Tips For Healthy Living

Needless to say, a healthy heart is one of the keys to a long life. However many of us continue to live a lifestyle that increases our risk of heart diseaese by smoking, being obese, having high cholesterol, diabetes or high blood pressure. In the United States, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death. A study published by the AMA found that about 90 percent of people who had a heart attack also had at least one of the major risk factors mentioned above.

Take heart (please pardon the pun), even if your lifestyle is currently not helping your heart, you can reverse the process with the right changes and you don’t necessarily need drugs to do it.

Eating properly is a good first step. I don’t mean a ‘no-fat’ diet – your body needs some fat intake for good health. High quality Omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in oily fish and fish oils, have been shown to protect against heart disease. You need to eat sensibly to ensure that you get proper nutrition. If you seem to have problems eating or digesting some foods you might look at the Great Taste No Pain program.

You may find you can eat the foods you need after all. A good diet can supply you with healthy levels of the vitamins listed below, all of which have been linked to good heart health.

Healthy levels of Vitamin A can help prevent your arteries from clogging up. Eat more broccoli, dark green leafy vegetables, and any vegetables and fruits that are orange or yellow. Be careful if taking supplements as too much Vitamin A is toxic.

Vitamins B1 and B6 are both important in maitaining a healthy heart. Whole grains, legumes, nuts (especially peanuts), fish (especially tuna), asparagus, Brussels sprouts, romaine lettuce, and crimini mushrooms have good amounts of B6 and organ meats, brown rice, sunflower seeds, legumes, walnuts, bananas, avocados, seafood, lean meats (especially liver), and potatoes. If you take supplements, a B-complex seems to work best.

Vitamin K is another necessary component of a healthy heart diet. Vitamin K helps to prevent hardening of the arteries, which is a common factor in heart disease and failure. Leafy green vegetables and natto, a fermented soy product, and eggs contain good amounts of Vitamin K.

Magnesium works in the same way as many heart medications and can be found in leafy greens, whole grains, nuts, beans, avocados, seeds, shrimp,and fortified cereals.

Another positive step you can take is to exericse. It is not necessary to join a gym or fitness club. Low impact exercise, such as walking or gardening, can have great benefits for your heart.

It is now becoming more and more evident that stress is a contributing factor to heart disease. Stress can make itself known in many ways and can result from emotions such as anger, sadness, dispair, guilt that are not resolved. You may not even be aware of the cause of these feelings
but they have very real negative physical effects. One way to help address these issues is through the use of EFT. It is a drug-free method of finding and eliminating unresolved emotional issues. You can learn how to do this yourself and the instructions are free at EMOFree.com.

Other people find meditation is a good way to start the day and to relieve stress at the end of the day. There are many different types of meditation. I personally use several different types for different purposes. For stress relief I use a program called Secrets of Meditation.
I particularly like the Ocean Meditation to start the day.

You are not doomed to get heart disease. No matter the current state of your health, you can make major improvements by changing your lifestyle to one that promotes health rather than discourages it. Remember to always discuss any changes you are making with your health care provider.

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