Where your heart is concerned, your diet is hugely important. There are many things you may do out of habit, whether it’s exercising too little or eating the wrong foods, which could be having an impact on the health of your heart. Here are seven of these lifestyle habits which you may want to consider in order to keep your heart healthy.
Diet
What you put in your mouth has a large impact on how healthy your heart is, so it’s important you lay off the fatty foods and up your intake of fruit and vegetables. Foods which are rich in antioxidants are a great choice, such as blueberries and strawberries, as well as oily fish which are loaded with omega-3 fatty acids.
Noise
Some studies suggest that the noise level in your local area could impact your heart attack risk – it is thought that this is because it disrupts sleep and increases stress levels in people who have to listen to it over a long period of time.
Sleep
How much sleep you get can greatly impact your life and general health, as sleep is important for enabling your body to rest and recuperate. If you don’t get much sleep on a regular basis, you’re putting your body (and heart) under a lot of strain, so be sure to get around eight hours of good quality sleep each night.
Early healthy habits
Studies suggest that developing good lifestyle habits in your 20s could help you protect your heart health later in life – so be sure to eat well, limit your intake of alcohol, avoid smoking and get plenty of regular exercise.
Smoking
Smoking doesn’t just affect your lungs – it also increases your risk of cardiovascular disease. Smoking is a risk to many aspects of your body, increasing your risk of cancers, lung disease and heart problems, so give up to ensure your heart stays healthy.
Work
The stress of your working life, as well as the financial pressures you may be dealing with, impact the stress on your heart and increase your risk of high blood pressure. This can lead to heart problems after a period of time, so try to stay as stress-free as possible.
Seasonality
Though researchers are unsure why, the winter season brings with it more cases of cardiac arrest. it’s thought that it may be due to the cold weather affecting how constricted your blood vessels are, whilst others speculate that it may be due to us leading a sedentary lifestyle in this season.