Things that keep your heart healthy!

Your diet plays a crucial role in your heart's health. Avoid processed foods and cut down on your salt and sugar intake. Instead, have plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and fibre in your daily diet. Eating a well-balanced, healthy diet can help prevent heart diseases and help strengthen the muscles of the heart. Take a look at food labels to see a number of fats, salt, sugar and calories it contains to help maintain a healthy calorie intake.

If either of your parents has suffered from a heart attack or stroke, you are at a high risk of suffering from heart diseases as well. Conditions that increase your risk of heart diseases such as cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure etc can run in families but these conditions can be controlled so as to prevent heart attacks, strokes and other such cardiovascular conditions. Eating two portions of fish like mackerel, sardines or salmon a week can help strengthen the heart.

Chest pain similar to that caused by indigestion is one of the characteristic symptoms of heart attacks. This type of pain radiates outwards and typically also affects the left shoulder and jaw. Nausea and tiredness without any apparent cause can also indicate a heart attack. When it comes to women, the signs of a heart attack are often more subtle than those experienced by men. DO NOT ignore chest pain as heartburn but seek medical help immediately.

By following a healthy diet and lifestyle, most cardiovascular conditions can be prevented. Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables and fibre rich foods and lower your intake of processed foods and fats. Make exercise a part of your daily schedule and try meditating every morning to lower the damage caused by stress. Exercise can be made a part of your lifestyle by simply choosing to take the stairs instead of the elevator or walking down to the supermarket instead of driving there.