These tips involve eating, sleeping and moving. Try them, and enjoy the results.
A healthy heart is essential to your vitality. Experiment with these 6 fun and easy tips from Cleveland Clinic preventive cardiology experts — then enjoy the results!
- Add cocoa to your coffee. It’s a rich source of plant chemicals called flavanols, which lower blood pressure and improve heart health.
- Get your groove on. Dancing is an aerobic activity you can do anywhere — from the ballroom to your living room or fitness center. You’ll burn calories, reduce stress, and strengthen muscles and bones while you’re at it!
- Eat at least two meatless dinners each week. Try our tasty, low-cholesterol recipes for roasted portobello sandwiches, bistro lentil salad, or tofu in a tasty peanut sauce.
- Snack on frozen berries. Refreshingly sweet yet low in calories, berries are bursting with phytonutrients. These plant chemicals protect against the free radical damage associated with diseases ranging from Alzheimer’s to atherosclerosis (the buildup of fatty deposits in arteries).
- Laugh! It’s a great stress-buster. Poorly managed stress can lead to high blood pressure, higher cholesterol and plaque buildup in arteries. Laughter is contagious! So goof off with your kids, and share ridiculous clips from YouTube.
- Turn in shamelessly early. Poor sleep is linked to high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, heart failure and heart attack. So don’t fight fatigue — go ahead and turn in.
