Maintaining a healthy heart begins with a whole-life approach that feeds body and soul. Picture yourself powering your day with a colorful array of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains—every bite complemented by regular, playful exercise to build your cardiovascular system.
By adopting mindful habits such as stress-reducing meditation and allowing restorative sleep, you establish a strong foundation that not only optimizes heart function but also promotes your overall health. This holistic approach empowers you to live actively, vibrantly, and heart-healthily each and every day.
Eight tips for maintaining a healthy heart naturally:
1. Avoid smoking or tobacco use for a healthy heart
One of the things that will help to carry a healthy heart the most is quitting smoking or using smokeless tobacco. Even if you don’t smoke, make sure you avoid secondhand smoke.
Tobacco chemicals can harm the heart and blood vessels. Cigarette smoke reduces the blood’s oxygen, increasing blood pressure and heart rate. It’s because the heart must pump harder to provide sufficient oxygen to the body and brain.
There is some good news, though. The risk of heart disease begins to decline in as little as one day after quitting.
One year after giving up cigarettes, the risk of heart disease falls to half that of a smoker. Regardless of how long you smoked and how much, you’ll begin to benefit as soon as you quit.
2. Move around: Make at least 30 to 60 minutes of daily movement a goal
Daily, regular physical activity can reduce the risk of heart disease. Physical activity aids in weight control. It also reduces the risk of developing other conditions that can strain the heart. These are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes.
If you’re out of practice, you might need to ease up on setting those targets at first. However, on the whole, you can strive to get a minimum of:
- 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, such as walking briskly.
- 75 minutes a week of intense aerobic exercise, such as running.
- Two or more sessions per week of strength training.
Even shorter periods of exercise provide benefits for the healthy heart . So do not despair if you cannot adhere to those guidelines. Five minutes’ worth will suffice. Examples include gardening, doing housework, climbing the stairs, and walking the dog—anything that keeps you moving is helping towards your total. You don’t have to work out energetically in order to get benefits. However, you can gain larger gains if you increase the intensity, duration, and number of workouts.
3. Follow a Healthy heart diet
A healthy diet can prevent heart disease, maintain healthy blood pressure and cholesterol, and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. A healthy heart diet plan includes:
- Vegetables and fruits.
- Beans or other legumes.
- Lean meat and fish.
- Low-fat or fat-free milk products.
- Whole grains.
- Healthy fats like olive oil and avocado.
- Two heart-healthy dietary plans are the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan and the Mediterranean diet.
Consume less of the following:
- Salt or high-sodium foods.
- Sugar or sweetened drinks.
- Highly refined carbs.
- Alcohol.
- Highly processed food, including processed meat.
- Saturated fat, present in red meat, full-fat dairy, palm oil, and coconut oil.
- Trans fat, present in some fried fast foods, chips, and pastries.
4. Have a healthy weight for a healthy heart
Overweight—particularly in the midsection of the body—increases the risk of heart disease. Being overweight can contribute to conditions that increase the likelihood of developing heart disease. They have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes.
The body mass index (BMI) utilizes weight and height to determine if an individual is obese or overweight. A value of 25 or more is classified as overweight. Overall, it’s associated with increased cholesterol, increased blood pressure, and a higher risk of heart disease and stroke.
Waist measurement can also be an effective measure of how much belly fat you have. Your risk of heart disease will be increased if your waist measurement is more than:
- 40 inches (101.6 cm) for men.
- 35 inches (88.9 cm) for women.
Even a modest weight loss is beneficial. Losing just 3% to 5% of weight can reduce levels of certain blood fats known as triglycerides. It can reduce blood sugar, or glucose. And it can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Shedding even more reduces blood pressure and blood levels of cholesterol.
5. Get quality sleep is essential for healthy heart
Individuals lacking adequate sleep have an increased chance of obesity, high blood pressure, heart attack, diabetes, and depression.
