Love Your Heart: 7 Methods You Can Use to Beat to a Healthier Drum
Popular devices like the Oura Ring are amazing tools that perform many beneficial actions from constantly monitoring your heart rate to tracking your sleep patterns to supply insight that can improve your overall health. As amazing as the Oura Ring is, it can only provide you data on your current health – It is up to you to make the commitment to making decisions that will improve your health. Let’s go over seven methods you can begin today to beat to a healthier drum!
- Toss the cigarettes and tobacco products
The link between smoking and lung cancer is well known, but tobacco use can also cause stroke, heart disease and COPD. The list of problems smoking causes is extensive from damaging heart tissue and blood vessels, causing an instant and long-term raising of blood pressure, increases the chance of blood clots, reduces the amount of oxygen that reaches the body’s tissues and causes an instant and long-term increase in heart rate to name a few.
In fact, according to John Hopkins Medicine one out of every 5 smoking-related deaths are caused by heart disease and diseases caused by smoking kill more than 440,000 Americans every year. Smoking deaths are the most preventable form of death in the US.
Toss those cigarettes!
- Be physically active everyday
Your heart is a muscle that needs exercise as much or more than any muscle in your body. Just 30 minutes a day can make all the difference in your overall health. According to research published by PLOS Medicine, those that are logging the most physical activity may lower their risk of heart disease by as much as 60 percent. The dilemma many people face regarding exercise is that you may seem too busy to exercise. You can do things such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator and parking further away from the store. Every little bit of physical activity adds up!
Some exercises that you could begin today that boost heart health include:
Three exercises that boost heart health
- Aerobic Exercise
- Resistance Training
- Stretching, Flexibility and Balance
Get moving!
- Keep a heart-healthy diet
A healthy diet is one of the best ways to lower the risk of heart disease. According to a study that was exhibited by the Cleveland Clinic, more than two-thirds of heart disease-related deaths worldwide can be linked to food choices. The authors estimated 6 million deaths could have been avoided through better diets. Whole grains, low-fat dairy products, skinless poultry, fruits, vegetables and nuts should be included into a heart-healthy diet. A few changes you can make to your diet that can improve heart health include:
- Control portion size
- Eat more fruits and vegetables
- Choose whole grains
- Restrict unhealthy fats
- Select low-fat protein sources
- Reduce salt (sodium) intake
Make healthy choices, but make sure to treat yourself every now and then too!
- Stay hydrated
Staying well hydrated reduces strain on our body’s most important muscle allowing it to pump more easily and efficiently. So how much water should we drink per day? Every person is different and the amount of water you need varies. If you’ve been physically active the more water you will need to stay hydrated. When you are beginning to feel the sensation of thirst you’re already dehydrated. A good rule of thumb is to consume 64 ounces of water or other liquid daily.
Drink up!
- Maintain a healthy weight
Those that are overweight and obese are at higher risk of developing heart disease which can lead to heart attack or death. Excess weight can raise blood pressure and raise your risk of developing conditions such as diabetes and cancer. Maintaining a healthy diet and exercise regimen can help keep your weight in check. If you need help controlling your weight, see your doctor or a nutritionist.
- Maintain a healthy blood pressure
Consistently unchecked high blood pressure can cause damage to blood vessels leading to heart attack, stroke and heart failure. High blood pressure or hypertension is when the force of blood through your blood vessels is too high. Maintaining your blood pressure within healthy levels reduces strain on your kidneys, arteries and heart which keeps you healthier longer. Two terms you should be aware of are:
- Systolic – (upper number) measures the amount of pressure against your artery walls as your heart beats
- Diastolic – (lower number) measures the pressure your heart exerts on your arteries while at rest in between beats.
The magic number for a healthy BP is 120/80 mm HG!
- Keep your blood sugar healthy
The food we eat is eventually turned into glucose (blood sugar) which the body uses for energy, but high blood sugar can damage your kidneys, nerves, eyes and heart. High blood sugar can also lead to serious health problems such as diabetes which by itself is a serious factor in the development of heart disease. To maintain a healthy blood sugar, avoid refined sugars, processed carbohydrates, sodas and add fiber to your diet.
As you can see a healthy diet is a major factor in improving heart health.
Proactively making these choices coupled with the valuable data provided by Oura Ring can help improve your overall heart health and keep your heart beating to a healthier drum!
