Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. As such, you should be doing everything you can to keep heart disease at bay.
The question lies in how to prevent and reverse heart disease. The answer lies below. Here’s how to prevent heart disease and maintain a healthy heart.
Table of Contents
Exercise
One of the most important components of staving off heart disease is to exercise on a regular basis. Exercise conditions the heart to stay strong. It also results in weight loss, which is vital considering the high level of heart failure weight gain can bring.
You should be engaging in exercise for 30 minutes to an hour, 3 to 5 days a week. At least half of this exercise should be cardiovascular exercise. This is the type of exercise that elevates the heart rate and thus conditions it.
There are many types of cardio. Some of the most basic forms include running, jogging, and bicycling. You might also get cardio from playing basketball or another high-activity sport.
Eat Right
Not only is exercise important but eating right as well. Excess sodium consumption, in particular, is awful for heart health. Therefore, if you’re eating large amounts of salt, you’re doing a major disservice to your heart.
Other foods to keep to a minimum include red meats, processed meats, high-carb foods and high-sugar foods.
Ideally, you’ll eat a balanced diet as defined by the food pyramid. This isn’t to say that you should never eat bad foods. However, you should only eat them in moderation.
Get Good Sleep
You also need to focus on getting good sleep. You should be getting 7 to 9 hours of undisturbed sleep every day, ideally at the same time daily.
You should also be cognizant of sleep problems like sleep apnea. This will make it impossible to get undisturbed sleep and will also put substantial undue strain on the heart. Fortunately, it can be remedied with the help of a CPAP machine.
If you feel that you are struggling with sleep issues, consult your physician.
Manage Your Stress
Our last piece of advice is to manage your stress. Stress in the mind manifests itself physically by increasing heart rate and putting undue physical strain on the heart itself. So, as you might imagine, it expedites heart failure.
Now, how do you manage stress? First and foremost, be sure to have some free time open every day in which you can sit back and relax.
In addition, you can try things like yoga, meditation, listening to music, or reading. These all help to calm the mind and therefore reduce stress levels.
And That’s How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease
And with that, we’ve shown how to prevent and reverse heart disease. Put these tips into action and you should be able to maintain a healthy heart.
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