Healthy Heart

Your heart plays a very important role in your everyday life which is why it is so important to take care of it. Your heart's parts work together to move blood through your body in a coordinated way. It constantly sends oxygen to your cells and takes away waste. Many conditions can affect this organ and keep it from working well. There are five things you can do every day to maintain a healthy heart. Starting with Eating healthy foods, avoiding trans fats. Trans fat is known to increase your risk of developing heart disease or having a stroke over a lifetime. So be sure to read the labels on your food to prevent this. Second being, practice dental hygiene, flossing teeth plays a very important part in maintaining healthy gums. Studies continue on this issue, but many have shown that bacteria in the mouth, involved in the development of gum disease, can move into the bloodstream and increase the risk for stroke or heart disease. Next, getting enough sleep plays another big role. One study, looking at 3,000 adults over the age of 45, found that those who slept fewer than six hours per night were about twice as likely to have a stroke or heart attack as people who slept six to eight hours per night. Then, another key factor is not to sit for too long at a time. When looking at the combined results of several studies that included nearly 800,000 people, researchers found that in those who sat the most, there was an associated 147 percent increase in cardiovascular events and 90 percent increase in death caused by these events. Finally, avoiding secondhand smoke. Studies show that the risk of developing heart disease is about 25 to 30 percent higher for people who are exposed to secondhand smoke. Be sure to take care of yourself to prevent heart complications.