It seems like everything you do is either going to give you cancer or make you fat these days. Yet, the #1 killer is still heart disease in one form or the other. So you can keep laying in that tanning bed, smoking that cigarette and woofing down those Chocodiles (sooo good…mmmm…) but if you want to live a long time doing that then you may want to watch what you do to your heart. Scientists have come up with 5 simple tips for getting your heart healthier and all of them are free! One might even save you a lot of money. Check them out after the jump!
#1.) Eat Smaller Portions. Especially when you’re at a restaurant. Twenty years ago, if you ordered spaghetti, you’d typically get about one cup of pasta, plus sauce and three small meatballs or around 500 calories. Now, you get about twice that much: Two cups of pasta, plus sauce and three LARGE meatballs or just over 1,000 calories. So keep in mind that sometimes a “meal” at a restaurant actually qualifies as TWO meals. According to one cardiologist, quote, “The secret to maintaining heart health is to consume adequate portion sizes and burn up the calories.”
#2.) Laugh More. Studies have found that when you watch a funny movie and laugh, it relaxes your blood vessels and increases blood flow. But when you watch a movie that has STRESSFUL situations, the opposite happens. And this is obvious, but if you don’t unwind and laugh sometimes, it’s bad for your heart. In studies done at the University of Maryland, people who had heart disease laughed about 40% less than people who didn’t.
#3.) Stop Skimping on Sleep. Lack of sleep can weaken your heart and even lead to heart failure in older people. It can also lead to high blood pressure, and it even raises your risk for irregular heartbeats.
#4.) Get Some Sun. It’s not clear why, but having low levels of vitamin D seems to increase your chances of developing heart disease. And your body makes vitamin D when it’s exposed to sunlight.
#5.) Stop Smoking. Even if you only have a few each day, you’re significantly increasing your risk of heart disease or a heart attack. According to a study of 15,000 heart attack patients, smoking just one to five cigarettes a day increases your risk of having a heart attack by 40%.
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