Most of us reach for foods like cheese, pastries, doughnuts, butter, and cream without paying any note to how they affect our health. That, compounded with the sedentary lifestyles we usually lead, makes things worse. The combination greatly raises cholesterol levels, which can cause it to accumulate in artery walls, paving the route for heart disease. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death worldwide, killing around 17.9 million people each year. This necessitates, adopting heart-healthy practices is critical for preventing chronic diseases and improving overall health.
Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Diseases
The risk factors for cardiovascular disease include a variety of lifestyle variables such as an unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity, and smoking, as well as conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and obesity. If neglected, these variables can lead to strokes, arrhythmias, coronary artery disease, and heart attack. Although treatable, such illnesses can lead to serious complications and even death, compounding the financial and emotional costs.
Caring for your heart can enable you to live a longer and more active life. Incorporating heart-healthy activities into your daily routine can boost your energy, improve your mental health, lower your risk of chronic disease, and improve your overall quality of life. A healthy heart can also lead to reduced medical costs and less anxiety.
Heart-Healthy Habits You Must Adopt
- Exercise regularly: Aim for at least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise each week, including brisk walking, cycling, or swimming. This can strengthen your heart, enhance your circulation, and help you maintain a healthy body weight.
- Have a nutritious diet: Vegetables, fruits, whole grains, millet, lean protein, and healthy fats can lower bad cholesterol concentration and help maintain optimal blood pressure levels. It’s also crucial to limit salt, sugar, and saturated fats for optimal heart health.
- Manage stress: Prolonged stress can elevate cortisol (stress hormone) levels, which, in turn, increase blood pressure and bad cholesterol levels, posing a significant risk to your heart. Practices such as mindfulness, meditation, yoga, and deep-breathing exercises can help reduce stress and encourage relaxation.
- Ensure adequate sleep: Proper sleep is critical for heart health. Most adults require seven hours of sleep, while children require more. Hence, establishing a fixed sleep schedule, as a lack of slumber can enhance the risk of hypertension, depression, and heart attack.
- Undergo regular health checkups: Regular screenings can help identify risk factors for heart issues during the early stages, including hypertension, high cholesterol levels, and diabetes. Early detection of such conditions enables timely intervention and improved management of potential heart problems.
It’s possible to prevent CVDs through simple yet effective heart-healthy habits. Incorporating regular exercise, a nutritious diet, and stress management techniques into your daily routine, along with undergoing regular health checkups, can lower the risk of CVD significantly and enhance your overall quality of life. Hence, take up these measures today for a heart-healthy future.
-Content partner Happiest Health
