Do you take time to think about your heart? Do you really care about your heart? Do you know your heart can fail? Our heart is the fulcrum of our lives as from it proceeds the issues of life. It thus becomes important that we guard our heart with all diligence and watchfulness and see that it does not fail. We need to tend our heart like a garden of roses. If our heart fails then everything else has failed.
The question then arises, how do I care for my heart?
Know your numbers: what numbers? It is very important that you know the status of certain parameters for health in your heart like your blood pressure level, blood glucose level and cholesterol level. You have to keep regular tab on them so you can know the appropriate medical decision to make.
Doing these tests has become simple and stress less. To find a test kit click here
Watch your stress level: the economic recession in Nigeria has placed so much demand on us that we have to double our work rate and seek other source of income in order to improve the quality of our lives. However, we do all of these at the expense of our health. Stress unmanaged can increase stress hormones, such as Cortisol, this leads to inflammation with other kinds of heart diseases. It thus becomes consequent on us that as we seek to improve our lives and get off the hook of the current economic recession, we manage our stress level.
Get Enough Sleep: Sleep is an important factor to our healthy living and longevity. Some have come to believe that the less you sleep the better the chances of you breaking even in life. But we forget that the less we sleep the more deficient we are from the vitals we are suppose to get from the process of sleep. When you sleep:
- Your brain recharges.
- Your body releases hormones.
- Your cells repair themselves.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults need about 7-8 hours of sleep but we hardly get that amount of sleep. If your heart must stay healthy and be free from high blood pressure, you need to sleep well.
Eat Healthy: what you eat your affects your heart. Your diet can either enrich your heart or cause gradual damage to eat. “Just this once” “this once won’t hurt” we make statements like these to indulge our wrong dietary habit but we forget that the heart does not get damaged in one day it happens over a period of time. It becomes pertinent that we make sure our diets are high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and olive oil they can reduce the occurrence of heart disease by 30%. We must ensure that we distant ourselves from diets high in saturated fats and simple sugars as they can increase the occurrence of heart disease by 30%. In your plate lies your life.
Exercise: Some Nigerians still consider exercise to be for those who want to lose weight and for sports men. The truth however is, to keep your heart healthy you need a reasonable amount of exercise. The American Heart Association guidelines recommend two and a half hours of cardiovascular exercise per week. Exercise lowers the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity and other medical conditions.
The heart must be cared for, tended like a garden of roses. Never overlook or take for granted when you feel uneasy in your body. The state of your heart will determine how far you will go in achieving your dreams. But in achieving your dreams, do not do it at the expense of your health. For If our heart fails then everything else has failed.