Want to know how to maintain healthy heart muscles and blood vessels? This article covers the importance of adding omega 3 fish oil to your diet and other steps you can take to maintain or improve your circulatory health.
Watch Out for Sodium
Sodium is essential for maintaining the electrolyte balance that plays a role in the heart's electrical system. But the average person gets too much sodium in their diet because of salt and salty foods. Most canned and processed foods are high in sodium. You have to read labels to see where the sodium is hiding. The maximum recommended sodium intake per day is 2300 milligrams and less is better.
Sodium damages the cardiovascular system by raising blood pressure. High blood pressure is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and stroke.
Exercise Regularly
Exercising aerobically strengthens the heart's muscle. It also lowers blood pressure and is essential for weight maintenance. The body was designed to move. Our sedentary lifestyles increase our risks of cardiovascular disease.
Lose Weight
If you are obese or overweight, even a modest weight loss can improve your circulatory health. Maintaining the weight loss is a big part of how to maintain healthy heart function. Recommendations for losing weight include the following:
· Reduce your daily caloric intake by about 250 calories
· Increase your physical activity enough to burn an extra 250 calories
Those two steps would result in a net reduction of 500 calories per day. At that rate, you can lose a pound of fat per week, which is a good goal to set for yourself.
If you don't want to be a calorie counter, it can be difficult to consistently lose weight or keep off any pounds you have lost. The easiest way to keep your calorie count just right is to take one day a week and set aside time to plan your menus for the week to come.
Limit Alcohol Intake
Drinking moderate amounts of alcohol is sometimes suggested as a part of how to maintain healthy heart function. In particular, red wine appears to be beneficial. But one glass a day, if you are a woman, or two glasses a day, if you are a man, is enough. Drinking a little helps to keep blood pressure low and thins the blood enough to reduce the risk of clots. Drinking too much damages the heart's muscle.
Take Fish Oil
Other dietary supplements may be beneficial, but nothing beats fish oil in terms of health benefits to the circulatory system. Not all fish oils are the same, however. It is important to learn to compare the many different brands on the market in terms of quality, purity and omega-3 content. Now that you know more about how to maintain healthy heart function, why not learn more about choosing a good fish oil supplement?
