Heart Healthy Activities and Exercise for Your Body and its Importance

In this modern day, health is one of the most important things in our body that needs to be taken care of. However, with the current lifestyle and types of food that we can get, having a healthy hearts will prove to be a challenge. Which is why, it is important to know how to take care of our heart health in the slightest. Several ways to take care of our heart are quite easy to do. One of them is doing a regular heart healthy activities. Additionally, having a heart healthy recipes will also count as a way to having healthy heart that can support our body and give them better results in the end.

Damaged heart
The example of damaged heart (via mindyourheartfacts.com)

The heart is one of the most important types of organs in the body. This one organ has a function to pump oxygen throughout the body. Imagine if the heart does not work well, then there are so many problems that will be experienced by the body. During this time, heart attack became one of the causes of death of many people. Heart attacks are sudden and unpredictable. Therefore, we should all be able to maintain heart health to avoid any illness that affects the heart disease. Actually, how to treat heart health is very easy. You can start from the simplest way like exercise or having a Heart healthy diet.

Healthy Sports for the Heart

American Heart Association (AHA) has issued a statement, that to get the benefits of heart health, you must make the heart beat up. There are various activities that can be done to help heart health and also avoid health related diseases. These activities include:

  1. Aerobics

To maintain the heart, you do need to increase physical activity. Aerobic exercise for 30 minutes a day can be done. Physical activity is very good for increasing your heart rate. Aerobics is also good for your body in a whole making it more resilient and also flexible. This types of exercise is also well known to shape your body well and giving you better body as a results. Of course this kinds of benefits is also several reasons on why people do aerobics in the first place.

  1. Increase Physical Activity

Physical activity that can be done to nourish the heart include climbing ladders, brisk walking, to practice using a treadmill. Even you can also do healthy and fun games via Wii Sports. If you feel lazy exercise alone, you can invite relatives and family. Make a small sporting event with family and children. For example with badminton, cycling, or other sports that can be done rollicking.

Physical activity based on age
Things that you have to do for physical activity based on age (via k-state.edu)
  1. Yoga, Pilates, and Jogging

You can also try to train yourself intensely through jogging, Pilates, and yoga. Exercise is very good for maintaining heart health. As long as it’s done regularly. You do not have to go to the gym or take a special class to exercise. Pilates and yoga can also be done at home. There are many clues to yoga and Pilates at home circulating on the internet.

  1. Exercising Regularly

If you feel you do not have time due to busy piling up, try to exercise while on the move as usual. Short exercise can be done with a time of 5-10 minutes. But do it regularly for several times a day. Do not have to deliberately exercise. For example, if you are accustomed to riding an elevator now try to use the stairs. Then try the car parker a little way to the destination, so inevitably you have to walk first. Then take a short stroll around the housing. This simple physical activity can also improve your heart function.

  1. Swimming and Cycling

For those of you who love to swim, there is good news. Reportedly swimming is not only good for improving heart rate and heart, but also provides multi-way resistance that will increase muscle strength. Swimming is also an alternative for those of you who are not happy to walk or run. In addition, cycling is also a fun alternative. You can try to go to work place by bicycle. Or can also join the bike club in your city. If not, biking in the morning or afternoon can be done. Not only makes the heart stronger in pumping, but also can tighten the body and lower muscles.

But do not forget also you still need to balance all these physical activities by eating a Heart healthy foods and good beverages for the heart. This will be explained in the latter point of the article. Next we will try to discuss some of the best ways to have a healthy heart that are not known to some people. Additionally, we will also discuss the general ways that most people know so we can understand the benefits in a more detailed manner.

Some Ways to Have a Healthy Heart

After we know several interesting activities that can help us to avoid Heart disease and also Heart attack in general. It is a good idea to know for sure a more interesting activities that will give our heart healthy condition. Most people does not know that some simple activity can really have a positive effect for our health and heart in general.

After all, who does not want to have a healthy heart? Surely everyone wants to have a healthy heart and also strong. The National Socioeconomic Survey shows that the three main factors that cause heart and stroke are smoking habits, lack of physical activity, and unbalanced food. Lack of understanding in these kinds of thing will usually lead to Heart attack symptoms.

What most people does not know is that maintaining heart health is actually very easy to do. If the previous point of this article we have been discussing some of the physical related Heart healthy activities that can be done to maintain heart health, then in the following point will be discussed more deeply regarding ways to have a healthy heart in a more interesting and unfamiliar manner.

