Helpful Hints for a Healthy Heart

Helpful Hints for a Healthy Heart

To keep your heart healthy, improve your lifestyle. Here are some lifestyle hints for a healthy heart.

Eat a healthy diet.

A healthy diet can help you reduce your risk of a heart attack. A healthy diet means choosing the right foods and preparing them in healthy ways. Eat lean meats, poultry, eggs, and fish for protein. Add several servings of non-or-low fat dairy foods (milk, cheese, yoghurt) each day. Eat five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables, including all colors of produce. Choose whole grain breads and cereals to round out your diet. Avoid saturated fats, sugar, and highly processed sweets and starches. Bake, broil, stir fry, microwave, and boil foods rather than fry them in butter or saturated fats.

Exercise daily.

Swimming, cycling, jogging, skiing, aerobics, dancing, biking, walking, and many other activities help keep your heart strong. Exercise at least four days per week for 20 minutes each time. If you exercise every day, that is even better. Exercise improves blood flow to the heart and reduces stress.

Take advantage of any opportunity for exercise and build it into your daily activities. For example:

• Take the stairs instead of the elevator.

• Park your car at the far end of the parking lot.

• Walk or bike to work or to go shopping.

• If you ride the bus or subway, get off a stop before your destination. Walk the rest of the way.

• Spend a few minutes at lunch time, walking.

• Housework is good exercise. Vacuum briskly, vigorously clean sinks and toilets, sweep the patio, mop floors.

• Mowing the lawn, pulling weeds, and raking leaves are also good exercise.

• Take a walk with your dog after dinner.

• Schedule an after-dinner walk or bike ride for the whole family.

Please always consult your doctor about your health problems. This blog is for information only - Not for diagnosing health problems.

Image Courtesy of Wikipedia