3 Simple Ways To Improve Cardiovascular Health
Start improving your life today. Enjoying better cardiovascular health is embracing a day to day with internal and external well-being.
The lifestyle that many maintain today often forces us to follow little routines that damage our hearts.
A sedentary lifestyle, the impossibility of properly managing our stress points, or the fact of maintaining unhealthy eating habits will make, almost without realizing it, our most important organ weaken.
The best time to take care of our cardiovascular health is always now, whether we are 10 or 60 years old. We don’t have to wait for our doctor to tell us we have high cholesterol to initiate small changes.
Investing in the present is earning in the future. We propose that from now on you put into practice these simple strategies that will help you take better care of your cardiovascular health.
Your heart, a serious topic
We are aware that, nowadays, the disease we fear the most and that has the greatest impact is cancer.
Now, we cannot forget that the main cause of mortality is still cardiovascular disease.
According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the 10 diseases that cause the highest number of deaths every year are as follows:
- ischemic heart disease
- Stroke
- Lower respiratory tract infections
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
- diarrheal diseases
- HIV/AIDS
- Tracheal, bronchial or lung cancers
- Tuberculosis
- Diabetes
- Injuries from traffic accidents
- Hypertensive heart disease
- Prematurity and low birth weight
As we can deduce from these data, heart diseases are, without a doubt, the main problem that health institutions must face.
One thing we should keep in mind is that a good percentage of these human losses could be avoided. This would only be possible if we took care of our lifestyle habits.
Practicing exercise, following a proper diet, not smoking or even knowing our genetic background can help us not only have a longer life expectancy, but also a better quality of life.
Your heart asks you every day to take care of it. Next, we’ll explain three ways to do this.
Three Tips to Improve Cardiovascular Health
Every September 29, and since 2000, we celebrate the “Day of the Heart”. This year, the World Heart Federation celebrated it under the theme “Power up your life”.
This simple phrase fits very well with the strength and motivation we should all have in our daily lives to help our hearts.
- Something that medical institutions always tell us is that people are still not very aware of the risk factors that affect our hearts.
- The main problem is, without a doubt, the fact that the beginning is often silent. Cholesterol or hypertension are two conditions that take a long time to show obvious symptoms.
For us to open our eyes, for us to be good architects of our health, we must learn to empower our lives through these three pieces of advice.
1. Walk half an hour a day, 5 times a week
Going out for a walk for half an hour a day isn’t much. It doesn’t break any routine, it doesn’t imply an extreme sacrifice, and when our bodies get used to it, we even need the exercise.
- Walking at a steady, proper pace is the best cardiovascular exercise we can do.
- Go for a walk in a natural environment, if possible in good company and with suitable shoes and clothing.
- If you suffer from bone problems such as osteoarthritis in the knee or hip, walk on a treadmill. Walking on the flat, safer surface of these machines prevents overload and possible injury, while keeping pace at all times.
2. Monitor cardiovascular risk factors
The first thing to settle down is periodic reviews with the doctor. We must control the following indicators:
- Blood pressure
- Cholesterol
- blood glucose
- Body mass index
If, in addition, you have a genetic background associated with different cardiovascular problems, it ‘s a good idea to talk to your doctor.
3. What do you eat and how is life
How do you eat? Do you think you do it the best way? Sometimes those who are guided only by the pleasure of consuming certain foods end up damaging the heart.
It is necessary to take the maximum care of everything we put on our plates. If you wish, follow these simple tips:
- Eliminate saturated fats, trans fats, sugars and salt from your meals.
- Consume citrus: they are ideal for lowering cholesterol.
- Throughout the week, increase the consumption of eggplants, Brussels sprouts, artichokes, broccoli, arugula and tomatoes. They are magnificent vegetables for your cardiovascular health.
- Add chia, flax or sesame seeds to your foods, smoothies or yogurts .
- Whenever it’s the season, enjoy the benefits of the pomegranate. They are wonderful for the heart.
- Consume garlic and onion.
- Eating a little bit of dark chocolate a day will brighten your life and take care of your heart.
- Salmon is also highly recommended.
Start taking care of your cardiovascular health today: the effort is worth it.
