Hi friends, happy Friday!
How is it going?
I hope you found the last post in this Cardiac Care series (read part 1 here if you missed it) helpful and worth sharing with your family and friends.
Last post dealt with warnings and symptoms of a heart disease or an impending heart attack. It also told us the most common risk factors for a heart disease or CAD (Coronary Artery Disease). I would strongly recommend reading it first.
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So, let’s say someone recognised some signs and warnings from my last post. Now what? Now we can:
- Consult a doctor and she/he would most likely run some blood-work, get an ECG (Electrocardiogram) done as a first step. An ECG would tell us what is happening in which part of the heart and any irregular rhythm/rate would be identified. You would be relieved to know that ECG is a simple, painless procedure that takes about 5-10 minutes
- The next step would be to make sustainable changes in your lifestyle and this includes diet and physical activity both. Also important is to find some form of stress management e.g. breathwork, meditation, spending relaxed time with self and family/pets/plants, an immersive hobby…anything that helps us relax is good!
How Nutrition Can Help
Nutrition plays a huge role in taking care of one’s heart (and overall health). A normal, healthy weight is important not just for our heart but for the entire body to function smoothly.
High cholesterol, high triglycerides, high BP, diabetes, a diet high on trans & saturated fats are all things that are detrimental to our heart health. A heart-friendly diet would:
- include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, fish, poultry, nuts etc
- exclude red meat consumption
- exclude junk food high on trans fats and saturated fats
- exclude excessive consumption of sugar
- consume enough fibre. Most of us need 20-30 gms of it a day
- speak to your nutritionist about Omega-3 foods and supplements
How Exercise Can Help
A regular exercise routine of 30 minutes, at least 5 days a week that gets our heart pumping is a good way to take care of our heart. Though a structured cardio routine such as Interval Training can do wonders if done consistently, HIIT once or twice a week is a good too but not advised for beginners. Brisk walking, running, cycling, jumping rope and swimming etc are some good options suitable for most of us.
Doing it on and off might not bring the much-desired results. Still, some is better than none. Move!
Other lifestyle Modifications
- Stress Management – There is more to life than just running and chasing a particular goal. Sure, goals are important and working hard is taught to us since childhood however, if it brings high levels of stress and leaves no time for us to relax and rejuvenate, it is not worth it, in my opinion. We need to be able to learn to destress on a daily basis and no, it does not just include spending hours on TV or phone.
- Quitting Smoking – For those who smoke, it is hard to quit smoking but then there is no easy way out. Everyone knows the harmful impact of smoking. Even the second-hand smoke that people around smokers inhale, is harmful. There is a reason why smoking is banned in public places. And as for looking cool while smoking or bonding over a smoke…well, it just looks uncool playing with your own health and bonding requires a bonding/friendly/caring nature rather than smoking or even drinking. Vaping is harmful too.
- Blood Pressure Management – If you suffer from high BP, you are at risk for a heart disease. We can take a simple BP test to measure it. The normal BP value is less than 120 systolic and less than 80 diastolic. Any elevated numbers here, be it systolic or diastolic, mean a higher risk for heart diseases. Eating healthy, staying active, weight management, stress management, avoiding smoking and tobacco, limiting alcohol and caffeine consumption, lowering salt intake is a good way to start if one is trying to manage high BP concerns. A blood pressure monitor also comes handy in BP management.
- Diabetes Management – With Diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases are not too far. It would be important to manage blood-sugar levels well, to keep the heart healthy.
- Heart Rate – our heart rate while we work hard and while we rest both, are good indicators of our heart health. The lower the resting HR is, the better it is.
- Regular health check-ups – to keep a tab on your health in general is a good idea
- Prescription medicines etc, as advised by your doctor if it comes to that
Prevention is better than cure any day, for any thing, for any body. Using food and movement as medicine is any day better than reaching to the level of prescription drugs and surgery and that is if, we were lucky. Won’t you agree?
Till next Friday
Love, Health & Peace
Your Health Coach
Smiita Krishna
