Your overall health is what matters more than money, fame, or power. One of the main ways we can make sure we stay healthy is through exercise.
Now, there are plenty of articles I could write about how one maintains cardiovascular health, but for now, in this article, we’re going to talk about one of the good things that comes from maintaining cardiovascular health: the prevention of disease.
We’re going to cover the areas in which you may improve your overall health in broad terms – enough so that you can leave here with a thorough understanding of what it looks like to keep yourself healthy. We’ll also go over how this can help to prevent diseases and give examples of research studies that prove this.
So without waiting any longer, let’s dive right into it:
The Five Factors For Healthy Living
Focusing On A Lifestyle Of Regular Physical Exercise
I mean, the first one is obvious, isn’t it?
Keeping yourself physically healthy through exercise is one of the most talked about ways to improve cardiovascular health.
The CDC has an article discussing the amount of physical activity the average individual needs in a week.
Here’s what they said:
“Physical activity is anything that gets your body moving. Each week adults need 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity and 2 days of muscle strengthening activity, according to the current Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.
And if you want to see the rest of the article, the link is here.
Some Activity is Better than None”
“150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity” is a lot of words that kind of leave us still looking around for an answer.
Let’s break it down:
One hundred and fifty minutes is two and a half hours. That’s all you need a week, according to the CDC.
What should you be doing during that time?
It’s as simple as taking a brisk walk, jogging, riding a bike, swimming, or even dancing around your kitchen.
Physical exercise is important for cardiovascular health because it improves the function of your organs – chiefly your heart and lungs. That, combined with other factors like the fact that exercise will lower blood pressure, these things attribute to a less likelihood of heart diseases or strokes.
Keep An Eye On Your Diet
Diet is, in my opionion, the most important factor of health in all aspects of life, and just like exercise, it affects you physically and mentally. It can help you defend against illness and disease, help grow muscle and increase flexibility – diet is amazing!
This being said, we as a collective need to look at what we’re eating (and not eating) more closely, no matter who we are or what the average day for us looks like.
This comes into reality when we start labeling what’s good (in general) and what really isn’t.
In general, we want to eat lean proteins, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats.
And that might seem a little like a cop-out answer, but those generally are the things we need to look to for what we eat. And I couldn’t begin to be specific on the proportions, it all depends on who you are as a person.
Maintain A Healthy Weight
Do you know what a BMI is?
If you don’t, a BMI means “Body Mass Index (BMI) is a person’s weight in kilograms (or pounds) divided by the square of height in meters (or feet). A high BMI can indicate high body fatness. BMI screens for weight categories that may lead to health problems, but it does not diagnose the body fatness or health of an individual.”
If you want more about what BMI is, check out the article by the CDC on the topic.
The purpose of knowing yours is so that you can get some pretty valuable insights on your overall health.
For example:
By knowing where your personal BMI stands in regard to factors – such as the risk of disease or illness – you’ll be able to have a good first footing on what you should be doing to pull yourself in the right direction. You’ll find that people with a higher BMI score have a higher risk of things like diabetes and hypertension (or high blood pressure). While people with lower BMI scores can be at risk of nutrition deficiencies, weakened immunity, reduced muscle mass, and more likelihood of mental health concerns.
If overweight, losing even a little weight can seriously benefit your cardiovascular health. It increases blood flow, strengthens arteries and muscles, and all-around improves mobility.
If underweight, gaining even a little weight strengthens your entire body. Your circulatory system is invigorated, and your muscles are much more awake and stronger.
Take my advice: it’s good to know where you stand.
Get Rid Of That Smoking Habit
Smoking and inhaling second handed smoke is horrible for cardiovascular health.
The smoke can cause the cells that line your blood vessels to become swollen and inflamed, which narrows the blood vessels and can lead to a lot of different types of diseases.
The CDC has a good article on this topic.
Here’s what they say:
“Smoking is a major cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and causes
approximately one of every four deaths from CVD, according to the 2014
Surgeon General’s Report on smoking and health. CVD is the single largest
cause of death in the United States, killing more than 800,000 people a year.
More than 16 million Americans have heart disease. Almost 8 million have
had a heart attack and 7 million have had a stroke.
Even people who smoke fewer than five cigarettes a day may show signs of
early CVD. The risk of CVD increases with the number of cigarettes smoked
per day, and when smoking continues for many years. Smoking cigarettes
with lower levels of tar or nicotine does not reduce the risk for cardiovascular
disease.
Exposure to secondhand smoke causes heart disease in nonsmokers. More
than 33,000 nonsmokers die every year in the United States from coronary
heart disease caused by exposure to secondhand smoke. Exposure to secondhand smoke can also cause heart attacks and strokes in nonsmokers.”
For the rest of their article, click on this link.
Quit Stressin’
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Now who’s going to listen to that heading?
Anyone? Anyone? Let’s see a show of hands…
The truth is that we would all love to not feel stressed anymore, but that’s not how life works and there’s really no way of cutting stress off for good. But there can be ways to decrease stress, and I’ll explain why that’s important for our overall health now:
When we get stressed our body releases something called cortisol, which is meant to prepare us for the stresses to come. It makes us more alert, more energized. But prolonged exposure to this hormone can be a bad thing.
If cortisol is in your bloodstream for too long raises cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure. These in turn are leading you down a direct path to higher chances of heart disease.
So to sum that up: stress = bad.
Watch your stress levels now before you overexert yourself and things get worse.
Try meditation, mindfulness exercises, breathing exercises, or do the thing that is unique to you that relieves stress. But take care to maintain yourself, to take care of yourself. Your health is more important than any amount of money, and it’s relatively simple to tend to.
Prevent yourself from becoming a victim to your own body, take control of your health and make yourself proud.
We believe in you and know you can do it!