The heart is the most crucial organ of the human body. This is because it circulates blood to all the organs of the body. Blood transports oxygen to the body organs, and this oxygen acts as a fuel for the human body to manufacture energy.
Additionally, the other organs of your body might give you time before they completely fail and leave you dead. However, heart failure rarely gives you time for any treatment. It might give you slight indications of reaching up to the failure, though.
You can either choose to acknowledge these signs and work on them to reduce any risk of heart diseases, or ignore them and give your life increased risk of heart disease. If you choose to acknowledge them, read on to know the lifestyle changes suggested by the best cardiologists in India.
- Eat Healthily – This is the first and foremost change that most Indian households need. We eat many types of foods that are poor in nutritional value and only add up to our calorie count without providing much of nutrition. This only increases the risk of high cholesterol and diabetes.
Instead, focus on eating healthy and just the right amount to match your physical activity so that you can use up as many calories as you eat. Foods rich in vitamins, minerals, fibre, omega-3 fatty acids, and other nutrients are good for our bodies. You can get these from foods like legumes, nuts, fish, low-fat dairy products, fruits, vegetables, and whole-grains.
- Exercise – According to few of the Best Cardiologist in India, you don’t always have to join a gym and have a rigorous exercise routine on a daily basis to stay fit unless you are a young adult who wants a six-pack-abs or a zero figure. However, walking 30-60 minutes every day helps lower high blood pressure, bad cholesterol, and unnecessary weight gain.
30-60 minutes of a brisk walk can do wonders for you. If you are currently inactive physically, you can start with a medium-pace walk for at least 15-20 minutes and gradually increase it as per your body’s capability.
- Control Your Blood Cholesterol – Simply put, cholesterol is fat stuck on the inner lining of your arteries. This fat makes it difficult for the blood to flow through your arteries efficiently. This results in blockages, and eventually, heart attack or heart failure.
Cholesterol is of two types – low-density-lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol or bad cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol or good cholesterol. Ideally, it is good to have low LDL levels and high HDL levels for a healthy heart.
To reduce your LDL levels, you should reduce the intake of trans fats and saturated fats. Alternatively, to increase your HDL levels, you can replace your processed vegetable oil with extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil. Also, foods like fatty fish, beans, whole grains, and flax help increase your HDL and lower your LDL levels.
- Control Your Blood Pressure – Higher blood pressure is almost symbolic of a heart attack or a brain stroke. Both situations put your life at risk. Hence, it is better to lower your blood pressure to the ideal reading of 120/80 mmHg.
You can control your blood pressure by managing your stress, cutting down on your salt and caffeine intake, regular walk, and a healthy diet. For people with high blood pressure, the best cardiologist in India would prescribe medicines to keep a tab on their blood pressure even after doing all of these.
- Manage Stress – Stress is one of the main reasons behind all the imbalances in your body. The current generation has no time to pause, relax, or meditate. Heart disease is, therefore, so common even in younger people today.
It is important to reduce stress in order to lead a healthy life. Take some time out for yourself. Relax, meditate, do yoga, go for a spa, meet friends, or spend some time with your family. De-stressing is that easy. So don’t wait for it any further.
- Quit Bad Habits – Smoking and consuming alcohol count as bad habits in relation to heart health. We all know it’s tough to give up these habits, but you should surely love yourself and your family more than cigarettes and alcohol.
Smoking and drinking take you way ahead than your non-smoker peers in the race of having a heart disease. Hence, it is better to quit them at the earliest. You can consult a doctor to help you with this.
The first thing that the best cardiologists in India will ask you to do is make these changes in your lifestyle when you visit them. Hence, we urge you to follow these steps beforehand so that you don’t even need to meet them at all in your lifetime.
Leave a Reply