Did you know that getting enough sleep and controlling your stress levels can help prevent heart attack?
Does your family have a history of heart attacks? Do you know how to prevent them? It’s very important to take steps to prevent heart attack, given the fact that heart disease is one of the leading causes of death worldwide.
A heart attack occurs when one of the arteries that supplies oxygen to the heart is blocked. Luckily, preventing this problem is simple, but does requires lifestyle changes if the life you lead now isn’t the healthiest.
Just follow these tips to prevent heart attack:
1. Eat a good diet
You should eat a balanced diet if you are really want to prevent heart attack. To do this:
- Try to exclude processed products from your diet and replace them with fresh food.
- Lower your sugar and artificial sweetener intake. If you’re craving something sweet, eat a piece of fruit instead.
- Avoid trans fats, such as vegetable oils or margarine. Replace them with healthy fats like avocado, coconut oil, or unpasteurized butter.
- Keep your body hydrated by drinking enough water.
- Eat foods rich in omega 3, such as oily fish, at least once a week or take a nutritional supplement.
- Eat foods rich in vitamins C, E, and beta-carotene. These nutrients help protect artery walls. They neutralize free radicals, slow down the wear and tear on the heart, and lower bad cholesterol (LDL) levels.
2. Exercise every day
You already know that exercise is important for your health, but you should bear in mind that not all exercise helps your heart. To prevent heart attack, the best thing is to do a few sessions of high-intensity exercises for no more than 30 minutes a day.
To get the most out of your exercise sessions, try to recover and take the time to rest properly between each them. This will help support good cardiovascular health without overexerting your heart if you have a history of heart problems.
3. Lower your salt intake
People who consume a lot of salt increase their chances of developing heart disease or having a heart attack compared to those who follow a balanced diet.
When there is too much sodium in the blood, the arteries narrow and the volume of liquid flowing through them is greater relative to their size.
This increases the pressure in the arteries and may result in a heart attack, stroke, or hypertension.
However, this doesn’t mean that you should stop consuming salt completely, because your body does need it. We recommend adding up to a pinch of salt to your food. You should also avoid processed products because they have a lot of salt.
4. Take care of your gastrointestinal tract
Perhaps you think that what happens in your stomach has little to do with preventing a heart attack. However, this isn’t the case. The truth is that serious intestinal problems, such as irritable bowel syndrome, can alter your body so much that they could give you a heart attack or stroke.
Taking probiotics and eating fermented foods every day can prevent heart problems by promoting healthy intestinal flora.
5. Get enough sleep to prevent heart attack
Getting enough sleep is essential for normal adrenaline and cortisol levels, which will help prevent heart attack. You should get at least seven hours of restorative sleep per night and be on the lookout for any sleep disorders.
For example, snoring isn’t just annoying. It can also be fatal if it’s from sleep apnea, since this sleep disorder negatively impacts your body and may cause hypertension and heart disease.
Also, you should take a nap if you feel very tired during the day.
6. Meditate and practice yoga
When you meditate and practice yoga, you relax your body and mind and your energy changes, thus improving circulation and blood flow to the heart.
When your body and mind are relaxed, your heart works better and this lowers your risk of heart attack.
Remember that stress affects your nervous system, so if you’re always upset or angry you’re much more likely to get a heart attack.
We suggest practicing yoga every day for about 20 minutes. Try to mediate right when you wake up or before going to bed. Yes, it might be hard for you to keep your mind and body calm at the beginning. But it eventually gets easier and you’ll gradually get used to it.
Via: MayoClinic | WikiHow
