Top Heart-Healthy Habits You Should Learn

Do you know that the heart is the hardest working muscle in your body? It beats 100,000 times per day and pumps 2,000 gallons of blood!

Sadly, a lot of lifestyle choices contributes to heart disease. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 610,000 people die of heart disease in the United States every year – that is one in every four deaths. At Physicians Premier, your local Cibolo ER, we get a lot of patients needing emergency heart treatment.

It is general knowledge that a good diet and regular exercise can keep your heart healthy. But what else can you do to keep your heart at its healthiest?

Let’s go over the top 3 things you can do to keep your heart fit.

Get adequate sleep – This is essential for keeping your heart healthy. Regardless of your health habits or age, you may have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease if you don’t get enough sleep. One study looking at 3,000 adults over the age of 45 found that those who slept fewer than six hours per night were about twice as likely to have a stroke or heart attack as people who slept six to eight hours per night.

Consume healthy fats – We all need fats in our diet – a limited amount of saturated fats and polyunsaturated and unsaturated fats. What we don’t need is trans-fat, which clogs your arteries. This type of fat lowers the good cholesterol levels (HDL) and raises bad cholesterol levels (LDL). Trans-fat appears on the ingredients list as partially hydrogenated oils. Stick to a healthy diet of fresh vegetables and fruits, and be sure to read the labels on all foods.

Keep moving! – Bad news for people who have sedentary jobs: no matter how much exercise you get, staying seated for extended periods of time is detrimental to your health. Researchers found that in those who sat the most, there was an associated 147 percent increase in cardiovascular events and a 90 percent increase in deaths from those cardiovascular events. Grab every opportunity to move throughout the day. Take short walks, park farther away from the office, break the habit of TV in favor of exercise.

Incorporating these habits into your daily life will dramatically reduce your chances of heart disease. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for people of most ethnicities in the United States. Hence, it is useful and life-saving to know the signs and symptoms of a heart disease. The chances of survival are greater when emergency treatment begins quickly. If you or someone you love needs emergency heart treatment, come to Physicians Premier, your San Cibolo, TX ER, right away.