Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. with over a half-million every year – according to the CDC. An important fact to realize is that many of these deaths are preventable. With some changes, you can greatly improve your overall health and reduce your chances of complications. That’s good news! With some work and possibly some lifestyle changes, you can use these tips on how to strengthen the heart to your advantage!
These tips are backed by scientific evidence and support the idea that they will really help reduce your chances of cardiovascular problems. The lifestyle changes are kind of what you may expect, but implementing them is a different story. It takes hard work and dedication to stay healthy for yourself and your family. Let’s see what we can do!
How To Strengthen the Heart – Exercise
“Exercise is universally recognised as having a positive impact on the majority of health outcomes and its effect on CVD is no different. Mortality and morbidity directly due to exercise remains minimal even up to very intense levels of exercise and in the overwhelming majority the benefits outweigh the risks.17“
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5331469/
This particular study was out of the UK, but the information stands as valuable. Having a workout routine is imperative to improving heart health – and overall health in general. Having a sedentary lifestyle can extremely increase your chances of health problems, so it’s important to get out and move around. You should work out for about 3 hours a week – which isn’t all that bad. You can definitely find the time, right?
Here are some articles that may help:
- HIIT Rowing Workout: Get in Shape Fast
- Benefits of Jumping Rope: Top 11 Jump Rope Benefits
- Best Exercises for Core: Strengthening Your Core
You can start small and easy then work your way up if you need to.
Stop Smoking
I’m sure you knew this one would be on the list! This may be the most important thing you can do to maintain your health. We all know that smoking is bad for you and very hard to quit. This will take some very hard work on your part if you’re a smoker.
“…researchers examining the relationship between cigarette smoking and smoking cessation on mortality during a decades-long perspective study of over 100,000 women found that approximately 64% of deaths among current smokers and 28% of deaths among former smokers were attributable to cigarette smoking. [2]”
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/disease-prevention/cardiovascular-disease/preventing-cvd/
This piece of evidence shows a very strong correlation between smoking and deaths. Those are high percentages, and it’s important to realize how quitting will directly help you. After time, your organs and body return to that of a non-smoker. So, quitting now can have you on your way to getting back to normal!
How To Strengthen The Heart – Watch Your Diet
“The AHA recommend the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet which is low in sugars and saturated fats, high in vegetables, fruits and whole grains. This has been shown to as a method to lower blood pressure (BP) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) which are independent risk factors for CVD, but they do not attempt to show a direct reduction in CVD risk.13“
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5331469/
I’m sure you saw this one coming as well. Your diet – what you ingest on a daily basis – can be a large contributing factor to overall health. What you choose to eat and drink will either help or hinder your ability to stay on track. That’s not saying that you have to avoid those great-tasting foods that are really bad for you – just reduce the intake of them. Eat more fruits, veggies, and natural foods to keep your heart healthy.
Some of these articles may help:
- Healthy Food for Weight Loss: 7 Easy Ways to Start Your Day
- Healthy Eating Tips: 10 Ways to Change Your Life
- Water for Diet: Best Diet Water for Weight Loss
Laying low on sugary drinks, sugary foods, saturated fats, and other (good tasting but bad for you) food items is a key factor to preventing heart troubles.
Reduce Alcohol
Yeah, this one isn’t one of my favorites because I do enjoy the occasional drink or five. Evidence suggests that any reduction in alcohol intake is beneficial for preventing cardiovascular disease.
” A recent large mendelian analysis by Holmes et al.32 has, however, shown that within a genetic subset for alcohol dehydrogenase, reductions in alcohol intake are associated with reduction in CVD risk across the spectrum of alcohol intake. This would suggest that reductions in alcohol intake, even for moderate drinkers, are associated with a reduction in CVD risk. It is on this basis that the ESC guidelines recommend no safe level of alcohol intake.11 “
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5331469/#bibr28-2048004016687211
While the research isn’t consistent in all studies, it’s probably safe to say that drinking minimal or no alcohol is beneficial to the heart. This particular study says that drinking zero alcohol is the best, but we’ve all seen some headlines about it being okay or even beneficial to drink small or moderate amounts. Since the scientific community is kind of not on the same page, I would say it is safe to assume that none or a little is much better than A Lot. Try to limit yourself and follow whatever guidelines work for you. Just don’t revert to the college days!
How to Strengthen the Heart – Watch Your Weight
This one kind of goes along with eating better and exercising, but specifically, BMI has been studied and is a factor that can contribute to heart problems.
“Having a body mass index (BMI) > 25 is a risk factor for CVD with lowest all-cause mortality seen at BMI 20–25 but, due to increased all-cause mortality with BMI < 20,28“
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5331469/#bibr28-2048004016687211
In this research study, it was found that you had the best chance if your BMI was between 20 and 25. That’s actually not too hard to attain! Athletes can have around 15 BMI, so we’re off to a good start. If you aren’t an athlete, then you already have an advantage! Your BMI will naturally get lower if you do change your diet and start exercising. So, you should see an awesome benefit here as well – without even having to do much extra. Just try to be aware of what your BMI is and set some goals for yourself.
Final Remarks:
I hope this article helped and maybe even gave you some motivation! The changes listed above may not be easy for everyone, but they are certainly doable for anyone. If you set your mind to the goal of a healthy heart, you will be able to do anything on this how to strengthen the heart list! If you enjoyed reading, here are some others that you may like: