It’s no secret that your heart is critical to your survival, but many people don’t take the time and effort to ensure that their heart is healthy. With heart disease being one of the leading causes of death in the United States, it’s unfortunate that heart health isn’t a priority for most people. If you need more convincing that heart health should always be a priority, keep reading.
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Why Heart Health Should Always Be a Priority
Heart Disease Affects Your Mental Health
Heart disease itself is detrimental enough, but it can also affect your mental health. Once diagnosed with heart disease, patients are much more likely to experience emotional and psychological symptoms, not just physical. Oftentimes, anxiety accompanies heart disease, though many patients may also experience depression.
Maintain Healthy Cholesterol and Blood Pressure
High or unhealthy cholesterol increases your risk of stroke and heart disease. High blood pressure can be a risk for not just your heart but the rest of your body as well. As such, it’s important to maintain healthy cholesterol levels and blood pressure. With a healthy heart, this is much easier to accomplish and guarantee.
Lower Dementia Risk
Did you know that people with poor heart health are at a higher risk of developing dementia? Most of the time, poor heart health leads to restricted blood flow as blood vessels narrow. This reduces the amount of blood that can get to your brain and will impact your day-to-day functioning. Without the proper blood flow, you’ll be less capable of making decisions as well as have a higher risk of dementia or Alzeheimer’s.
Heart Disease Is Preventable but Not Reversible
The best way to protect yourself against heart disease is by taking care of your heart before the problem arises. Once a problem presents itself, it can’t be reversed. Despite excellent medical care and technology, heart disease can only be prevented, not reversed.
How to Take Better Care of Your Heart
Keeping your heart healthy doesn’t have to be complicated or mean changing your whole lifestyle. By making some dietary and lifestyle changes, you can reduce your risks of heart disease and have a healthier heart.
Nutrition
When it comes to heart health, follow a nutritious diet full of fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats. Limit your intake of salt and unhealthy fats and avoid alcohol.
Exercise
Regular exercise is a good way to keep your heart pumping and healthy. Even something as simple as a 30-minute walk every day will help keep your heart healthy, so make sure you get a little exercise every day.
Avoid Smoking
Smoking is incredibly unhealthy for both your lungs and your heart. Unfortunately, many people continue to smoke or vape every day. To prevent heart disease, avoid smoking and those that smoke. Breathing in secondhand smoke can be just as bad or worse than smoking yourself.
Visit Your Doctor
If you’re concerned about heart disease or your family has a history of heart disease, be sure to talk to our doctors about it. Schedule annual appointments so that you can keep up with heart health and make sure that everything still looks good.
Conclusion
Without a healthy heart, you won’t be able to live a healthy lifestyle. Fortunately, working towards heart health isn’t complicated, and you can start improving your lifestyle day by day with small changes.
