Living A Healthy Life With Heart Disease

Are you living with heart disease? Do you want to increase your life expectancy? What can you do to ensure that you can stay healthy and enjoy your life?

In this article, I want to show you ways of living a long life with heart disease so that you can enjoy your friends and family.

1.    Do Not Eat Too Much Sugar and Salt

One thing that can help you to cope with living with chronic heart disease is to watch the amount of salt and sugar you consume. A study has shown that eating too much sweets and salt can make your blood pressure rise, which can increase the risk that you may suffer a heart attack. In fact, the American Heart Association recommends that a person should eat at most 1,500 milligrams of salt a day: that is about 2/3 of a teaspoon.

Additionally, reduce your consumption of processed foods, canned foods, and pre-packaged foods because these foods also contribute to the amount of salt you eat. Moreover, remember to check the sugar and sodium content on food packs before you buy them. And you may use these tips to help you reduce your sugar and salt intake.

   

2.    Manage Your Stress

Another of my tips for living with heart disease is that you must handle your stress levels well. There is a strong link between stress and heart disease: stress can change the manner in which blood clots form in your body and that can increase the chances that you may suffer a heart attack.

Additionally, stress can help to raise your blood pressure and that can increase your risk of having a stroke.

So, do your best to control your stress. Take on duties that your strength can support, spend time in a farm often listening to birds singing, or you may use these strategies or these tips to help you deal with stress.

3.    Manage Your Anger

Some medical experts say that negative emotions are bad for the heart of a heart patient: negative emotions such as anger can cause heart rhythm problems, which can increase a heart patient’s risk of developing congestive heart problems.

So, manage your anger. Learn to distract yourself when you are angry, watch your favorite comedy, listen to soothing music, play with your dog, or use these tips and these tips too to help you deal with your anger so that you do not hurt your heart.   

4.    Interact With A Cat Often

A meta-analysis of some past studies has revealed that people who own a cat are less likely to die of a heart attack than people who have never had a pet cat before.

Just looking at the cat when it is around, reminding yourself that you have a companion who will not judge you and make you feel that you are a nuisance, and experiencing the unconditional love and acceptance of this pet can help you to feel relaxed and that can make your blood pressure drop.

Additionally, feeding it, scolding it when it misbehaves, and talking to it when you are feeling sad can help to distract you so that you do not think about the condition of your heart too much, and that can help you to avoid depression.

And when you hug it, levels of oxytocin, a hormone that makes one feel loved, will flood your body. Feeling loved will help you to feel calmer and that can help your blood pressure and heart rate to drop.

5.    Choose To Drink Non-alcoholic Red Wine Instead Of Alcoholic Wine

Drinking alcohol can help to increase the amount of calories you consume and that can make you put on weight, which can increase your risk of getting a heart attack.

Rather than drinking alcohol, choose to drink non-alcoholic wine: a study carried out by scientists at the University of Barcelona has revealed that drinking non-alcoholic red wine can help to reduce blood pressure. Non-alcoholic red wine contains antioxidants known as polyphenols which help to boost the levels of nitrogen oxide in the body. Nitrogen oxide helps the arteries of the heart to relax so that blood can flow through them easily to reach the heart.

6.    Avoid Smoking

Smoking is one of the risk factors for heart disease. When you smoke, it can lead to an increase in your blood pressure, which can help to worsen the health of your heart.

Additionally, smoking can increase the chances that your blood may clot and make you suffer a heart attack or stroke.

Furthermore, smoking causes the levels of HDL cholesterol, or “good” cholesterol, which keeps the heart healthy and strong, to decrease.

So, do your best to avoid this habit. And if you are already engaging in the habit, you may use these tips to help you stop it.

7.    Think Positively All The Time

Avoid moping about your situation or encouraging negative thoughts to dominate your mind. Doing this will help you to feel miserable and you may get depressed or anxious and that can worsen the health of your heart.

On the other hand, when you think positively, you are more likely to be filled with positive emotions and that can help you to wake up each morning and say, “This is the day the LORD has made. I will be happy and glad in it, for something good may turn up today.” Thinking positively will make you more hopeful about tomorrow and that can help to give you peace of mind, which is good for the heart.

So, fill your mind with thoughts about enjoying life and being strong, and not thoughts about having a heart attack or suffering a stroke. It will help to fill you with positive energy and, as a result, you are more likely to be productive and to socialize better.

8.    Pray Every Day

Prayer is good for mental health:  prayer can help to remind you that there is a Great Power who will hold your hand, strengthen you in times of weakness and fear, and who will help you to endure the pain and suffering you are going through.

Additionally, prayer will also help to lift your spirits: you will feel a sense of wellbeing, and you will have this feeling of comfort, after you pray.

So, every day, say a prayer such as this one, “Dear LORD, have mercy on me a sinner. Please forgive me for all the wrong things I have done, and for disobeying Your commandments. Father, I give You the glory and honor for Your kindness and goodness that have kept me alive for all these years. Great God of miracles, holy and righteous God, just God whose steadfast love endures forever, whose mercies are new every morning, I worship You and praise You for making me and for giving me life. LORD, I commit myself into Your care today. Please fill my heart with joy and give me peace of mind so that I can rest in Your love. Please help me to live every day with hope in my heart and happiness in my spirit. Please help me not to be bitter and angry, but to look at the positive side of life. Please help me to enjoy the life I have now and to avoid having regrets or focusing on mistakes I have made. And please help me to honor You with my body and with my life. Amen.”

Conclusion

If you are living with heart disease, you might want to reduce your consumption of salt and sugar, control your stress levels, manage your anger, play with a cat often, drink non-alcoholic wine alone or with friends and family, fill your mind with positive thoughts, and pray every day and that will help you to cope better with your situation.

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