Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States, which is followed by cancer. It’s one of the reasons why there is such a focus these days on maintaining a healthy heart. Unfortunately, one of the biggest contributors to heart disease is a poor diet and lack of exercise. It’s also the reason for the increase in cardiopulmonary rehabilitation Manhattan NY. Thankfully, there are small things that you can do on a daily basis to keep your heart healthy. Let’s delve deeper into this topic.
For starters, you’ll want to avoid eating foods with trans fats, and instead opt for healthy fats, such as those found in avocados and nuts. You also want to avoid polyunsaturated and saturated fats, because our bodies don’t process them well. These types of fats are known to increase the chances of developing heart disease and having a stroke or heart attack. This happens because they clog your arteries by increasing the LDL levels, which is bad cholesterol, and decreasing the HDL levels, which is good cholesterol.
One of the ways to avoid consuming trans fats is by reading the labels on the back of packaging when you do your grocery shopping. You’ll find that trans fats are often found in foods like hydrogenated oils. Another place where you’ll often find trans fats is in fast foods and baked goods, like potato chips and burgers. Avoiding these foods is one of the best ways to minimize the consumption of trans fats, while decreasing the probability of heart disease.
There is an issue that is often a contributor to heart disease that many people don’t know about – poor dental hygiene. The reason this is a factor is because periodontal disease (gum disease) can cause the bacteria in your mouth to enter your bloodstream, which can increase the amount of C-reactive protein in your blood. This protein in your blood is what’s considered a marker for inflammation in the blood vessels. To mitigate this issue, it’s important to have good oral hygiene, which includes brushing your teeth at least twice a day. It also includes flossing on a daily basis.
You might also be surprised to know that a contributor to heart health is the amount of sleep that you get every night. Regardless of your age, studies have shown that failure to get between six and eight hours of sleep every night can contribute to heart disease. Specifically, it increases the chances of having a heart attack or stroke. The reason is because not getting enough sleep disrupts other health conditions, such as high blood pressure and inflammation. Many of the studies have involved people with sleep apnea that have difficulty sleeping every night.
The bottom line is that having a healthy heart requires you to make a decision every single day regarding your health. Whether it’s skipping the potato chips, flossing your teeth, or getting eight hours of sleep, you have the power to improve the health of your heart in a lot of small ways every single day.
