Your Guide to a Healthier Heart

Our hearts beat about 100,000 times a day—how do we make sure it stays healthy and strong? Believe it or not, even simple changes to our everyday habits, diets, and activities can make a positive impact. From quitting smoking to managing stress, here are 20 things you can do to boost your heart health naturally.

1. Don't Smoke

Whether you use regular cigarettes or electronic ones, quitting smoking is one of the best things you can do for your heart and your overall health. You can see results even as soon as day one of no smoking. The danger of using tobacco is rooted in its chemicals, which can damage blood vessels. Over time, your blood pressure and heart rate rise, as your heart needs to pump harder to supply oxygen to the rest of your body.

2. Get Moving

Try to be active daily by engaging in physical activity for 30-60 minutes. This can be a light jog, a stroll around the neighborhood, or even doing chores around the house. Exercise helps regulate your heart by making it stronger, improving blood flow, and lowering the risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes.

3. Avoid a Sedentary Lifestyle

It's important to let your body rest, but try to avoid a sedentary lifestyle. Sometimes, it may be hard to find time to move around when your job requires you to be in front of a computer eight hours a day, but you can combat this by getting up every half hour to move around or swapping your desk for a standing one.

4. Consume Less Salt

High sodium intake can lead to fluid retention, when the tissues in your body fill with trapped water. This can raise blood pressure, which increases your risk of stroke and heart disease. So next time you want to finish an entire bag of chips, think twice.

5. Eat Breakfast

You've probably heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and it's true. Start your day off right by providing your body with healthy fuel, like oatmeal, low-fat yogurt, whole-wheat toast, lean protein, or fresh fruits and veggies.

6. Limit Saturated Fats

Fatty cuts of meat and dairy products like ice cream, butter, cheeses, and whole or 2% milk are all high in saturated fats. In fact, a stick of butter contains around 70% saturated fat, and consuming just three tablespoons may already exceed your daily recommended intake. For reference, the American Heart Association suggests limiting your saturated fat intake to less than 6% of your total daily calories.

7. Get Enough Sleep

Sleep is important to give your body the deep rest it needs. It's recommended that adults get at least seven to nine hours of sleep every night—averaging less than that, such as getting only around six hours a night, has been linked to poor overall health. You'll also have an increased risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, diabetes, depression, and obesity if you don't catch enough zzzs.

8. Limit Alcohol

While a drink every now and then should be fine, the key is practicing moderation. Excessive drinking is linked to a higher risk of high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease and failure, and cardiomyopathy—a disease affecting the heart muscle that can lead to arrhythmias. Since alcohol is also made up of empty calories, too much of it can lead to weight gain and obesity.

9. Eat More Fiber

If you're already at risk of high cholesterol, increase your fiber intake. Soluble fiber in particular, found in beans, oats, barley, fruits, and veggies, can help lower your LDL or bad cholesterol. This type of fiber forms a gel-like substance that moves through your digestive tract, which may "trap" cholesterol and push it out of the body.

10. Eat More Fruits & Veggies

Though we already mentioned how fruits and veggies play an important role in maintaining heart health and a good diet, it's worth repeating. Fruits and vegetables, such as apples, blueberries, spinach, carrots, kale, and more, are loaded with nutrients that can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol and prevent inflammation and diseases.

11. Eat Chocolate

That's right: chocolate can be good for your heart. Of course, as with all things, eat it in moderation. Dark chocolate in particular, which is packed full of heart-healthy flavonoids, may help lower your risk of heart disease and reduce inflammation.

12. Lower Dairy Intake

We mentioned that dairy products, like butter and whole milk, are high in saturated fats. A diet that's high in saturated fats can lead to an increased risk of high cholesterol, which can lead to heart disease and failure. However, you can still substitute your regular options with healthier ones; for example, plant-based or nut milks such as almond, cashew, and macadamia contain heart-healthy unsaturated fats.

13. Manage Stress

When you're stressed, you probably notice your heart pumping faster, causing a rise in blood pressure. On top of that, the more often you're stressed, the more likely you may engage in unhealthy habits, like overeating, drinking, or smoking. If you don't manage it, it can increase your risk of high blood pressure. It's also important to reach out to a professional to treat mental health conditions before they get worse.

14. Eat More Nuts

Instead of snacking on unhealthy foods, like cookies, chips, candies, and baked goods, reach for a handful of nuts. Peanuts, pistachios, almonds, walnuts, pecans, and other tree nut varieties are full of good, heart-healthy fats, along with protein and fiber, which can lower the risk of high cholesterol, stroke, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. For best results, eat them unsalted.

15. Drink Tea

Tea, like black tea and green tea, is jam-packed with antioxidants that can lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease. Green tea may be even better than black, as it's not as strong or processed. However, since tea contains caffeine, it may be best to drink in moderation or as directed by a doctor.

16. Manage Health Conditions

If you already have other health conditions, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or diabetes, make sure you take the necessary steps to manage them. It's vital you keep track of what you put in your body and maintain a healthy lifestyle, so you're not putting yourself at more risk.

17. Get Regular Check-Ups

It's also important to get regularly tested to screen for diabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure. Sometimes, these health conditions may be inherited, which means you have a higher risk of developing them regardless of how healthy you eat or how much you move. Plus, without regular check-ups, you might not know you have these conditions until it's too late.

18. Laugh More

Believe it or not, laughing out loud can actually lower your risk of heart disease. Every time you laugh, your brain releases endorphins, which not only make you feel happy but can stimulate the inner lining of your blood vessels and relax your arteries. Plus, laughing more reduces stress—meaning lower cortisol and epinephrine, hormones that constrict the blood vessels, which may lead to a higher risk of stroke and heart attack.

19. Maintain a Healthy Weight

As essential as it is to exercise every day, it's also important to maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight is linked to a higher risk of developing diabetes and heart disease, which could lead to heart attacks. If you're getting active again after a long time, don't worry too much about reaching a specific number on the scale. Even weight loss in small amounts can lower your blood sugar and triglycerides, a type of fat in your blood.

20. Prevent Infections

Wash your hands regularly and take steps to prevent infection. Certain illnesses, like gum disease or even the common cold, can affect your heart and increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. If possible, stay up to date on your vaccines to protect your body and health.