Staying healthy as you age is important, especially when it comes to your heart. If you’re looking for tips to help you improve your heart health, here are seven great ideas.
1. Eat Heart-Healthy Foods
The foods you eat play a big role in how healthy your heart is. You might have noticed the American Heart Association certification on certain foods, such as oatmeal. This is a sign that you’re buying heart-healthy food. Other heart-healthy foods include fish, leafy green vegetables, walnuts, and beans.
2. Stay Active
In addition to eating the right foods, you also need to stay active. Adults should get at least 30 minutes of moderate physical exercise every day to maintain a healthy heart. This also helps you manage your weight, which helps to improve heart health. Plus, exercise is a great way to get endorphins flowing and improve your mental health.
3. Reduce Stress
Stress can affect just about every part of your body, including your heart. If you find yourself stressed out often, take steps to reduce that stress and live a more relaxed life. Generally, simply making some changes to your life is a huge help in reducing stress. In some cases, you may need to take medication or visit a therapist to find a stress reduction method that works for you.
4. Avoid Overeating
Overeating is one of the quickest ways to cause heart problems, especially if you’re eating unhealthy foods in the first place. While it’s okay to take a break from a healthy diet every now and again, it’s important to avoid overeating if you want to keep your heart in good shape. This will help keep your weight in check and reduce your cholesterol levels, both of which are important factors in heart health.
5. Reduce Excess Body Fat
Excess weight (especially fat) is a huge risk factor for heart disease because it adds a lot of stress to your body. Not only that, a diet that leads to weight gain is also generally bad for heart health. If you’re overweight, do what you can to shed some of that excess body fat and get yourself down to a healthier weight. A physician or dietician can help you create a weight loss plan.
6. Lower Cholesterol Intake
If there’s one thing you hear about often when it comes to heart health, it’s cholesterol. Bad cholesterol, also known as LDL (low-density lipoprotein), can damage your arteries and lead to heart disease. If your cholesterol levels are currently a bit high, it’s important to talk to a doctor about how to lower your cholesterol. You can generally do this by changing your diet, although some people may need cholesterol-lowering supplements in addition to dietary changes.
7. Stop Smoking
Smoking is bad for every part of your body, from your skin and teeth all the way down to your lungs and heart. Cigarettes are one of the leading risk factors for heart disease, and that’s just one of the problems they cause. If you smoke, talk to a doctor or get help before your addiction (and health) gets any worse.
How Diamond Physicians Can Help
Getting help from a professional is an important step in improving your heart health. You may need to make several lifestyle and diet changes, and Diamond Physicians can help. Our concierge medicine can connect you with a physician who can help you make the changes you need to make to live a healthy life. To find out more about how Diamond Physicians can help you improve your heart health, contact us today.