Most adults require at least seven hours of sleep every night. Kids tend to need more. So get plenty of rest. Establish a sleep routine and adhere to it. To accomplish that, sleep and wake up at the same hour each day. Also, make your bedroom dark and quiet, which will make it simpler to sleep.
Speak with a member of your health care team if you think you sleep enough but you’re still tired during the day. Ask if you should be tested for obstructive sleep apnea. It’s a disorder that can increase your risk of heart disease.
Signs of obstructive sleep apnea are loud snoring, pausing breathing for brief periods while sleeping, and waking up with a gasping sound.
Treatment for obstructive sleep apnea can include losing weight if you are overweight. It may also include wearing a device that keeps your airway open during sleep. This is known as a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device.
6. Stress management
Chronic stress can contribute to increased blood pressure and other heart disease risk factors. Others also deal with stress in unhealthy manners. For instance, they might overeat, drink, or smoke. You can improve your health by discovering other methods of coping with stress. Healthy strategies include exercise, relaxation techniques, mindfulness, yoga, and meditation.
If stress starts to feel crushing, have a checkup at a health care provider. Prolonged stress can be associated with psychiatric illnesses like anxiety and depression.
Anxiety and depression also are connected to risk factors for heart disease, such as elevated blood pressure and reduced blood flow to the heart. If you suspect that you have depression or anxiety, seek treatment.
7. Have regular health screening tests
High cholesterol and high blood pressure can hurt the heart and blood vessels. But if you don’t have these conditions checked, chances are you won’t know if you have them. Screening tests can let you know what your numbers are and if you need to do anything about them.
- Blood pressure. Routine blood pressure screening typically begins in childhood. Beginning at age 18, blood pressure should be taken at least every two years. This screens for high blood pressure as a risk factor for heart disease and stroke. If you’re 18 to 39 years old and have risk factors for high blood pressure, you’ll probably be tested annually. Individuals 40 and above are also administered a blood pressure test annually.
- Cholesterol levels. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) suggests cholesterol tests begin at ages 9 or 11. You may be advised to get tested earlier if you have other risk factors, including a family history of premature heart disease. Subsequent tests should be repeated every five years after the initial cholesterol test. The timing then varies by age. The NHLBI advises women aged 55 to 65 and men aged 45 to 65 to be screened every 1 to 2 years. Individuals aged more than 65 should undergo cholesterol testing annually.
- Type 2 diabetes screening. Diabetes is repeated with high blood sugar levels. Diabetes increases the risk of acquiring heart disease. The risk factors for diabetes are being overweight and having a history of diabetes in your family. Your health care team might suggest early screening if you have any of the risk factors. Otherwise, screening is advised at age 45. Then you have your blood sugar levels checked again every three years.
If you have a condition like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or diabetes, discuss it with your healthcare team. Your doctor can prescribe medications and suggest lifestyle modifications. Be sure to take your medications exactly as directed, and adhere to a healthy lifestyle regimen. All you have to do is to boost your heart and muscle strength, also follow our tips on heart arms, and lungs to get holistic health.
8. Prevent infections
Some infections can cause heart issues. For example, gum disease can be a risk factor for heart and blood vessel disease. So brush and floss every day. Have regular dental checkups as well.
Other infectious illnesses can worsen pre-existing heart conditions. Vaccines prevent infectious diseases. So keep current with the following shots:
- Yearly flu vaccine.
- COVID-19 vaccine, which reduces the risk of becoming very ill.
- Pneumococcal vaccine, which decreases the risk of some diseases caused by bacteria.
- Discuss with your healthcare provider if you require any other vaccines as well.
Conclusion
In a word, natural heart care is a harmonious experience, one that consists of balanced, nutrient-dense eating, regular physical exercise, and graceful stress management. By choosing unprocessed, whole foods, taking part in exercise on a consistent basis, earning restful slumber, and using relaxation methods in daily existence, you set the foundation for cardiovascular health. Remember, it’s the modest changes made through the years that can lead to a stronger, healthier heart as well as to a more vivacious life as a whole.
