What Are the Best Tips for Strengthening the Heart?

Some of the best tips for strengthening the heart are exercising, eating healthy and stopping the use of tobacco products. Exercising for a short time every day is recommended by most medical professionals because of all of its benefits. Eating healthy and maintaining a healthy weight also are recommended. In addition, to strengthen the heart, damaging habits such as smoking should be stopped. Not only will the former smoker be strengthening his or her heart, he or she will decrease the odds of having a heart attack and will make it safer to take certain medications, such as birth control pills.

Exercise is one of the best ways of strengthening the heart. For the healthiest heart, a person should exercise for at least 30 minutes every day and preferably for 60 minutes. It is not necessary to spend an entire hour exercising nonstop, though; the time can be broken up into several smaller periods of time. Life is unpredictable, however, and sometimes it might not be possible to exercise for 60 minutes, or even 30, every day. Still, it is important to be consistent and to continue attempting to exercise on a daily basis, rather than giving up after missing a session or two.

Eating healthy and maintaining a healthy weight are also beneficial for strengthening the heart. Consuming the right amount of calories, fat and protein are important to a healthy diet. Healthcare professionals can help patients develop healthier eating habits when asked.

Quitting the use of tobacco products, such as cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco, is one way of strengthening the heart. These substances damage a person’s heart, significantly increasing the odds of having a heart attack. Tobacco products force the heart to work harder to do jobs that it could previously do with less effort. In fact, even when a person quits smoking entirely, it takes at least 10 years for his or her heart to recover from the damage, but the recovery starts immediately. Although smoking only occasionally or just being around people who smoke is better than smoking frequently, it still damages the heart and possibly shortens that person’s lifespan.

Checking with a doctor before changing one's exercise routine or eating habits can be beneficial. The doctor might have tips on what to do, things to avoid and vitamins to take. In addition, he or she might warn against spending excessive time in the sun or certain exercises because of the patient’s prescription medications or past history. Generally, it is not necessary to have a long conversation about changing habits unless the changes are drastic and potentially interfere with medications, but running plans by a doctor is always a good thing.