How to Make Your Heart Tissue Healthy

Keeping your heart tissue healthy is essential to protecting your overall health. According to the Mayo Clinic, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the world for both men and women. Understanding the steps to maintaining a healthy heart is one of the most important things you can do to increase both the length and the quality of your life.

Instructions

Steps for Maintaining a Healthy Heart

1

Strengthen your heart muscles. The tissues of your heart constitute the most important muscles in your body, and like any muscle, they need exercise. According to the Centers for Disease Control, you need at least 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise per day. Plan exercise and activities that will really get your heart muscles working. These can include swimming, power walks, jogging, jumping rope or participation in sports. Make sure you add cardiovascular exercises into your routine. Weight lifting and stretching, while good for you, are not cardiovascular exercises.

2

Control your weight. When you are overweight, your heart has to work much harder to circulate blood throughout your body, causing strain and unnecessary wear on the tissues of your heart. Be dedicated to your exercise program, because it not only strengthens your heart, but also increases your metabolism to help your body burn fat more efficiently. Improve your diet by reducing fatty foods and eating more fruits and vegetables. Substitute lean meats and fish for meats heavy in cholesterol. Cholesterol creates plaque in your arteries that causes the arterial tissue to harden and reduces proper blood flow.

3

Prevent diabetes if you don't have it, and control your diabetes if you do. Diabetics have circulatory problems that starve the tissues of oxygen, causing damage. Diabetics are also at much higher risk for heart disease. Consult your doctor if you have diabetes or are at risk for the disease. Find out if you need insulin or other medications that help with insulin production. Follow through with your diet and exercise; these are also extremely important to diabetes prevention and control.

4

Prevent heart disease and heart attacks. When you have a heart attack, it permanently weakens and scars your heart tissues. Prevention is essential to a healthy heart. Change your lifestyle to encourage heart health. If you smoke, quit; smoking increases blood pressure and puts you at much higher risk for heart attacks and strokes. Drink alcohol moderately, because heavy alcohol consumption also raises blood pressure and increases the risk to your heart. Make regular appointments with your doctor. Your doctor can keep track of your blood pressure levels and other potential warning signs to catch heart problems before they cause too much damage.