Don’t Fail with Your Heart’s Health! 7 Tips to Live Happier with a Healthy Heart

Posted on June 1, 2022

Your heart works tirelessly around the clock to keep you alive. Whether you’re at work, fulfilling your obligations to bring home the bacon, or indulging in your favorite pastime without a care in the world, your heart is always there for you, taking no off days. It beats away when you sleep to keep blood flowing and life moving like the good organ it is. Isn’t it about time you returned the favor by making things easier for the organ that goes to great lengths for you? We thought so too.



Here are a few vital tips to help keep your heart healthy:

Stay Active & Exercise regularly

Exercise sees to it that your heart muscles grow stronger and helps you cut down on cholesterol in your body which can make your heart work harder than it has to.

From our experience as a cardiac monitoring device provider, we find the following exercises good for the heart:

  • Aerobic exercises for 5 days a week, in half-an-hour daily sessions. This covers jump rope, swimming & brisk walking
  • Resistance training (barbells, dumbbells, and hand weights)- The ACSM recommends 2 days a week (non-consecutive)
  • Flexibility exercises. At least daily as part of your warm-up and cool-down routine. Think stretching, yoga, tai chi, and whatnots.
  • Have a balanced diet

    An apple a day keeps the doctor away, quite literally. These fruits lower your body’s cholesterol levels, which is made possible by their high composition of soluble fiber. Other fruits great for your heart include strawberries and raspberries.

    As far as veggies go, red bell peppers, sweet potatoes, and spinach are the way to go to watch out for you out. The same goes for the following meats:

  • Pork shoulder
  • Chicken & turkey
  • Shellfish and fish
  • Of course, there are many other options to add to your heart-healthy diet. Think healthy fats, incorporate more fiber, and watch the sodium

    Manage your stress

    Is stress bad for your heart? The American Heart Association thinks so. It says that long-term stress can land you in heart trouble, by doubling your heart beat rate over time, thereby increasing pressure and risk of cardiovascular disease.

    So learn to loosen up. Those exercises we talked about are a great way to let off some steam, so make time for that and any other hobbies you have. We all have stress triggers in our lives, and the key is to figure those out and keep them at arm’s length. Of course, it helps to have a shoulder or two to lean on.

    Don’t drink & quit smoking

    Some may argue that a little red wine is good for the heart. Fair enough. Red wine contains antioxidants that can chip in to reduce heart attack by circumventing coronary artery ailments, but all in moderation.

    NCBI studies show a close link between some varieties of cardiovascular disease and alcohol use. While we won’t tell you not to light up or stay away from the bottle completely, it helps to cut back on how much you drink and smoke. If you have a problem controlling yourself, it helps to avoid your triggers. Therapy and a support group can be a great place to start.

    Keep your cholesterol low

    Is cholesterol bad for your heart? Not entirely. Good cholesterol is key to healthier cells however too much of the bad kind (LDL cholesterol) can pose a danger to your heart. You’ll know your cholesterol levels are off the charts if you experience nausea, chest pains, high blood pressure, constant fatigue, and numbness. The best way to know for sure is to get a professional’s diagnosis.

    To cut your cholesterol levels fast, you could try to:

  • Lose weight
  • Take more omega-3 fatty acids
  • Eat more whey protein
  • If you have a more sedentary lifestyle, it’s time to get moving.

    Don’t skip your sleep

    Do you regularly pull all-nighters for work or when you hit the road to paint the town red? It may be time to think things over. The CDC finds that insomnia can elevate the risk of heart disease and cause a cascade of bad habits that won’t do your heart any favors, including increased stress.

    Our biosensor medical devices experts recommend the following sleep tips for better sleep:

  • Create and observe a sleep schedule
  • Keep devices away during bedtime
  • Exercise regularly
  • Reduce daytime naps
  • For shift workers, these tips still apply. Just be sure that you have a dark, quiet environment set out because sunlight primarily signals the body to stay awake.

    Know your numbers

    What’s your body mass index? Do you know your blood pressure? How about your cholesterol levels? If you’re at a loss for words, it’s time to make a change.

    Knowing your numbers will reveal whether you’re at risk of heart disease, which in turn will enable you to proactively avoid them. The major problem with heart disease is that the first symptom may be your last, so don’t wait until something bad happens before taking any action. Take action so bad things never happen.

    Get help with detecting heart problems earlier with monitoring devices

    Some heart arrhythmias occur in subtle symptoms and intermittently. So they may not surface during check-ups may be because they can’t be replicated during exercise and testing. This is where heart rate monitoring devices prove a life saver.

    You’ll know it’s time to get a wearable ECG monitor if you regularly experience shortness of breath, and unexplained fatigue, among other symptoms. Overall, heart monitoring at home can help you discover heart problems before they become major issues, keeping you clear of stroke, heart disease, and heart failure.

    Takeaways

    It’s true some heart diseases stem from your genes and are beyond your control. However, it’s also true that there’s much you can do to care for your heart regardless and increase your longevity. Remember to keep up a healthy diet, watch your sleep patterns, avoid stress, prioritize exercise, and much else we’ve discussed, and you’ll enjoy life to your senior years. Constant screening and checkups will also do you good, as will using heart monitoring at home so none of the subtle signs slip under the radar.

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