How is your heart health?
If you’re struggling with high cholesterol levels and blood pressure, and you aren’t taking advantage of healthy habits like exercise and relaxation, you could be at risk for heart disease or other heart conditions.
So what can you do to get more heart-healthy? We’ll take a look at a few options.
Start With Diet
Some heart conditions have a hereditary risk (learn more), but that doesn’t excuse you from eating well. If you’re eating a lot of junk and processed foods, you’re making your heart work a lot harder than necessary.
Institute the following changes into your diet:
1. Stick With Whole Foods
Most of us know that too much sodium raises blood pressure. But did you know sugar can also raise blood pressure? Furthermore, it boosts triglyceride levels and increases dangerous inflammation. And processed foods are often loaded with both.
Whole foods, on the other hand, are lower in sodium and sugar. So rather than a grape soda, reach for an actual bunch of grapes. You’ll also get valuable nutrients.
2. Increase Your Fiber
High cholesterol puts you at a higher risk for heart disease. This is especially true of the LDL “bad” cholesterol. One of the best ways to lower your “bad” cholesterol levels is to include more soluble fiber in your diet. This means more fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, and whole grains like oats and barley.
3. Eat More Unsaturated Fatty Acids and Omega-3s
Because they reduce inflammation and help lower cholesterol, the heart benefits from unsaturated fatty acids and omega-3s. Good sources for these include nuts and nut butter, chia, flax, and hemp seeds, avocados, olive oil, and fatty fish like mackerel or salmon.
Make Some Lifestyle Changes
While making changes to your diet is key, it’s only part of a program of general lifestyle changes to increase your heart health. Of course, exercise usually tops the list of activities to help support better heart health. But it goes beyond just moving your body:
1. Stay Social
Maintain nurturing relationships with others, be it family, friends, or anyone who shares common interests. You can also find support from counselors, therapists, or social workers. Interacting with others reduces inflammation in the body and improves blood pressure.
2. Practice Gratitude
Start keeping a daily journal where you list 5 -10 things each day for which you’re grateful. It can be something big or something small. Simply working from a perspective of thankfulness decreases inflammation and reduces the risk of cardiac problems.
3. Meditate
You don’t need to find a cave in the Himalayas and settle in for hours with monks. Any sort of mindfulness practice – whether for a minute or an hour – will help you ground yourself and become aware of your emotional and physical state. A regular meditation practice reduces stress, can lower your heart rate, and improve blood flow.
Are You Ready to Boost Your Heart Health?
Incorporating some simple changes to your diet and lifestyle could make a big difference in your heart health. You don’t need to incorporate them all at once. Work them in little by little. And soon enough, you’ll have a happy and healthy heart.
In the meantime, keep checking back with our self-improvement blog for more great tips and advice on staying healthy.