Love Your Heart, Love Yourself

Love Your Heart, Love Yourself

Love Your Heart, Love Yourself

The human heart is a marvelous machine, working continually to provide oxygen and blood throughout the body and mind. Without it, we simply could not exist. So, to love yourself, it only makes sense to love your heart as well. Loving the heart means treating it ike the complex machine it is. Just like an automobile or computer, the heart has maintenance needs to keep it running at maximum effectiveness. The first step to loving your heart is understanding the indicators that let you know how your heart is performing.

A simple blood pressure test may seem obvious, but there is nothing more important. A blood pressure test reveals how hard the heart is having to work to perform its duties of pumping blood throughout the body. High blood pressure can lead to a heart attack when arteries become so clogged that the heart simply cannot continue to accomplish its mission. It can also lead to stroke, cardiovascular disease, and ultimately death. Learning to understand a blood pressure test and knowing how to influence the results is the first logical step toward loving your heart, and yourself.

Eating right is the most important component of controlling blood pressure. While high blood pressure is hereditary in some cases, eating the wrong things over years will give anyone high blood pressure. If your blood pressure test is less than desirable, consider re-evaluating your dietary habits. Try to avoid saturated fat, the heart’s worst enemy. Look into cholesterol levels as well. All of this contributes to high blood pressure and influences the strain put on the heart on a daily basis. Switch to more fruits and vegetables. Keep an eye on sodium intake, and get exercise. Exercise can make up for a lot of terrible eating, but in conjunction with a good diet, can really show your heart how much you love it. Make an effort to get some fairly strenuous exercise in at least 3-5 times per week.

Weight is a huge indicator of heart health. If you are overweight, chances are your blood pressure and heart are suffering. Even if you don’t think you are overweight, use a bmi calculator to find out what your body mass index is. This number shows you what the relation of muscle to fat is in your body. The reason this is important is that weight alone does not tell the whole story. A muscular person can weigh more and have perfect blood pressure. Conversely, a person with a high BMI may weigh less but have higher blood pressure. A bmi calculator can show you the real data behind your weight and let you know what areas you need to address.

Start loving your heart, and yourself, today. Get a blood pressure test and find out where you stand. Consult a bmi calculator and see what’s going on with your body. Loving your heart is not something you do from time to time. It is an ongoing commitment to your body’s health and one that will keep your heart pumping for years to come.

Chelsi Woolz is passionate about health and wellbeing. She has written many online guides and articles on a variety of health topics, including: health problems, diet, nutrition, weight loss, digestion, and more. Chelsi’s approach to health encompasses the balance between body, mind, and spirit.

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