Happy American Heart Month!

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 February: American Heart Month!
The perfect time to start focusing on heart health

Your heart is your most vital organ. Every single day, your heart beats more than 100,000 times and pumps over 2,000 gallons of blood! With very important duties, your heart could always benefit from a little TLC! There are four lifestyle behaviors that, if practiced, could significantly reduce your risk of developing heart complications or diseases.

1) Nutrition

Consuming heart-healthy meals has been proven many times to assist in avoiding or reversing heart disease. This is because many heart-healthy meals help manage or prevent high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, and other risk factors.

How are high BP, high cholesterol and obesity relevant to heart heath?

High blood pressure occurs when the force of your blood pushing against vessel walls is too high. High blood pressure causes harm by creating more work for the heart and blood vessels. Over time, the delicate tissues in arteries will become destroyed, and cholesterol will form plaque along these tiny tears in the walls of the artery. Similar to high BP, experiencing obesity may take a toll on the heart and body, causing an increased workload for the heart. 

Tips 

• increase daily fruit and vegetable intake

            • Aim for 2 – 3 cups of each per day

            • Try making simple & easy fruit smoothies

• Increase whole grain intake

            • Swap white rice and white bread with brown rice and whole wheat bread

• Increase fish or omega-3 fatty acid intake

• Reduce sodium intake

            • Avoid added salt and processed foods

            • Swap added salt with different seasonings or garlic

• Limit saturated and trans fat

            • Swap butter or gravy with olive oil or margarine

 

2) Control Stress

Long-term stress is proven to increase cortisol levels in blood significantly. This causes blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels to increase, which promotes a major buildup of plaque in arteries

Tips 

• Make time for hobbies and activities that make you happy

• Practice deep breathing exercises or meditation occasionally

• Get organized: clean, make to-do lists, do laundry

            • Helps take your mind off of stressors

• Stay positive and be nice to yourself

• You’re living in a pandemic! It’s okay to feel overwhelmed and nervous. But remember to focus on the good and remind yourself that you’re doing your best with what you have

 

3) Physical Activity

Exercise is an important contributor to heart health because of how awesome of a job it does at strengthening the heart muscle and improving its overall performance. Like any other muscle in the body, the heart requires exercise and nourishment in order to grow and perform. 

Tips 

• Aim for 30 mins of exercise 5 times per week

            • Try at home pandemic-friendly workouts

• Take the stairs when possible

            • And/or park far away from the building 

• Go for a walk during your lunch break

 

4) Sleep

Restful sleep is the only time your heart focuses on itself; it’s a time for it to repair itself and prepare for the next day. During sleep, the hearts workload decreases, along with blood pressure. Those who sleep less than 7 hours are more likely to suffer from heart complications due to the hearts lack of rest and repair. 

Tips 

• Aim for 7 – 9 hours of sleep

• Avoid artificial light (phone, TV, iPad, etc) at least 1 hour before bed to ensure restful sleep

• Stick to a regular sleep schedule

            • Creating a sleep routine is beneficial to both you and your heart

• Keep bedroom or sleeping area cool, dark, and quiet 


-ND

 

 

References:

https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/the-facts-about-high-blood-pressure/what-is-high-blood-pressure

https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/infographic/hearthealth.htm

 

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