How To Stay Fit And Healthy: Essential Tips For A Healthy Heart

In our endeavour to attain the success that we aspire for, we end up working late in the night, be okay with sleepless nights, and take stress. All these combined with a sedentary lifestyle, has undoubtedly led to a rise in lifestyle diseases, which puts heart health at risk. No wonder, 100 million people suffer from high blood pressure and over 50 million people have heart conditions!

While hard work is essential to success, ignoring your mind, body, and heart health directly translates to all your efforts going for a toss! While a nutritious diet and workout helps maintain good heart health, there are various other things you can do for a stronger heart and overall health.

Here Are Some Of Tips Suggested By Our Fitness Enthusiast AnuPriya Kapur.

Maintain Oral Hygiene

All of us have been reminded now and again to brush twice a day and floss once regularly. And, this is for good reason. Studies suggest that people with gum diseases are highly prone to cardiovascular conditions like heart attack or stroke. Brushing and flossing rids your mouth of the harmful bacteria and plaque (white, sticky substance) that could lead to dental problems.

Get A Goodnight’s Sleep

Lack of sleep can result in stress, poor heart health, and other health problems. An adult needs around 6-8 hours of sound sleep for their mind and body to function optimally. Quality sleep improves focus, memory, helps keep blood pressure in check, uplifts mood, thus improving overall health. Make it a point to grab 6-8 hours of sleep every night!

Stay Active

Sedentary lifestyle leads to several health problems including back aches, joint problems, and obesity to name a few. Staying active is known to keep such problems at bay. Make sure to keep moving. Take the stairs, walk during breaks, or indulge in household chores. This helps you stay active, improves blood circulation, and heart health.

Practice Meditation

An age old practice, mediation has been known to have various health benefits. It not only calms a wandering mind, but several literature and scientific studies also suggests that it helps people with conditions like insomnia and high blood pressure. While it would be beneficial to learn and practice this technique, breathing in and out for 5-10 minutes while working or doing household chores can help destress and maintain good mental and physical health.

Go Play

Love tennis or cricket or badminton? Whatever sport you love, we encourage you to find time and indulge in that sport as a regular practice. Physical activities like sports, running, jogging, etc. help burn calories, improve blood circulation, and strengthens your muscles, thus helping you stay fit. If your busy schedule does not permit this, play with your kids or your pet to keep yourself fit and healthy.

Don’t Be Around Smokers

There’s no doubt that smoking is injurious to health. The same also applies to passive smokers, who do not smoke but inhale it when someone is smoking around them. Passive smoking is as good as smoking and can cause serious health issues like cardiovascular problems and cancer. Stay away from passive smoking to alleviate the risk of health problems.

Stretch Anytime, Anywhere

As mentioned before, by staying active you can reap several benefits of destressing yourself and improving your overall physical and mental health. All this results in a stronger, healthy heart. Whether you are at work, school, or elsewhere, stretch yourself whenever you find time. Take a walk, stretch your muscles, and warm up a little during breaks to keep yourself fit.

Do Basic Exercises When On Holiday

Vacations are synonymous with relaxation and fun! And, often workout sessions are skipped during this time. While you may not be working out full-fledged on a vacation, make sure you at least do basic exercises like walking or skipping. This helps you stay in routine, be active and keep a check on your health.

Drink Enough Water

From keeping your body cool to cleansing it, water benefits your health in several ways. Dehydration causes a dry mouth, hypertension, fatigue, bowel problems, and a lot more. Staying hydrated alleviates your chance of contracting these issues and assists you in preventing harmful diseases. So, drink 6-8 glasses of water every day to keep your system functioning optimally.

Being successful starts with taking care of your heart, because that’s your vehicle to achieve all your dreams! As India takes a step to become a healthy nation with the Fit India movement, implement these steps to walk towards good health and contribute to the good cause.