In Depths Activities and Explanation on How to Have a Healthy Heart

There are various ways that can be done to have a healthy heart and normal Heart rate zones. Which is not only limited in sports activities alone, some the following ways are examples that you can do to keep your heart healthy.

  1. Sunbathing

Sunlight that vitamin D that can minimize the formation of plaque in the blood vessels. A study at the University of California showed that women with high vitamin D levels had a 31 percent lower risk of heart disease. Therefore you can try to bask in the morning before 10:00 for 20-30 minutes. Try to do this kinds of activities regularly every day. And you will not only granted healthy heart but also healthy skin as well. Because sunlight vitamin D will not only benefits as a Nutrition for heart health but also your skin health as well. In conclusion doing this activities will be very beneficial for your appearance as well for your heart health which is a very interesting results.

  1. Sports and Exercise

As already mentioned in previous point in this article, with exercise you can improve heart health. Basically, the heart is a muscle that needs to be trained regularly to stay in top condition. Sports exercises such as brisk walking, swimming, jogging, or cycling can provide good benefits for your heart. A study from the New England Journal of Medicine showed that walking lightly for 2.5 hours a week could cut a third of the risk of heart attack and stroke. This Heart healthy habits can also increase the good cholesterol level in the blood.

Additionally, physical activity does help control weight and help care for the heart. In general, you need to exercise lightly like walking at high speed for about 30 minutes on almost every day of the week. Exercising for 10 minutes every day can also provide great benefits for the heart.

It’s no secret that exercise is very good for our body, including for the heart. Regular exercise can improve the performance of the heart to do its job. Heart attacks often come suddenly in people with less movement. Especially if the person is suddenly doing heavy activities. Therefore you can start the exercise with a leisurely walk about 30 minutes every day of the week.

  1. Chocolate Consumption

Believe it or not, chocolate also has benefits for the heart. During this time chocolate is always considered to be a result of obesity. But different story if you choose correctly. Dark chocolate itself contains flavonoids and magnesium that can lower bad cholesterol levels. In addition there is also the content of stearic acid which is one of the heart-friendly fat and antioxidants that can block free radicals destroying artery walls. Make sure the chocolate you choose contains 70 percent chocolate to get the benefits. So for you chocolate lover, it means that you can always consume chocolate in a maintained amount in order to keep your heart healthy.

  1. The Consumption of Seafood

Foods derived from the ocean are believed to be a lubricant for the heart because it contains omega 3 fatty acids that can reduce the risk of cardiac arrhythmias, bad cholesterol levels, and high blood pressure and blood clots. With this in mind, we can conclude that most seafood is considered as a beneficial nutrition and food that are generally good for Heart healthy eating. Eating most of the seafood product is one easy way to keep your hearth functioning properly and avoiding most heart related diseases which is pretty dangerous in this time of day.

  1. Enough Sleep

Not only in terms of food and exercise that need to be improved if you want a healthy heart condition, you also need to improve sleep patterns if you want to improve heart health. People who sleep less than five hours a night tend to have a build-up of calcium minerals in the heart blood vessels that can cause dangerous effect. When all of the build-up are pass its limit then this can rupture and cause a heart attack or stroke. To avoid this, you need to sleep in an ideal time of about 6-7 hours a day. Additionally, having enough sleep are the best way to keep your body condition in its full potential.

Sleep deprivation is the early cause of serious disease
Sleep deprivation is the early cause of serious disease in our body including heart
  1. Laughing and be happy

Believe it or not, laughter is also good for the heart. By laughing, you can lower the stress hormone that is known to damage the protective layer of the blood vessels. When stress, the heart receives adrenaline in larger doses. This can cause abnormal heart rhythms and increased platelet stickiness that eventually lead to narrow arteries. Hormones released when a person’s depression can affect heart health. Therefore, people with depression should get treatment as soon as possible.

Better Lifestyle for a Healthy Heart

After we know about several ways on how to have a healthy heart, we also need to know why we need a better lifestyle to have a healthy heart and why it is important. First we need to know in depth regarding the danger of heart related diseases in this modern day that are most people are unaware of. In the next paragraph we will try to uncover some of the horrible truth regarding heart disease in the first place and why we need to keep an eye of our heart health in the first place.

Healthy lifestyle
Healthy lifestyle is the key to reach healthy and successful life

Heart disease is one of the main causes of death. Believe it or not, this disease is lurking everybody. Even people who look healthy could have a sudden heart attack. Based on data from the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2012 there were 17.5 million people who died from cardiovascular disease. That means there are 31 percent of 56.5 million deaths worldwide. More than ¾ deaths from cardiovascular disease occur in developing countries and low to moderate incomes.

