For the most part, most of us will vary in terms of lifestyle, and this is usually determined by a variety of different factors in our lives. Most individuals who need to do construction work and other industries that need manual labor will usually have an active lifestyle. Individuals that tend to have intellectually-focused work will usually have a more ‘relaxed’ lifestyle that might border towards being sedentary.
But other than just work, hobbies will also play a major role in the formation of our lifestyle. Naturally, those that love hiking and traveling will be inclined to a more active lifestyle, even if they’re working in a white-collar job.
How we manage our lifestyle can be a determining factor for various aspects of our lives, especially when it comes to health and our overall life expectancy. Since our bodies are designed to adapt to any situation, it can change based on the environment that we live in, what we take into our body and the amount of exercise that we do.
However, having a sedentary lifestyle can increase the likelihood and risk of heart diseases. Most individuals know that those that are obese have a higher risk of getting heart attacks and serious cardiovascular disease. Although there’s really no one way of curing heart disease, the risk of contracting it can be kept at a minimum. Here’s what you’ll need to know:
Types of Heart Diseases
There are various heart diseases caused by different factors, but most are often caused by having a sedentary lifestyle. Right before we can discuss some changes that we will need to make to our lifestyle, we have to know each type of cardiovascular disease. These types of diseases are also quite preventable, so you won’t have to worry.
Heart Attack
A heart attack is known for being one of the most common CV (cardiovascular) condition among those that are obese and living a sedentary or stressful lifestyle. Medically, heart attacks happen when the blood flow leading into the heart is blocked off. This is usually caused by the buildup of cholesterol and plaque that the person hasn’t addressed. If it gets to the point of a blood clot, this could have severe consequences.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an American will usually suffer from a heart attack every 40 seconds. This means that there are bound to be 805,000 individuals in the United States that will experience a heart attack every year. 12% of these individuals are known to succumb to heart attack and die.
Heart Failure
Another known complication that’s related to lifestyle is heart failure. This is known for being a gradual process related to injuries that the heart has incurred and hypertension. As you age, the muscles of your heart will start to weaken and won’t be able to meet the needs of your body. Doing regular cardio can help strengthen the heart of the muscles.
Coronary Heart Diseases
In a way, this is related to heart attacks when the heart’s blood vessels become too stiff or narrow. This is often caused by the buildup of cholesterol and plaque in the heart. The buildup of plaque on the heart is known as atherosclerosis.
So what are some lifestyle changes that we have to do? Here are some simple yet effective changes that you can make to your lifestyle.
Diet
When it comes to our diet, we can do the following daily practices:
- Instead of drinking beverages that are jam-packed with sugar, you can substitute these beverages with drinks that don’t necessarily have a lot of sugar. Fortunately, fruit-infused water is known for being a great substitute for sugary drinks while still hydrating your body and giving it the daily boost that it deserves for the rest of the day.
- Limiting salt in our diet also another great way of preventing hypertension. Most nutritionists would suggest using the DASH diet, which is geared towards increasing the intake of fruits, vegetables, grains, and lean meat instead of just eating carbohydrates all day.
- Healthy snacks such as legumes, fruits, and salads great ways of filling up your stomach without being too high in calories. Still, you’ll need to be careful in adding too much salt and sugar to these snacks.
- Alcohol is known for being detrimental to your cardiac health. Even though red wine and some other alcohol types can be good (when taken moderately), it’s best to avoid alcohol whenever possible.
Get Yourself Moving
But other than just having a good diet, maintaining a strict exercise regimen can easily help and maintain the heart muscles. Doing 30 minutes of physical exercise and a variety of different exercises is recommended. You don’t necessarily need to do a lot of heavy-hitting exercises when light exercises are already good.
There are a variety of ways of ensuring that you’ll have better cardiovascular health. Ultimately, you don’t have to stress yourself out with work. While resting is something that our body does still need, doing exercises geared towards helping the muscles of the heart and having a low-calorie diet is a great way of ensuring that you’ll live a happier and healthier life.
