Most people already know that eating a healthy, well-balanced diet and exercising regularly are good habits to get into if you want to protect your heart. Unfortunately, despite all the good work you might be doing with your eating and your exercising, other habits in your life might be causing you heart problems, even damaging it to the extent that you’ll need to visit a cardiologist.
Most of these activities (or lack of activity in some cases) may not seem problematic at first glance, which is part of the problem; you just don’t know you’re going any harm until that harm is done.
Because your heart’s health is so important, it’s crucial to understand what habits you might have that can damage it. Read on to find out more so you can change your life to a more healthy one.
You Sit All Day
Many of us have jobs that require us to sit in one place all day, often staring at a screen. Although this might be great for our bank balance, it’s not so wonderful for our hearts. Reports suggest that those who sit for extended periods have a 125 percent greater chance of cardiovascular disease, and this is why sitting for hours at a time is never a good thing to do.
When you aren’t moving around, your muscles aren’t burning much fat, and your circulation slows down (which is why you might also be prone to blood clots). Fatty acids can easily clog up the heart if they’re not being broken down by even slight exercise.
Even if your job does need you to be sitting down at a desk for many hours, that doesn’t mean you can’t get up and move around. A five to 10-minute break every hour wherein you take a strong or walk on the spot for a short while won’t put you too far behind in your work, and it might even boost your productivity as it will clear your mind. At the very least it will help your heart.
You’re Too Stressed
Being chronically stressed can cause heart problems. It’s perfectly normal to become stressed once in a while – we all go through periods that are more worrying than others. However, chronic stress means that it is long-lasting, and there is never a moment’s peace for the mind or the body.
The more stressed you are, the more norepinephrine chemical your body produces. In most cases this is a good thing – it activates the ‘fight or flight’ mode that means you can either run from or attack something that is threatening you. It can even be lifesaving. When the danger is passed, however, for most people their norepinephrine levels go back to normal and all is well. For those suffering from stress, this does not happen, and they are constantly alert.
This is bad for the heart, putting strain on it.
You Don’t Floss
It might seem unbelievable at first that not flossing your teeth when brushing can have a negative effect on your heart, but it’s completely true. Flossing is great for your oral health, of course, since it removes food that has got stuck between your teeth that your toothbrush can’t dislodge.
So how does this have any impact on your heart?
If food is left in your mouth it rots there, turning into bacteria (this is where bad breath comes from in many cases). This bacteria can find its way quite easily into the bloodstream where it can hitch a ride to the heart. Once there, it can cause a lot of damage, triggering inflammation. Chronic inflammation is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease, and a stroke or heart attack might not be too far away.
Flossing is a simple addition to your daily routine that can make a big difference when it comes to your heart’s health.
Too Much Alcohol
Like many things in life, alcohol is moderation isn’t usually an issue, at least not for your heart. Too much alcohol, however, can have a detrimental effect. We literally begin to poison ourselves when we indulge and have too much to drink as our bodies can’t handle the amount of alcohol they are being asked to break down. A result of this can be heart disease.
Men who often consume three or more alcoholic drinks in 24 hours, and women who consume two or more regularly, put themselves at risk for this problem, as well as higher blood pressure, obesity, and an increased risk of developing liver disease.
Cutting down to one drink a day is a good idea, but if you have trouble doing this it could be a sign you need extra help. Be honest with yourself for your heart’s sake and get that help if it’s required.
You Don’t Sleep Enough
As any cardiologist will tell you, your heart has to continue to work at all times, but it also needs its rest. It won’t stop doing its job, but when you’re sleeping it can slow down and this rest time means it can continue to work hard the next day and so on. If you’re not getting enough sleep, your heart won’t get the chance to rest as it needs to, and the longer this goes on, the weaker it will become.
Without a good amount of quality sleep, which is defined as at least six hours (although it will depend on each individual as some will certainly need more than that), the heart won’t be able to function at its best, leading to heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke.
You Isolate Yourself
Right now, at least some form of isolation is no bad thing, but in general terms, it isn’t so good for our health. Most of the time we might equate isolation and loneliness with mental health issues, and this is something to be aware of, but isolation can harm our hearts as well.
Avoiding social interaction at all times means you won’t have a strong network of friends around you. Studies have shown that people who are by themselves a lot of the time and who have no close people to speak to or go out with are much more likely to develop heart disease than those who do have a lot of friends to spend time with.
It might be that those who are on their own drink more, exercise less, and eat fast food or processed meals more regularly. It could be that being alone and having no one to share your problems with makes you more stressed. The work is ongoing into exactly what the reasons behind this is, but in the meantime, it’s a good idea to keep in touch with friends and family for your heart’s sake.
