How to improve heart health

 Natural ways to improve heart health

Covering highlights:

• Healthy diet and lifestyle
• Physical activities
• Foods to improve heart health

For most of us, preventing heart disease depends largely on our lifestyle,which means there is much that's in our power to improve our odds of living long and well.

Healthy changes in the way we live, particularly diet and exercise, have been proven to: 

•   Dramatically, reduce heart disease risk factors. 
•  Stabilize plaques in the arteries so they are less likely to burst and trigger blood clots that block blood flow, causing heart attacks.
• Reverse the progression of coronary artery disease or atherosclerosis.

Opt a healthy lifestyle:

Spend less time sitting and more time moving

"I have two doctors,my left and my right"

Wrote British Historian and avid cross-country walker G.M Trevelyan.

He was right. In hundreds of studies,regular exercise has been proven to have profound and numerous- health benefits. States the Centres for disease control and prevention:

"Regular physical activity is one of the most important things you can do for your health"

It can help :

• Control weight
• Decrease risk of heart disease
• Improve body composition
• Lower blood sugar and reduce risk of type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome
• Lower blood pressure
• Reduce risk of some cancers
• Strengthen bones
• Reduce stress
• Improve sleep 
• Improve your ability to perform daily activities and prevent falls 
• Increase your chances of living longer

3 Important types of exercise

  1: Aerobic ( cardiorespiratory) 

    Daily, a minimum of 30 minutes and optimally 60 to 90 minutes alternating moderate- intensity days with vigorous-intensity days.

  2: Resistance (strengthening) 

   Full-body resistance routine 2 to 3 times weekly.

  3: Flexibility (stretching)

      Stretching exercises daily to enhance overall flexibility and ability to exercise more freely.

 Foods to improve heart health

 1: Garlic

"A garlic clove a day may keep bad heart health away"

Garlic is s good source of vitamins C and B6, involved in regulating blood metabolism and promoting a functioning nervous system as well as minerals including zinc magnesium and selenium which assist in brain and nerve health.

In recent times, studies have linked garlic to improved blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

 2: Green Tea 

A 2011 Systematic review found that drinking green tea is associated with a small reduction in cholesterol, which as we know, is a main contributor to heart disease and stroke. But the review could not pinpoint how much green tea someone would have to drink to receive any health benefits.

 3: Spinach
  

You can help to maintain a healthy heart rhythm by regularly consuming good source of magnesium.

4: Chia seeds and flexseeds: 

These seeds are a rich plant-based source of omega-3 fatty acids such as alpha-linolenic acid. Omega-3s have many beneficial effets, such as helping to lower levels of triglycerides LDL and total cholesterol. 

They also reduce blood pressure and minimize the build up of fatty plaques in the arteries. Omega-3s decrease the risk of disorders that can lead to heart attack, such as thrombosis.