February is American Heart Month. So, in this article, your Lithia chiropractors want to provide you with some key information about how to keep your heart healthy. Also, we’ll demonstrate how chiropractic care can help you along on your journey toward improving your cardiovascular health. Let’s get to it!
Top Heart-Healthy Tips
Our hearts are remarkable. They continue to work, without rest, from the time they develop until our last day on earth.
When our hearts stop beating unexpectedly, we need immediate medical attention, or else we are not likely to recover.
By keeping your heart healthy and strong, you can reduce the chances of suffering a heart attack or a similar cardiovascular accident. Let’s take a look at some of the best ways to keep your heart in tip-top shape!
Exercise Often
Exercise can be thought of as having a dose-response relationship with our health. This means that (within reason) the more we exercise, the healthier we will be.
However, there are some minimum levels of exercise that we should all strive to accumulate every week. For instance, everyone should attempt to complete at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardiovascular exercise per week. This can take the form of riding a bike, swimming, or even just walking around the block.
While not necessarily as critical for heart health, it is also a good idea for everyone to perform some resistance training exercise every week. Keeping the muscles and bones of the body strong puts less stress on the heart. This means that the heart doesn’t have to work as hard when you have to lift objects or perform unexpected feats of strength.
Eat a Healthy Diet
With any discussion of diet, it is always important to note that nutrition is an extremely complicated topic. Not every dietary recommendation is appropriate for every patient.
That being said, when it comes to a heart-healthy diet, there are a few general recommendations that should be kept in mind.
First of all, no matter what your health goals are, it’s a smart idea to cut back on processed, pre-packaged, high-sugar foods. This will help to keep your whole body strong and healthy, especially your heart.
Beyond that, you can find tons of variability in terms of which diets are best for individual patients. It’s a good idea to discuss your dietary needs with a qualified nutritionist or dietitian.
Reduce Your Stress
In the short term, stress isn’t necessarily a bad thing. For example, you may feel some level of stress before a big presentation. This is completely normal and actually may be a good thing for your health.
Chronic stress is what we want to avoid.
Stress that lasts for long periods can lead to tissue breakdown, high blood pressure, and tons of other issues that affect the whole body.
Meditation, reading, and many other activities can help you to destress. You just need to find what works for you!
Improve Heart Health with Chiropractic Care
If you’ve just recently had a heart checkup at your doctor, and you weren’t happy with the results, you may consider chiropractic care.
Chiropractors perform manipulations of the spine, reversing any subluxations or misalignments in this key structure of the body. In doing so, they can often help to improve the communication between the central nervous system and all other systems of the body. When it comes to the heart, spinal manipulations may help to improve certain cardiovascular conditions.
If you’re looking for a good way to keep your heart and whole body healthy, consider chiropractic care! Our team at At Last Chiropractic is here to help you today. Book your first visit now!
