According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the world, and many modern living and eating habits are harming our cardiovascular systems all the time. Therefore, this article provides the following 10 tips to help you and me protect heart health and prevent cardiovascular diseases.

1.Quit smoking, save money and be healthy

Smoking is the main cause of coronary heart disease. Just one year after quitting smoking, the risk of myocardial infarction will be reduced by half compared to the average person.

In addition, the government provides smoking cessation services in outpatient, inpatient, emergency and community pharmacies. For more smoking cessation services, please contact NCSCT – National Center for Smoking Cessation and Training

2.Regular exercise strengthens the heart

Maintaining regular exercise can not only reduce the risk of heart disease, but also improve your mood and reduce stress. The Ministry of Health and Welfare recommends accumulating 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activities per week, such as brisk walking, jogging, cycling, climbing more stairs and less elevators, walking more and driving less, turning off the TV and getting up to exercise, all of which can strengthen the heart.

3.Maintain nutritional balance and control weight

Being overweight will increase the risk of heart disease. Maintaining a nutritionally balanced diet with less oil and sugar, a balanced intake of fruits and vegetables, and maintaining exercise will not be difficult to control your weight. You can also make use of Dr. Hello’s health gadget – the BMI body mass index calculator to detect whether you are overweight, and use it with the BMR calculator to calculate the basal metabolic rate, so that weight control is no longer difficult.

4.Eat more fiber-containing foods

Adequate fiber intake can reduce the risk of heart disease. Experts recommend at least 30 grams of fiber a day. Fiber can be obtained from different foods, such as whole wheat bread, oats, potatoes with skin, and various fruits and vegetables.

5.Reduce saturated fat intake

Consuming too much saturated fat will increase blood cholesterol, and cholesterol will increase the risk of heart disease. Therefore, try to change your eating habits, eat more lean meat, choose low-fat dairy products instead of full-fat dairy products, and cook Use oils instead of animal oils with vegetable oils, which is a healthy way to eat to strengthen your heart.

6.Eat fruits and vegetables every day

Increasing the intake of vegetables or fruits can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. Four servings of fruits and vegetables per day can have significant effects; if increased to 8 servings, the protective effect will be even better. Among all types of fruits and vegetables, green leafy vegetables, cruciferous vegetables, and high-vitamin C vegetables are particularly effective in protecting coronary arteries.

7.Eat less salt to control blood pressure

Eating too much salt can easily lead to high blood pressure (Hypertension). According to the recommendations of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the total daily sodium intake should not exceed 2,400 mg (i.e. 6 grams of salt). However, surveys have found that people with excessive sodium intake are gradually becoming younger, with 30 The sodium intake of young people under 20 years old is almost twice the recommended intake.

Therefore, in order to prevent high blood pressure, in addition to avoiding high-sodium foods such as instant noodles and potato chips, you should also reduce excessive seasoning in your daily diet, or eat less pickled processed foods.

8.Eat more fish to take care of your heart

Fish has much less saturated fat than red meat, so it is recommended to follow the Mediterranean diet’s recommendation of eating fish twice a week. For example, choosing fish rich in Omega-3 fatty acids such as sardines or salmon can protect the heart and prevent heart disease.

If you can’t eat fish every day, nutritional supplements are also a good idea, such as fish oil.

9.Drink less to shrink your waistline

Alcohol is not low in calories, and flavored wines are higher in calories because they contain sugar. According to a survey, the average 100ml of commercially available flavored wine has about 67 calories. In other words, a can of flavored wine has about 200 calories, which is equivalent to the calories of commercially available sugary drinks. Therefore, excessive drinking can cause obesity and increase waist circumference.

If you have a drinking habit, it is recommended to reduce the amount of alcohol you drink. It is recommended that men should not drink more than two bottles of beer a day, and women should drink less than one bottle a day. Otherwise, blood pressure and triglycerides will easily rise, increasing the risk of heart disease.

10.View nutrition labels

Not many people pay attention to nutrition labels when buying food, but we should pay more attention to the food we eat, including calories, sodium content, sugar, etc., so that we can control our diet and not let delicious food become a burden to our health.

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