20 Ways to Keep Your Heart Strong
Maintaining a healthy heart is essential for your overall health. This piece provides 20 practical tips for maintaining long-lasting heart health. These tips will help your heart work at its best, whether it's through food, exercise, or dealing with stress.
- Tricia Quitales
- 6 min read
This piece offers 20 valuable and effective ways to keep your heart strong. These tips cover a wide range of topics related to heart health, such as changes in lifestyle, physical exercise, and mental health. Developing these habits can help your heart health and quality of life in general. Your heart will be better and stronger if you take small daily steps for years to come.
1. Eat a Heart-Healthy Diet
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Eating lots of fruits, veggies, whole grains, and lean proteins is good for your heart. Cutting back on trans and heavy fats helps keep cholesterol levels healthy. Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish also help the heart work better and prevent inflammation.
2. Exercise Regularly
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One of the best ways to keep your heart healthy is to stay active. Set a goal to do 150 minutes of moderately intense exercise every week. Some examples of this would be cycling or brisk walks. Working out makes the heart muscle more potent and the blood flow better.
3. Maintain a Healthy Weight
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Being overweight puts extra stress on your heart and raises your risk of heart disease and stroke. A well-balanced diet and regular exercise can help you keep your weight in check. Keep your body mass index (BMI) healthy for the healthiest heart.
4. Limit Sodium Intake
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When you eat too much salt, your blood pressure goes up, which can hurt your heart and blood vessels over time. Cut down on prepared foods and avoid adding too much salt to your food. Instead, use herbs and spices to season your food.
5. Stay Hydrated
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When you drink a lot of water, blood flow and oxygenation stay healthy. When you’re thirsty, your blood can get thicker, which makes your heart work harder. Staying hydrated also helps the body eliminate toxins, which is good for heart health.
6. Get Regular Check-ups
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Get regular check-ups to monitor your heart health. If you catch diseases like high blood pressure or high cholesterol early, they can be treated before they get worse. Get regular heart checks from your doctor and follow their advice to stay healthy.
7. Quit Smoking
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Smoking hurts blood vessels and drops the amount of oxygen in the blood, which puts stress on the heart. Heart disease risk goes down a lot when you stop smoking. Your chance of having a heart attack drops by half in just one year after you quit.
8. Reduce Stress
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Long-term stress raises blood pressure and heart rate, which can lead to heart disease. Meditation, yoga, and deep breathing are good ways to lower stress. You must find healthy ways to deal with worry to keep your heart healthy.
9. Sleep
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Sleep is vital for heart health because it lets the body heal and recover. Get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep every night to lower your chance of heart disease and high blood pressure. Heart problems are more likely to happen if you don’t get enough sleep.
10. Limit Alcohol Consumption
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Moderate drinking can be good for your heart, but drinking too much raises your chance of heart disease. Ladies, don’t drink more than one drink a day. Men don’t have two drinks a day. If you drink a lot, it can hurt your heart and raise your blood pressure.
11. Stay Socially Connected
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Heart health is better when you have a lot of friends and family—having close friends and family and a network of people who can help you lower stress and improve health. Heart disease is more likely to happen to lonely or socially isolated people.
12. Practice Deep Breathing
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Deep breathing can help lower stress levels and improve blood flow. Relaxation techniques like the 4-7-8 method and breathing through the belly also help. Adding deep breathing to your daily routine can help keep your heart healthy.
13. Eat More Fiber
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Fiber-rich foods, like beans, oats, and whole grains, help keep your heart healthy and lower cholesterol. Fiber also helps keep blood sugar levels steady and stops plaque from building up in the arteries. Try to eat at least 25 to 30 grams of fiber daily.
14. Monitor Your Cholesterol Levels
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Keeping your cholesterol levels in check can avoid plaque buildup in the airways. Getting your cholesterol checked regularly helps you monitor it and make changes to your diet if needed. Try to keep the amount of “good” HDL cholesterol and “bad” LDL cholesterol in check.
15. Incorporate Strength Training
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Strength training, like pulling weights, builds muscle and improves blood flow. This makes it easier for the heart to pump blood all over the body. Strength training should be part of your schedule at least twice a week.
16. Consume Antioxidant-Rich Foods
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As reactive stress decreases, heart health improves because antioxidants protect the heart. In nuts, berries, and dark leafy veggies, antioxidants are found in large amounts. Adding these to your diet can help keep you from getting heart disease.
17. Stay Active Mentally
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Puzzles, reading, and learning new skills can keep your mind active, which is good for heart health. Cognitive activities can also help your general health and lower the risk of cognitive decline. Keeping your mind busy can help reduce the risk of heart problems caused by stress.
18. Drink Green Tea
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Green tea contains chemicals, like catechins, that help blood flow and lower blood pressure. Regular use may also lower cholesterol and make the heart work better. Drink two to three cups of green tea daily for the most health benefits.
19. Practice Good Posture
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Bad posture can stress the heart and make it hard for blood to flow properly. When you sit, stand, or sleep, make sure you keep good posture. Your heart and lungs work better when you pay attention to your stance.
20. Laugh Often
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Laughter lowers stress chemicals and raises blood flow, which is good for heart health. Laughing also softens the blood vessels, which improves blood flow. People who add humor and happiness to their daily lives are less likely to get heart disease.