A healthy heart pumps blood against minimal resistance from your arteries and your chest cavity. Your heart should be able to expand and contract according to the needs of your body. A heart-healthy diet and exercise program improves the function of your cardiovascular system leaving you with a heart beating fewer times per minute but pumping a sufficient amount of blood. If you engage in regular aerobic exercise, you will have a lower heart rate compared with a sedentary friend.
Heart and Vessels
Your heart, arteries, capillaries, veins and smaller blood vessels make up your cardiovascular system. Although you were unable to control the structural development of your heart and vessels during fetal growth, you certainly have control over maintaining a functionally healthy cardiovascular system through proper nutrition and an active lifestyle. A heart-healthy lifestyle reduces plaque buildup, improving the capacity of your vessels to expand and relax in coordination with your heart.
Fatty Foods and High Blood Cholesterol
Consumption of foods high in saturated fat and trans fat increases the concentration of cholesterol circulating in your blood, predisposing you to high blood cholesterol. Saturated fats in particular decrease the capacity of your liver cells to remove bad cholesterol, or LDL. Trans fats are vegetable oils that have been chemically altered to be solid at room temperature and more shelf-stable. This man-made fat raises your LDL level and also decreases your good cholesterol, or HDL, level. Reducing your intake of butter, cheese, fatty meats and full-fat dairy products enables your liver to get rid of LDL cholesterol, reducing high blood cholesterol. Keep your saturated fat intake to no more than 7 percent of your total daily calories. Unsaturated fats in almonds, walnuts and salmon raise your good cholesterol, improving your cholesterol profile. Ensure that most of the fat in your diet is from unsaturated fat.
Salty Foods and Blood Pressure
Sodium is essential for many vital functions in the human body. However, excess sodium stimulates your kidneys to retain water, increasing your blood volume; this raises your blood pressure. High blood pressure may eventually lead to heart disease and kidney disease. Limit your sodium intake to less than 2,300 mg of sodium. If you are African American, if you are taking high blood pressure medicine or if you are over 40 years of age, limit your sodium to less than 1,500 mg per day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cholesterol-Rich Foods and Plaque Buildup
High-cholesterol foods including egg yolks, shrimp, organ meats and butter increase the level of LDL in your blood, enhancing plaque buildup on the walls of your arteries. Limiting your consumption of such foods reduces plaque buildup and reduces high blood cholesterol. Keep your daily cholesterol intake to under 300 mg if you have normal blood cholesterol; eat less than 200 mg if you have high blood cholesterol.
Exercise
Heart rate-raising aerobic exercise enhances the ability of your heart to expand and contract, efficiently pumping blood. Aerobic exercise also decreases your bad cholesterol and, in some people, raises your good cholesterol. Complete a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise, five or more days of the week to keep your heart healthy.
References
- "Anatomy & Physiology"; Gary Thibodeau and Kevin Patton; 2007
- "ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal"; Eat Like You're in Crete: Teach Your Clients the Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet; Janet Bond Brill; September/October 2007
- MayoClinic.com; Heart-Healthy Diet: 8 Steps to Prevent Heart Disease; March 2010
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Most Americans Should Consume Less Sodium; march 2009
- American College of Sports Medicine: Physical Activity and Public Health Guidelines
