The most effective way to maintain a healthy lifestyle is with consistency and commitment. This means keeping up on regular exercise, eating proper amounts of fruits/veggies, and kicking bad habits like smoking or drinking can really help your heart stay strong! While there’s no one-size fits all solution, it comes down to which best practices work for YOU (because everyone has different needs).
Research has shown that the following habits are effective for supporting heart health. Studies show these practices can help protect against heart disease, diabetes, and high cholesterol.
In addition to changing your diet, it is important you get sufficient exercise.
Develop A Habit of Eating Healthy Fats
Harvard Healthy says, “There are two broad categories of beneficial fats: monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Good sources of monounsaturated fats are olive oil, peanut oil, canola oil, avocados, and most nuts, as well as high-oleic safflower and sunflower oils.”
In the 1960s it was discovered that people living in Greece and other Mediterranean countries experienced lower rates of heart disease compared to other countries. The main difference was their intake of olive oil. This discovery launched the mass interest into what we call today as the Mediterranean Diet.
What is the Mediterranean Diet? It’s a pretty simple plan that doesn’t require much work to follow. Most of your food will be from plants and low on red meat, with some fish or dairy for those who want more protein. Healthy fats include olive oil, avocados, fish, and nuts.
Diets high in vegetables and fruits (like the MedDiet), are good sources of antioxidants. Antioxidants help to fight against oxidative stress caused by free radicals. Oxidative stress is thought to play a role in a variety of diseases including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and eye diseases such as cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.”
Polyunsaturated fats are essential fats that we typically consume in cooking oils like corn oil, sunflower oil, and safflower oil. Since our body doesn’t produce these fats on it’s own, we have to get polyunsaturated fats from food sources. These types of fats help to support blood clotting, muscle movement, and inflammation.
A great way to find items with polyunsaturated fats is to look for the two main types: omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids.
Harvard Health also states, “Eating polyunsaturated fats in place of saturated fats or highly refined carbohydrates reduces harmful LDL cholesterol and improves the cholesterol profile. It also lowers triglycerides.”
Don't Forget to Exercise
According to Hopkins Medicine there are specific types of exercise that benefit heart health more than others.
Aerobic Exercise: Helps to improve circulation, which results in lowered blood pressure and heart rate, and increases how well your heart pumps. Aerobic exercise also reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes and, if you already live with diabetes, helps you control your blood glucose. Try to fit in at least 30 minutes 5 days a week for best results.
Strength Training: Also known as resistance training, uses weights to help build lean muscle mass and reduce fat. Research shows that a combination of aerobic exercise and resistance work may help raise HDL (good) cholesterol and lower LDL (bad) cholesterol.
Stretching: Although flexibility doesn’t contribute directly to heart health, it allows your muscle to remain long which can help to alleviate joint pain allowing your body to enjoy better aerobic and strength training.
These are all great habits that if done regularly will not only keep you feeling great but also help improve heart health.
It’s great to combine healthy habits with healthy supplements. As you know we have a great selection of heart healthy supplements that can be found on our Heart Supplements page.
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Formulated by Dr. Mark Stengler NMD.
Known as America’s Natural Doctor to his patients, readers and audiences across North America, Mark Stengler is a licensed naturopathic medical doctor. His passion is to combine the best of conventional and natural medicine to achieve optimized health for his patients. Dr. Stengler has personally formulated each of the Emerald Labs Additive-Free products according to the high standards of his health practice. Read more about Dr. Stengler…
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN OR OTHER QUALIFIED HEALTH CARE PROVIDER FOR ADVICE REGARDING ANY MEDICAL CONDITION. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SELF-DIAGNOSE OR TREAT ANY MEDICAL CONDITION.
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