Strokes and heart diseases are the major causes of death among Americans. However, to avoid such problems related to the heart, health diets will take you a long way. It is essential to leave bad fat and calorie-laden food behind, if you want to control your blood pressure, blood sugar level, cholesterol level, and body fat. Additionally, your healthy food should be accompanied by some good exercise to strengthen your heart.
What to eat for a healthy heart?
Several super food items should be a part of your heart-healthy diets. Some of these have been listed below.
- Vegetables Broccoli, cabbage, kale, spinach, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, and other collard greens
- Fruits Prunes, grapes, apples, oranges, bananas, blueberries, pomegranates, pears, etc.
- Whole grains Oatmeal, whole-grain bread, brown rice etc.
- Dairy products Low-fat milk, yogurt, or cheese; good alternatives are soymilk and tofu.
- Oils Olive, canola, soybean, sunflower, corn, or sesame
- Nuts Almonds, pistachios, peanuts, walnuts, sesame seeds, flax seeds, pine nuts, macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds etc.
- Meats Fish like salmon and trout, skinless chicken, skinless turkey, pork tenderloin, etc.
- Other food products Dark chocolate, coffee, legumes like beans, peas and lentils, red wine, green tea etc.
Consuming such food will give you essential vitamins and minerals, as well as omega-3 fatty acids, unsaturated fats, fiber, and other nutrients. While nutrition supports the health of your heart, it is also essential to avoid some foods.
What not to eat for a healthy heart?
While the above-mentioned foods help in developing heart-healthy diets, you must avoid the following items to protect your heart from diseases and stroke.
- Excessive salt It can raise your blood pressure because of its high sodium content.
- Excessive sugar and alcohol Too much of sugar is harmful for your heart. It is also critical to control the quantity of alcohol intake to avoid risks of heart ailments.
- Packaged or processed foods These foods not only have high salt or sugar content, but also have saturated or bad fats that come from hydrogenated oils used in them.
- Saturated fat-laden foods Avoid stuff made of refined or white flour and items made of ingredients that are laden with saturated fat.
- While many types of oils may contain saturated fats, these are also present in cookies and baked goods, high-fat dairy products, packaged snacks, margarine, refrigerated dough items, etc.
How to exercise for a healthy heart?
Your heart-healthy food should be supplemented by the right kind of exercise. With regular and adequate exercise, several cardiovascular problems can be avoided. You should go for the following types of exercises to regulate blood pressure and improve blood circulation.
- Aerobics: Go for running or jogging. You may also choose amongst aerobics, dancing, swimming, and hiking.
- Strength training: Use weights or bands to perform strength training while doing it on alternate days to avoid muscle strain.
- Yoga: It increases your lung capacity and decreases inflammation. Yoga is one of the best exercises to strengthen the heart.
- Light workout: If you cannot perform heavy exercises due to some other medical issues, then opt for cycling or stretching. Doing it per your capacity will help you pump up your heart and improve your cardiovascular fitness.
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Common signs of colon cancer
Read moreIn a majority of the cases, a colon cancer goes undetected at the earlier stages because the symptoms are not obvious. Patients usually mistake colon cancer symptoms for other minor issues. The patients must consult a doctor if any of the below-mentioned warning signs and symptoms of colon cancer are present for a prolonged period.
- Abdominal pain – Abdominal pain is a common issue and everyone might have faced it at some point in time. Most of the times, an abdominal pain might not be because of a serious issue. Although the pain might be severe, the reason behind the pain might not be that grave. However, if someone experiences prolonged pain in unfamiliar areas, it is best to consult a doctor. The doctors might provide effective medication to soothe the pain. If further diagnosis is needed, they might even prescribe for a number of tests to gain a better understanding of the situation. Knowing the body and taking a note of the symptoms make things easy to understand.
- Blood in stool – Blood in stool is something that everyone should consider seriously, irrespective of the cause. It is best to consult a doctor in such a situation so that they can determine the cause, which could be hemorrhoid or something more serious like a colon cancer. Bright red or dark red blood with pain is a common symptom of colon cancer. If one experiences this, they should immediately consult a doctor. The doctor will examine and might prescribe for a colonoscopy to check for tumors.
- Abnormalities in bowel habits – Diarrhea and constipation are some of the common bowel disorders. It could be due to change in food or simple flu. However, if one experiences these for a long period, then it is something serious. If the diarrhea or constipation lasts for more than a week, it’s advisable to consult a doctor. Stool narrower than the normal ones are the symptoms of a colon cancer.
Colon cancer is the third most common cancer among people in the country and is the second leading reason for cancer deaths. There is awareness among people, however, there is a lack of a proper diagnosis. Early detection is the best to avoid such a severe disease.
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Here are the things you can do with Google Home Mini
Read moreThe Google Home Mini is an audio-controlled speaker that one can use for many functions namely- playing music, controlling smart home gadgets, and answering trivia questions. This mini speaker can also be used for adding tasks to a to-do list, adding reminders and appointments, and playing videos on a screen that is Chromecast enabled.
You can welcome the smallest version of Google Home and Google’s famous voice assistant by purchasing a Google Home Mini. If you already have a Google Home Mini, there here are some unusual features you should definitely try out!
Make it tell you jokes
Google Assistant is known for its sense of humor. Therefore, apart from using it for the usual things, you can just ask your Google Home Mini to tell you a joke. For this, all you need to do is, say “OK Google, tell me a joke”, then sit back and let it amuse you. Additionally, if you don’t find the jokes funny, you can tell your Mini to simply tell Mini the same and it will change its idea of funny without getting offended.Use third-party services
Both, Google Home and Google Home Mini, let you interact with certain professional services. These services include Netflix, YouTube, Uber, Domino’s Pizza, The Wall Street Journal, and NPR One. To use these services, all you have to do is say that you want to use the service (service’s name) and that’s it, you will be directed to the service instantly.Additionally, while the device does not allow you to book flight tickets yet, you can easily look up flight information and add a reminder telling you to book it later!
Make it remember things for you
You might have a really sharp memory, but at some point, we all need a little reminder. Google Home Mini makes this job effortless for you. If you have certain tasks that you cannot afford to forget, you can simply ask the device to remember something for you. So, if you cannot remember where you have kept your keys, you can simply tell the Google Home Mini that you have kept it in the front drawer, and it will remind you the next time you ask it.Use it to set a timer and event reminder
You can also use the Google Home Mini to remind you of big and small events. So, if you are cooking a meal and have kept food in the oven, requiring you to wait for 30 minutes, your Google Home Mini will remind you to check the food after exactly 30 minutes. Likewise, you can ask Google Home Mini to remind you of other important events as well.