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8 surprising ways to reduce your risk of heart disease

June 21, 2020

8 surprising ways to reduce your risk of heart disease
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We keep hearing about the factors that could increase the risk of heart disease and about the things you should not do, should limit doing or totally abstain from doing to improve your heart health. The list of all the things you will have to give up may make you sad and downcast. So, instead of looking at things you can’t do, let’s look at things that you can do to keep your heart healthy. These are things you will greatly enjoy doing, which is the basis of happiness and good health.

Sleep

In this world of deadlines, sleep has become a casualty. We sleep too little or sleep at odd hours. We stay up late and wake up late. Our whole circadian rhythm is tossed out of the window. Just set this right. A good night’s sleep is 7-8 hours of undisturbed sleep. Your heart will love you and thank you with excellent behavior if you just sleep right.

Eat

We have sacrificed timely and healthy food at the altar of success. Eating on the go, grabbing a bite and munching on bars have replaced home cooked meals. Our heart however does not relish these rushed meal. It also has a love hate relationship with salt. What it loves is a good dose of juicy fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, seeds, lean meat and just a pinch of salt. Give it what it loves and it will keep you bright and smiling through life.

Laugh

We’ve often heard that laughter is the best medicine and it is true. There’s nothing like a good laugh to fill our life with positivity. When we laugh, we take deep breaths and our heart rate increases. This improves our blood oxygenation and circulation. These will decrease the chances of heart disease. By laughing, we don’t just improve our face value, we also increase our heart health.

Move

It’s good to be rooted in life, but sometimes it is better to be a rolling stone. Activity boosts circulation and makes our heart happy. A happy heart is a healthy heart. Just 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week is a great way to improve heart health. So being less of a couch potato helps in the long run by keeping our heart beating well.

Take the road less travelled

Traffic is bad for health in many ways. It increases our stress levels and our blood pressure, all things bad for the heart. It also has another side effect. Studies have found that traffic noise also contributes towards heart disease by activating our stress response and releasing hormones that damage blood vessels. So let’s take the road less travelled and give our heart the peace it requires.

Get a pet

A pet, especially a dog, is one being that is totally committed to us. In this world where commitment is rare, they give us their unconditional love, without asking for anything in return. They are the perfect stress busters and have the ability to lift our spirits no matter what the situation and so help to keep our heart healthy.

Get a regular check up

We know just how important numbers are. A slight miscalculation can make a melt in the mouth cake tough as leather. This is true of our body too. There are magic figures that define our health; blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose. Keeping track and managing these numbers with regular checkups will keep our heart healthy and beating right.

Watch your weight

Apple and pear are both good for health, but that does not mean being apple or pear shaped is good. Excess weight, no matter where it is stored is bad news. Our heart has to work overtime to pump blood throughout the big body and this will strain it immensely. If the blood vessels are narrowed due to plaque buildup, the problem becomes even more serious. If we follow the above 7 steps, then we can keep our weight in check and ease the pressure on our heart.

Small effort for great benefit

If we practice these eight steps, we can provide our heart with ideal conditions for optimum performance. Our grateful heart will return our favour and keep us healthy to enjoy a full and productive life for long.

Disclaimer: We recommend consulting a Doctor before taking any action based on the above shared information.


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Doctor

Dr. A. Ashok Kumar

Dr. A. Ashok Kumar

MBBS, MD (Medicine) DM (Cardiology)

Senior Consultant - Interventional Cardiologist

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