Tips to Help Reduce Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

Here are five tips that could help you reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. Heart disease is the most common killer worldwide and the latest research shows that the damage leading up to the condition is largely preventable. Here's how.

5 Tips to Help Reduce Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

Exercise Regularly

Exercise strengthens the heart muscle and the blood vessels. It increases "good" HDL cholesterol levels and lowers bad LDL cholesterol that plays a role in heart disease. Exercise also works to improve blood glucose levels naturally. Chronically high blood glucose levels can lead to type II diabetes, which is accompanied by an increased risk of heart disease.

Avoid Cigarette Smoke

Cigarette smoke raises blood pressure levels, causes the vessels to stiffen, interferes with normal respiratory function, contributes to high blood glucose levels and may cause insulin resistance. No amount of exposure to cigarette smoke is safe.

Watch Your Sodium Intake

Sodium is an essential nutrient but most people get many times more than they need on a daily basis. Sodium pulls fluids into the bloodstream, raising blood pressure. When blood pressure becomes high, it stretches the vessels. Eventually, tiny divots can form in the vessels. It is in these divots that fats in the bloodstream become stuck and start the process that leads to atherosclerosis, the most common type of cardiovascular disease.

Avoid Saturated and Trans-Fats

Saturated and trans-fats cause bad LDL cholesterol levels to rise and also cause an increase in total triglycerides of fats in the bloodstream. Dietary cholesterol seems to play a lesser role. Not only do these fats get lodged in any divot present in your blood vessel walls, they also actually increase the thickness of your blood, making it harder for the heart to pump and raising your blood pressure.

Improve Your Nutrient Intake

The most common kinds of heart disease are now considered diet-related. In addition to watching your sodium intake and avoiding the bad fats, you should also strive to get specific dietary nutrients that may play a role in the prevention of heart disease.

Omega-3 fats found in fish oils have been well known for decades now because of their cardio-protective benefits. They were first studied because people with diets high in fats from fish and seafood did not have the same heart problems normally associated with high fat diets. They are the healthy fats.

Fish oil supplements can help lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of blood clots, stabilize the heart rate and generally improve circulation.

Nattokinase is a nutrient that has been clinically proven to clean out fatty deposits in the arteries and also reduce the risk of clotting. But if you want to try that nutrient, you must be sure that it is protected by an enteric coating. Otherwise, the enzyme will be broken down by stomach acid and provide no benefit. There are some heart health specialty supplements that include the nutrient.

Antioxidants such as rutin and quercetin improve blood vessel strength. As your blood pressure changes, the vessels are forced to expand and contract. If they become weakened, they can rupture. The antioxidant coenzyme Q10 is even beneficial for people with known heart failure.

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Title : Tips to Help Reduce Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
Description : Here are five tips that could help you reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. Heart disease is the most common killer worldwide and ...

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