World Heart Day 2024: Regular Exercise To Balanced Diet, Here's How To Keep Your Heart Healthy

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD), especially heart attacks, are very common among people worldwide. To raise awareness about such diseases and promote heart-healthy lifestyles, World Heart Day is celebrated annually on September 29. The day focuses on making people understand the importance of caring for our hearts. The day also serves as a reminder to make small changes to our lifestyle to protect our hearts and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The theme for this year’s celebration is reportedly ‘Use Heart for Action.’.

On the occasion of World Heart Day, we have curated some lifestyle habits that you can incorporate into your regimen to stay fit and maintain heart health and vitality.

1. Regular Exercise:Engaging in physical activity every day is essential to improving heart health. Activities like walking, jogging, swimming, or cycling are great options that will keep you and your heart healthy. You must also aim to achieve and maintain a healthy weight, as obesity can strain the heart.
2. A Balanced Diet:Diet is an integral part of a healthy heart. Focus on consuming a diet rich in whole grains, lean proteins, fruits, vegetables and healthy fats as they support heart health. It is also crucial to limit the intake of saturated and trans fats, and added sugars.
3. Hydration is important:Ensure you stay well-hydrated throughout the day. This helps maintain healthy blood flow and prevent dehydration, which can strain the heart.
4. Portion Control:Always monitor portion sizes to prevent overeating, excessive caloric intake and weight gain, which can lead to heart diseases.
5. Reduced sodium intake:Lowering daily sodium consumption to 2,300 milligrammes can also lower the risk of heart disease and help regulate blood pressure.
6. Managing Stress:Stress can take a toll on your heart. Hence, it is crucial to find healthy ways to manage stress, such as practicing relaxation techniques, exercising, meditation, yoga, deep breathing exercises or engaging in hobbies. It can positively impact heart health and prevent the negative impact it has on your heart.
7. Don’t Smoke:If you smoke cigarettes, try to quit as soon as possible, as it increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Smoking damages blood vessels, causes inflammation and can increase the risk of atherosclerosis. Hence, avoid smoking and secondhand smoke to significantly improve heart health.
8. Regular Sleep Schedule:A good night’s sleep helps reduce the risk of heart diseases like high blood pressure, heart attack and obesity. It is important to get an adequate sleep of 7-9 hours per night for overall well-being.
9. Limit alcohol consumption:Alcohol consumption can lead to irregular heartbeats, high blood pressure and even heart failure. So, limit your booze intake or quit it completely for a healthy heart.
10. Regular health check-ups:Regular medical examinations, including monitoring blood pressure, cholesterol levels and overall heart health, can help identify and manage any potential risk factors. With all the hustle and running around, individuals always forget to take a check on their own physical health. But a full body checkup at least twice a year is important to help prevent significant heart diseases from developing.