sleep
Prioritize your sleep. You have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease if you don’t get sleep. It can be tempting to burn the candle at both ends if you have goals you want to achieve, but people who sleep fewer than 6 hours a night are twice as likely to have a stroke or heart attack compared to people who sleep 6 to 8 hours a night. Aiming for 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night is ideal. Implement a consistent bedtime routine. Going to bed at the same time each night is a great start.
4. Avoid Sitting Down For Too Long
Continue reading3 Tips to Naturally Lower Stress to Reduce Heart Disease Risk
Stress is part of life. There’s no way you can avoid stress entirely. However, if you constantly live with high stress levels it can lead to physical problems. These physical problems may include high blood pressure, angina (i.e. chest pains), arrhythmia (i.e. irregular heart rate) and heart disease.
How Does Stress Increase Heart Disease Risk?
Stress can increase heart disease risk in different ways. First, stress affects you emotionally. This could lead you to make unhealthy food and lifestyle choices, such as overeating, not exercising, and smoking. Stress also causes elevated levels of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol, which may have a negative impact long term. Research is also finding that stress impacts the way blood clots.
What Can You Do to Reduce Stress?
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How to Stock a Heart Healthy Kitchen
If you keep heart healthy foods on hand and easily accessible you will be much more likely to see success in your efforts to lower cholesterol and blood pressure. If you keep unhealthy foods within reach you will make it much harder to achieve your heart health goals. Don’t rely on will power! Stock you kitchen for success. Here are some essentials to keep on hand:
Whole grains, such as barley, oats, rice, buckwheat, and quinoa, are rich in fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. These nutrient dense grains promote a healthy heart.
Olive oil
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Here's another omega 3 option – Calamarine
The typical American diet tends to be low in omega 3 fatty acids, approximately 120 mg DHA/day, which is an omega 3 supplement may be beneficial. Some benefits omega 3’s have been linked to improvement in arrhythmias, blood pressure, lipoprotein(a) levels, arterial inflammation, HDL cholesterol, and endothelial function.
Fish oil is a very common source individuals choose to supplement to boost their intake of omega 3 fatty acids. Tuna, salmon, sardines, herring, and anchovies are common fish used for the production of fish oil supplements. Fish oil tends to have equal levels of EPA and DHA or in some cases may be slightly higher in EPA content.
A New Option
A new option produced by Pharma Marine Group is Calamarine. Calamarine is obtained from calamari, or squid, and contains higher levels of DHA. The company is also able to market Calamarine as “eco-friendly” because squid have a brief life cycle, breed rapidly, and are not endangered. Especially important with concerns regarding over-harvesting of our marine life, which fish oil production may play a part.
