7 Ways To Improve Heart Health

There are several ways to improve heart health. Know the best tips and tricks to remain healthy and reduce your risk of heart disease.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in America. Reports claim someone dies from a heart attack every 40 seconds.

Risk factors like obesity, high blood pressure or cholesterol, and substance abuse increase the chances of having a heart-related event. The good news is that there are specific things you can do to counteract those risk factors. You can start taking better care of your heart.

Heart health refers to how well your heart is functioning. The average heart beats over 2.5 billion times throughout a lifespan. With each beat, blood flows to all parts of the body. It pushes out toxins while also carrying essential oxygen and cells to organs.

It doesn’t take a lot to improve heart health. Implementing changes, like the ones listed below, can offer huge rewards. Below are 7 ways to improve heart health.

1. Vitamins

Your doctor can order lab work to test vitamin levels in your system. If you are not naturally receiving the daily recommended dose of vitamins for a healthy heart, you can use supplements to increase levels.

Mass-produced vitamins are packaged in specific doses. For example, Vitamin D may come in 2000 of 5000 mg pills. What happens if you only need 1000 mg a day and cannot swallow medicine in pill form?

Working with your local pharmacist can help. He or she probably offers a variety of vitamin supplements in their retail aisles, in multiple forms, from liquid to gummies to tablets.

If you want to personalize your vitamin supplements, choose a compounding pharmacy. Your pharmacist can make a particular batch using the exact amount of one or multiple vitamins. They can also make it in a form easiest for you to consume.

As vitamin levels improve, you may notice you have more energy. You can start adding exercise to your daily routine for heart health.

2. Exercise

What is the first picture that comes to mind when you hear the words “exercise for heart health”? If it is something strenuous, like training for a marathon or lifting weights at the gym every day, you have the wrong idea.

Exercising for heart health can mean doing anything that gets your heart rate up for ten minutes or longer. If you take a brisk walk for ten minutes, three times a day, you have exercised for half an hour.

Find a fun activity but one that also briefly increases heart rate. Skating, swimming, hopscotch, and dancing are examples of alternative exercise forms that improve heart health.

Thirty minutes of exercise a day is one of many great ways to improve heart health, and may also motivate you to make changes in your diet also.

3. Diet

A heart-healthy diet is not always about the foods you consume. It also means reducing portions. Too much of a good thing can eventually lead to a bad thing. For example, one slice of watermelon is great. Eating the whole watermelon at once will overload your system with natural sugars. For those with diabetes, this can mean trouble.

It is okay to allow yourself a treat, however. Make it a unique, occasional treat, not an everyday treat.

Taking care of your heart can be done by planning meals ahead of time. This helps you avoid the ups and downs of blood sugar, which can lead to impulse eating. For many, worrying about what to eat can be frustrating. To ease the frustration, you may give in to temptation.

Knowing ahead of time what you can eat and when will eliminate impulses and negative emotions.

Other tips for good heart health are replacing high-carb foods with fruits and vegetables, lower salt intake, and choosing high protein and lower-fat foods. Also, select whole grains over processed ones. Improving your diet is one of the best ways to improve heart health.

4. Hormonal Balance

Hormones play a significant role in heart health. When out of balance, you may be at higher risk for heart disease. Ask your doctor to test all your hormone levels. Then, take the results to your pharmacist. Yes, that’s right, your pharmacist.

The best way to ensure hormones are in balance is to work with your local compounding pharmacist. For men, reduced levels of testosterone can contribute to heart disease. For women, low testosterone and estrogen lead to heart disease.

Compounding pharmacies can create bio-identical hormone replacement therapies from scratch, based on your specific needs, and in a cream or other form, you prefer.

5. Know Your Health

Improving heart health involves monitoring vital signs. This doesn’t mean you must go to the doctor every day or purchase expensive equipment. You can visit your local pharmacy to get simple checks of your blood pressure, blood sugar, pulse, and oxygen.

Most people prefer to do this at home and purchase inexpensive monitors at the local pharmacy. Before you buy, talk to the pharmacy staff. They can help you choose the best product, the one that gives you the most function for its price.

Daily tracking of your health can help you, your doctor, and your pharmacist adjust medicines- like lowering doses as your health improves.

6. Medication Protocols

It is up to you to understand everything you put into your body, including medications.

Consult your pharmacist about every medicine you take. A compounding pharmacy can create the medicine in a form that is easiest for you to take. You won’t be tempted to skip a dose if it is not hard to consume. Your pharmacist can also package medicines based on the time of day you need to take them.

You no longer have to keep a pillbox or spend time opening multiple bottles throughout the day.

7. Start Today

When it comes to heart health, start making changes right away. Follow the above ways to improve heart health and don’t wait until the end of the year or even next Monday. Start making small changes today, like completing ten minutes of cardio. When eating a meal, replace one high carbohydrate food with a vegetable. Finally, visit your local pharmacist for advice on ways to improve heart health.

Small changes eventually add up to the positive results you deserve.