Your heart is an organ only the size of a fist, yet it is able to pump gallons of blood every minute of every day to keep you alive. You don’t want to make the heart’s job harder, but your lifestyle habits and food choices might inadvertently place strain on your heart. Work these suggestions into your daily routine to easily and naturally promote your heart health.
Get Up and Move
You don’t need a reminder that exercising is healthy, but you may need a reminder to add extra physical activity into your day. Studies consistently show that a sedentary lifestyle is linked to heart disease and the premature aging of arteries. One study of 2,000 adults found that every hour of sitting per day equated to a 14 percent increase in coronary artery calcification, which is a sign of damaged heart arteries.
How sedentary is your lifestyle? Do you sit for work? Sit at night? Sit in the car? Most of us sit more than we move. This means you need to actively fight for your physical activity. Buy a standing desk, walk somewhere every 30 minutes, or trade watching TV for going on a brisk walk.
Improve Your Sleep Habits
Sleep is the body’s chance to regenerate, rejuvenate, and restore itself. Without that time, the body can’t function optimally. In fact, one study demonstrated that people sleeping poorly for less than six hours a night had a 79 percent higher risk of coronary heart disease than those sleeping soundly for seven hours or more. Even if you can only get to bed one hour earlier each night, it could significantly strengthen your heart health.
Get Tested
A cardiac risk and heart health panel test provides an assessment of your overall health in order to identify risk factors for heart disease. It’s simple, affordable, and informative. You can take this lab test at any time to identify the vulnerabilities to your heart health and take measures to improve your wellness.
With a few simple adjustments, you could give yourself many more years of life. Call (631) 357-3332 now to schedule your cardiac risk lab test at 24-7 Labs.
