Your guide to being a heart hero
CHENNAI: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of mortality globally, and in India. Indians have a higher risk for heart diseases owing to their genetic make-up, a fact already documented in several epidemiological studies. One of the main reasons for this is the consistent lifestyle change that many Indians have undergone, including an absence of physical activity, poor dietary regimes, high consumption of sugar, salt, and high intake of saturated and/or trans fats.
Here is how you can take a pledge to become a heart hero by following these five steps to give your heart the best gift ever.
Step 1: Be conscious of what you eat
Our elders and loved ones always say, ‘Your body is your temple. Respect it.’ The first step in ensuring that is by being more conscious of what you eat. This new year, pledge to treat your body with more respect, by and be more careful of what your family and you eat and strive to make your diet healthier. Include healthy foods like almonds to satiate your cravings as they will keep you full for a while, limiting you from binge eating on healthy food.
Step 2: Exercise, exercise and exercise
With your doctor’s/physical trainer’s approval, try and include some form of exercise as a part of your daily routine and make an active effort towards leading a fitter lifestyle. Whether it’s a brisk walk, a short jog, time at the gym, swimming, zumba or yoga — choose a form of fitness that makes you feel great, and embrace it.
Step 3: Be aware of your cholesterol levels
CVD account for 28 per cent of all deaths in India, which is more than any other cause. Due to Southeast Asian genetic make-up, Indians have a higher risk of CVD, characterised by elevated levels of harmful LDL (low-density lipoproteins) or ‘bad’ cholesterol and lower levels of beneficial HDL (high-density lipoproteins) or ‘good’ cholesterol. Therefore, it’s important to start being more careful and aware of your LDL cholesterol levels, so you can take make timely changes to help your heart.
nStep 4: Watch that weight
Abdominal fat is often linked to increased blood sugar levels, high blood pressure, and elevated levels of triglycerides which are risk factors that contribute to heart diseases. By being more conscious about your family and your weight, you move one step closer to a healthier lifestyle.
Step 5: Work towards keeping your stress under check
Nowadays, for a lot of Indians, stress has become a regular feature of their lifestyles. As per a recent survey, almost 89 per cent Indians claimed that they were facing stress, in comparison to the global average of 86 per cent. For many, this is also accompanied by emotional eating, or stress eating — which is prompted by one’s feelings and not by the body’s need for food. That said, to aid overall well-being, it’s important to work towards keeping your stress under control and one way to do that is by making time for yourself to do the things that make you feel happy.
Apart from the above-mentioned steps, you can also try adding daily activities that make you feel good like spending more time with the people you love, meditation, draw or paint, or read a book you have been meaning to for a long time, but make sure you find time for yourself.
The author is a nutrition and wellness consultant, Bengaluru