World Heart Day is a day that focuses on bringing awareness to heart-healthy activities and actions an individual can take to prevent heart disease. Preventing heart disease is within your control.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Did you know that your heart pumps around 2,000 gallons of blood daily? It works so hard because your heart is one of the most essential organs in your body, specifically your circulatory system.
For World Heart Day this year, educate yourself and others on how to have a happy, healthy heart and prevent cardiovascular disease. Reach out to your family and friends on how they can get involved on this important day.
Why We Should Acknowledge World Heart Day
You might have heard of World Heart Day in passing, but you should know why it’s important. Your heart is literally the organ that is "the heart" of your circulatory system.
Many people don’t know that they aren’t taking proper care of their hearts and ensuring that this valuable organ is in great shape.
We need to bring awareness to World Heart Day because it’s an opportunity to educate your community on the harsh reality of heart disease. Your loved ones may not know that heart disease is nearly half of all noncommunicable diseases worldwide.
So, when you're not caring for your heart well enough, you open yourself to potentially fatal incidents, such as heart attacks and strokes.
How Can You Take Charge of Your Heart Health?
After learning more about how crucial it is to protect yourself against heart disease, you might wonder how you can take charge of your heart health and prevent yourself from getting it. Luckily, there are many ways to prevent heart disease.
Diet
Your diet is one of the most vital factors in preventing heart disease. Having a low sodium diet and getting plenty of fiber is essential. You also want to ensure you’re eating foods low in sugar, saturated fats, cholesterol, and trans fats.
On top of that, always check food labels before you eat anything and prepare healthy, nutritious meals at home. If you don't have the best relationship with food, it's time to work on creating a more beneficial relationship with what you put in your body.
Physical Exercise & Weight Management
Regular exercise is a great way to keep yourself at a healthy weight, which will also help prevent heart disease.
Exercise should be part of your daily routine because exercise lowers your blood pressure, reduces your risk of diabetes, reduces inflammation throughout your body, and reduces stress.
Stress Management
You’ve probably already heard the importance of stress management to prevent depression and anxiety, but low-stress levels can also help protect your heart from health disease. Stress elevates your blood pressure, which puts your body at risk for things like a heart attack and stroke.
You can prevent chronic stress and, in turn, prevent heart disease by doing things such as:
· Getting plenty of sleep and making time for relaxation. Prioritize relaxation! It would help if you started a relaxation routine. Perhaps when you finish work for the day, you can end your night by cooking a nutritious meal and relaxing in the bath.
· Doing relaxing activities like yoga and mediation. Yoga is one of the most potent ways to manage stress. Yoga comprises deep breathing and stretching into poses that give you a gentle form of exercise. Yoga lowers stress levels because it helps your central nervous system calm down, allowing you to escape a constant fight-or-flight state of being. Just a few minutes a day can go a long way in helping you manage stress.
· Picking up a new hobby. Engaging in a new, healthy hobby is a great way to prevent stress. Look online to see if there are any new, easily affordable hobbies you can try. When you’re having fun, it’s easier to forget what you are worried or stressed about, and it’s a great way to unwind. You could try a hobby like knitting, writing, reading, or playing an instrument.
· Getting some exercise. We’ll touch more on fun ways to get exercise and prevent heart diseases later on, but exercising is a critical factor in preventing heart disease. A few ways to get some exercise could be to go for a walk, run, hike, or lift weights.
What are some fun ways to keep your heart healthy?
While keeping your heart healthy is serious business, you can still have fun while you do it! Here are a few fun activities you can do to keep your heart healthy:
• Riding a bike
• Taking dance classes
• Playing an active video game (e.g., Just Dance)
• Doing High-Intensity Interval Workouts
How can you get your family and friends involved?
You can raise awareness about World Heart Day and the importance of a healthy heart by spreading the word on social media, reaching out to your loved ones, and expressing that you want them to join you in some exciting activities like the ones mentioned earlier. Reach out to someone today to remind them to check in on World Heart Day.
Remember, a healthy heart is a happy heart.