5 Habits to Help Prevent a Heart Attack
A heart attack, also called a myocardial infarction, is a serious illness that starts when the blood supply is interrupted, thus preventing tissues from getting enough oxygen. Due to this, the cardiac muscle starts to die and suffer serious damage. Do you want to know to help prevent a heart attack?
Some people are more predisposed to this condition, either because they have a family history of cardiac disease, or because of other conditions that increase their risk. However, it can be avoided if you adopt a healthy lifestyle.
Due to the above, it’s a good idea to improve your habits and adopt some routines that can significantly reduce your risks. Are you afraid of suffering from this disease? In this article we’ll share with you 5 habits for your daily life to help you prevent a heart attack.
Habits to help prevent a heart attack
To prevent a heart attack, first off you need to know what the symptoms are. That way you’ll be aware of the signs like chest pain, excessive sweating for no reason, nausea, fatigue, or difficulty breathing, among others.
If you notice any of the symptoms we mentioned that’s enough reason to see your doctor. The faster you get a diagnosis, the better the prognosis will be. In general, you can adopt some healthy habits to avoid a heart attack. Put them into practice!
1. Maintain a healthy diet
Your diet plays an important role when it comes to preventing a heart attack and other cardiovascular diseases. While your nutritional requirements can vary depending on your age, weight, and general health, we recommend the following:
- Increase your fresh fruit and vegetable consumption
- Eat fiber-rich whole grains
- Add lean proteins to your diet
- Eat foods and supplements with omega-3
- Drink a lot of water and other healthy fluids
Organizations like the American Heart Association suggest that eating foods with omega 3 fatty acids at least twice a week is very beneficial for avoiding cardiac conditions, since it reduces high cholesterol and high blood pressure. You can get this nutrient from:
- Fatty fish (salmon, herring, sardines, mackerel, among others)
- Dried fruits and nuts
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Avocado
You might like to read: 7 Potential Causes of Congestive Heart Failure
2. Avoid tobacco
People who smoke or breathe in cigarette smoke have a higher risk of suffering from a heart attack when compared to those who avoid tobacco. As many people know, the toxic components of cigarettes have negative effects on both your lung and heart health.
Due to this, when faced with the risk of coronary or cardiovascular disease, it’s important to avoid cigarettes. While it can be difficult, there are many strategies to help you achieve this goal.
3. Exercising can help prevent a heart attack
Exercising regularly has many health benefits for your heart. In addition to strengthening your cardiac muscle, it helps to reduce your blood pressure, cholesterol, and other conditions that increase your risk of a heart attack. It can even reduce stress and improve your mood.
The best thing is that you don’t have to start doing a strenuous routine to enjoy the benefits. Something simple like walking for 30 minutes, 5 days a week, makes a big difference. Of course, you can also do other activities like running, swimming, riding a bike, a gym routine, etc.
4. Meditate
According to some research, daily meditation can be key to preventing coronary diseases and heart attacks. Due to its ability to reduce stress and blood pressure, this type of therapy contributes significantly to your well-being. Some forms of meditation are:
- Guided meditation
- Mantra meditation
- Tai chi
- Yoga
- Meditation with aromatherapy
- Qigong
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5. Influence of weight on your heart health
Although many people overlook it, being overweight and obesity make your heart work more. Both are also factors in high blood pressure, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, and other conditions that influence heart attacks.
Due to the above, to prevent a heart attack you should do everything possible to keep a healthy and stable weight. You can achieve this through healthy eating habits, exercise and, in general, a good lifestyle.
In summary…
There are many simple habits you can add to your daily routine to prevent a heart attack and improve your cardiovascular health. The most important thing is to practice them consistently, especially when you have other risk factors. Don’t forget to see your doctor for the proper checkups.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
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- American Heart Association. (2017). The American Heart Association’s Diet and Lifestyle Recommendations.
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- Jain, A. P., Aggarwal, K. K., & Zhang, P. Y. (2015). Omega-3 fatty acids and cardiovascular disease. European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences.
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- Lumma, A. L., Kok, B. E., & Singer, T. (2015). Is meditation always relaxing? Investigating heart rate, heart rate variability, experienced effort and likeability during training of three types of meditation. International Journal of Psychophysiology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2015.04.017
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