Tips for a Heart healthy lifestyle

With heart disease being the No. 1 killer in the Philippines, it’s time we start being more conscious about our heart health. Do you spend most of your time on the couch? Constantly fill up on chips and sugary sweets? Reach for a cigarette after a stressful meeting?

Start by kicking these bad habits and follow the following tips to begin a new, more heart healthy lifestyle:

• Stop smoking. Quitting smoking is the single-most important thing a person can do to live longer. Smokers are twice as likely to have a heart attack than a non-smoker.

• Consume less salt. Many people are surprised to find out that the amount of salt they consume every day could be putting their health at risk. Too much salt can cause high blood pressure, which increases the risk of developing coronary heart disease. Adults should consume less than six grams of salt a day. Checking food labels for nutritional information can help you choose healthier options.

• Balance your diet. Try having a balanced diet, containing plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, oily fish, starchy foods such as whole-grain bread and pasta. This becomes especially important after the holiday season when consumption of unhealthy food and alcohol spikes alarmingly. A healthy diet can help reduce the risk of developing heart disease, and can also help increase the chances of survival after a heart attack.

• Exercise for your heart. Because the heart is a muscle, it needs exercise to pump blood efficiently round your body. To ensure you get enough exercise, you should aim for 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a day. If this seems too daunting, start off gently and build up gradually.

• Drink low-fat milk. A 25-year study involving Scottish men aged 35 to 64 found that death from heart disease was eight percent higher among men who drank less milk. But it is important to watch what milk one drinks because milk fat is one of the largest sources of saturated fat in adults’ diets.

• Ensure with Fiber, for instance, has low cholesterol, low sodium, low saturated fat and no trans-fat. It also has a unique heart defense system to help prevent cholesterol build-up and control blood pressure. It’s also rich in fiber and antioxidants to help keep the heart protected.