If you've been smoking, drinking and eating cheap diner food, don't be surprised if your heart meets a fate worthy of a country ballad. You should know that heart disease is the No. 1 killer in the United States. You also should know that tobacco, excessive alcohol and fatty, processed foods are awful for your heart.
More knowledge about the effects of smoking, drinking and poor diet can help motivate you toward following a healthier lifestyle.
Smoking
Picture your arteries constricting, your blood pressure rising and clots circling in your bloodstream like vultures in the sky, waiting to lodge in your heart, brain or lungs and kill you. That's what smoking does to your cardiovascular system.
It also robs you of HDL, the healthy kind of cholesterol. And just for good measure, it sabotages your attempts to better your lot through exercise, by decreasing your lung capacity and making you less able to perform. There's no question about it -- its time to drop the smokes before they drop you.
Alcohol
Maybe you've heard that small amounts of alcohol may have some cardiovascular benefits. That doesn't give you license to get hammered every night. If you spend far too many mornings recovering from the night before, take a few minutes to calculate the real cost of your bar tab: physical and mental deterioration.
Alcoholism causes high blood pressure and damages heart muscle, a condition known as alcoholic cardiomyopathy, which can lead to heart failure.
Poor Diet
So you start your morning with donuts, washed down with coffee -- two sugars, please. Then you greet the noon hour with a burger and fries. Dinner's pizza and a super-sized cola, and then it's off to the couch with your cookies and chips.
This food is not nourishing you. It grants you a brief moment of flavor, while cheating you of the health and vitality that could make your life better every moment of the day. A diet high in saturated fat and sodium causes your blood vessels to clog with waxy globs of cholesterol, while at the same time constricting your arteries, putting more pressure on your blood and more strain on your heart.
Your vital organs really deserve better than this. You can retrain your tastebuds to appreciate the gorgeous flavors of natural foods that aren't drenched in artery-clogging substances. Your heart will love you for it.
Make a Plan
Changing your habits after years of cardiovascular abuse can seem daunting, but people make healthy changes that help heal their hearts every day. So can you.
Don't overwhelm yourself by trying to become perfect instantly. You're not trying for sainthood, but for health and sanity in this lifetime. Take baby steps, consistently, and you'll get there.
Ask your doctor for guidance in quitting smoking. Consult a dietitian for help with a healthier diet, or if you can't afford that, take advantage of the many books and websites dedicated to healthy eating. If you have an alcohol problem, its time to swallow your pride, march to an AA meeting and ask yourself some hard questions. Don't be shy. They'll welcome you.
