It’s highly unlikely that you don’t anyone that has either suffered heart attack, or died from complications of heart disease. Heart disease afflicts nearly 17.5 million people world-wide, according to the World Health Organization. The decisions that you make today, can have a significant impact on your likelihood of suffering a heart attack tomorrow. Here are five lifestyle changes that you can use for heart attack prevention.
Slow It Down
Use whatever outlet that you have at your disposal to reduce your stress levels. Anything that helps you to relax, and take a breath, will do. Consider trying out some yoga, learning to meditate, or even going fishing to reduce your levels of stress. Stress leads to negative emotions, like anger and depression, which can lead to an increased heart attack risk.
Don’t Wait To Lose Weight
If you’ve been carrying around a few extra pounds for a while now, there is no better time to start shedding it than right now! Being overweight increases the likelihood that you’ll develop high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes, among other diseases. Talk with your doctor to determine what the ideal weight for your age, sex and body type is, and make it your goal to get there. For best results, use a combination of diet and exercise.
Eat For Tomorrow, Not For Today
The biggest mistake that most of us make and make often is to eat for the temporary pleasure that it’ll bring us. Doing this is a contributing factor for gaining too much weight. Focus on eating a heart healthy diet that is full of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, omega-3s, and healthy fats.
Move That Body
The other huge contributing factor for putting on too many pounds is being too sedentary. So get off your rear end, and go out there and join a sports league, learn to dance, explore the trails, join an aerobics class, just do anything that you can to get your body moving and keep it moving. You’ll improve the health of your heart, lower your cholesterol, feel better, and look better too!
Kick The Habit
Many people smoke as a means to relieve stress, telling themselves that they’ll just have a cigarette every now and then. Any amount of smoking is too much smoking, and every type of tobacco use is damaging to your heart and arteries. When you make the decision to quit smoking, you’re health will start to improve immediately, and within a year, your risk of developing heart disease will be significantly lower. Why put it off?
This five lifestyle changes alone have the potential to improve your overall experience of life. You’ll have more energy and stamina to enjoy everything that life has to offer to you. You’ll feel better on the inside, and look better on the outside for your efforts. Start using these steps for heart attack prevention today and live everyday with tomorrow in mind!