Based on the age group, coronary heart disease often occurs in the age group 65-74 years (3.6 percent), up to age group 75 years and over (3.2 percent), age group 55-64 years (2.1 percent) age group 35-44 years (1.33 percent). Although you feel you do not have risk factors for heart attack, there is no harm in preventing you to avoid heart problems in the future by having Heart healthy lifestyle that we will try to share in the next point of this article.

Tips to Prevent Heart Disease

  1. Avoid Cigarettes

It’s no secret that smoking is one of the most significant risk factors for developing heart disease. Chemicals in tobacco can damage the heart and blood vessels, and cause narrowing of the arteries due to plaque build-up. This build-up of plaques that can cause heart attacks. Carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke can replace some oxygen in the blood. This increases blood pressure and heart rate by forcing the heart to work harder to supply oxygen needs.

Additionally, Cigarettes contain 4000 chemical compounds 40 of which are toxic and carcinogenic. Free radical substances such as nicotine and carbon monoxide contained in cigarettes can also cause damage to blood vessel walls and disrupt the normal work system in the heart. Carbon monoxide can reduce oxygen because it attaches to blood haemoglobin.

This blood haemoglobin has a function to transport oxygen to the heart and the rest of the human body. Cigarettes can also increase the production of bad cholesterol and reduce good cholesterol. Narrowing and hardening of blood vessels that can prevent oxygen from flowing into the heart and the whole body is caused by cholesterol. If oxygen flow is inhibited then the heart is forced to work very quickly and can cause a heart attack.

  1. Good and Healthy Food Consumption

Eating healthy foods also needs to be done for the heart. Fruit, vegetables, and grains are able to protect the heart. Beans, low fat or fat-free dairy products, to lean meats and fish can be part of a healthy diet you need to consume for heart health. Should avoid salt and sugar in food. Limit also certain fats that you eat. Try to keep saturated fat up to 5-6 percent of your daily calories. Also avoid Trans fats from your diet. The main sources of saturated fats are usually red meat, full fat dairy products, coconut, and palm oil.

You can start avoiding high-fat foods. As has been mentioned before that excessive fat in the body can risk becoming a heart attack. Because the excess fat will be a pile that even clog blood flow. Therefore you should reduce foods such as fried foods, fatty meats, junk food, and foods that contain other high fat. Start eating low-fat milk, vegetables, and fruit. Set your diet as well as possible to maintain heart health.

An easy way to start this tip is by having the knowledge of what food that is good for our heart. As we already explain previously, some of the types of food such as Heart healthy vegetables and sea food are good for our heart. After we know about what kinds of food that are beneficial for our heart. The next thing we need to do is to make a diet menu that we will eat in a week. This will help us to have an organized food consumption which will also benefits not only our heart but our body in general.

Stress level
Spare some time to reduce stress level
  1. Having Enough Time to Take a Whole Vacation

Although it sounds very trivial, but adequate vacation also needs to be done if you want to have a healthy heart. Lack of vacation not only makes you unproductive, but also can endanger health. People who have minimal rest will have a higher risk of depression which can also lead to heart related issues. One thing that most people are not aware is that depression is one of the reason of heart related issues. Psychology in one person can really affect how healthy that person will be. Therefore, do not push yourself too much, and take a vacation in order to keep your mind healthy which also affecting your heart condition.

  1. Conducting Medical Check Up

Although it seems troublesome, but doing a medical check-up is important to do. Heart disease is often the result of hereditary factors, but even so you who have no family history should also check-up. The goal for prevention of heart disease. And if indeed you have a heart disorder, you can prepare yourself to overcome this disease.

The Importance of Having a Healthy Heart

After discussing several tips that can get us healthy heart it is a good idea to know the importance of having a healthy heart. As we already know health is one of the most important treasure in our life. However most of us have been neglecting it. This means that it is very important to have a healthy body in order to have healthy heart.

Why heart is so important? Heart serves to pump blood throughout the body. Even this one organ remains active while we are sleeping. During this time, heart attack is still the leading cause of death number one in the world. There are various diseases that target your heart. For that, maintaining heart health is something that must be done. And we can help you maintain it by doing some of the above Healthy heart tips that you can do easily.

In the end, it is up to us if we want to have healthy heart and body condition. Doing some of these Heart healthy activities is one of the many ways for us to achieve healthy heart condition. Of course, if we want to do some of these activities, we need to make sure that we have the dedication to do it. As dedication is hard to come by. Having a dedication to do some of the activities that can help us having healthy heart is one of the best thing that can help us to have longer life.