Often we take for granted the essential function of our heart. Our heart beats roughly 115,000 times each day in order to keep us alive and healthy. So why not give back to your heart through heart-healthy practices.

One way to promote good heart-health is to maintain a healthy weight for your height. To maintain a healthy weight, one must have a good diet .

To have a good diet one must eat nutrient rich foods and balance your calorie expenditure and intake. Make sure to exclude processed foods and include plenty of nutrient rich fruits and vegetables.  

To expend a plentiful amount of calories and burn fat, one must exercise. Exercise raises your heart rate and helps your body become more efficient at pumping blood and producing energy. This can help prevent clotting and clear your blood vessels of built-up fats and allow them to expand more.

Plus your body will have a lower resting heart rate, allowing your body to work more efficiently with your energy. Your body is more efficient at producing energy because your cells adapt to have more nuclei, which allows for more mitochondria, which produce energy.

Physical activity is the most important factor for improving heart health.

It is important to not smoke and stay away from secondhand smoke in order to prevent heart disease.  Chemicals from smoke that are breathed in go from your lungs to your blood to your heart and back causing many of these toxic chemicals to damage your blood vessels and heart.

Your body’s efficiency at delivering and using oxygen will decrease from smoking.

Heart Disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, 630,000 people die from heart disease each year.

You are more at risk for heart disease if you have a poor diet, are overweight, are physically inactive, drink excessively, or have diabetes.

You don’t have to change everything this year, but making one heart-healthy change could make a big long-term difference in your heart health.