Living a healthy lifestyle means being mindful of your habits, and making careful choices. We can’t control every aspect of our health, but there are plenty of things we can do to live better. If you’re keen to improve your cardiovascular health, make a start with these five tips.
1 . Eat the right foods
Eating the right foods is the best way to improve your cardiovascular health. To support your heart make sure that you eat lots of leafy green vegetables, whole grains, avocados and berries. According to Health Line ‘Berries are also rich in antioxidants like anthocyanins, which protect against the oxidative stress and inflammation that contribute to the development of heart disease.’ Fatty fish is also great for the heart, research shows that eating salmon can help to decrease diastolic blood pressure, (Health Line, 2021).
Many foods are natural blood thinners and these can also be good for heart health, a few examples include grape seed extract, turmeric and ginger. The more that you learn about cardiovascular health the easier it is to improve your diet.
- An effective exercise regime
To look after your heart health it’s important that you have an effective exercise regime. Some of the best exercises for cardiovascular health include running, swimming, cycling or tennis. To improve your exercise regime it can be helpful to set fitness goals. Exercise is beneficial for the heart is many different ways:
- Exercise can help to lower blood pressure (high blood pressure is one of the leading causes of heart disease).
- Physical activity is the key to maintaining a healthy weight. Being overweight can eventually lead to stroke or heart disease.
- Exercise can help to reduce inflammation, another risk factor in heart disease.
- Reduce stress
Stress puts pressure on the heart, studies show that stress symptoms can cause heart problems and high blood pressure. To improve your cardiovascular health you should put effective stress coping strategies in place. A few of the best ways to combat stress include:
- Try activities like meditation or mindfulness.
- Yoga is one of the best exercises to combat stress.
- Aromatherapy can help to relax the body and mind.
- Basic healthy habits like getting enough sleep can help to keep stress in check.
- Acupuncture has been shown to be effective for stress symptoms.
- Eliminate bad habits
Bad habits like smoking or drinking too much alcohol can increase your risk factors for heart disease. To improve your heart you’ll need to eliminate your bad habits. Patterns of behavior can be hard to break, and so you might need a little motivation. It can be helpful to set and journal, to set goals and record progress.
- Resources to help
If you’re looking for a few helpful resources you might also like to try the Kardia app. This application works with various cardiovascular health tools and devices. For example, you can use it with a Kardiaband EKG. The application assesses your EKG to check your heartbeat and blood pressure.
Paying attention to these five areas will help you to improve your cardiovascular health. Taking good care of your body and helping you to improve both your physical health and your mental health.
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