No matter your age, it’s very important that you do everything you can to take proper care of your heart. After all, it’s an important part of your body, and if you don’t properly care for it, you put yourself at risk of disease or even death.
Luckily, taking proper care of your heart doesn’t require much effort. As long as you exercise regularly and eat a diet that is low in fat and sodium, you should be traveling down a healthy path. However, there are always additional ways to improve your heart health, and one way to do so is by reducing your triglycerides.
Triglycerides are fat that is located in your blood. When you eat, your body converts unwanted calories to triglycerides, which are then stored in your fat cells. If you eat more calories than you burn in a day, you’ll have a higher amount of triglycerides in your body, which can result in weight gain and high blood pressure.
Triglycerides and Your Heart: 6 Ways to Dampen the Effects of Fat in Your Blood
If you want to improve your heart health, you’ll want to ensure you lower your triglyceride levels. And if you want to do so naturally, the following tips will help you do just that.
Attain and maintain a healthy weight.
Individuals who are overweight tend to have a higher amount of triglycerides in their body, which can result in poor heart health. In order to lower the tri count, and in order to improve your health by lowering your blood pressure, you need to ditch those extra pounds and then keep them off. Changing your diet to something lower in fat and higher in protein, and then combining this healthy diet with regular exercise is the best way to shed those extra pounds. You’ll be amazed at how losing even a little bit of extra weight will be enough to make your heart significantly healthier. Once you lose the weight, be sure you keep it off too, so don’t stop eating healthier or exercising just because you reached your goal.
Consume Omega-3.
With a name like Omega-3 fatty acid, it’s likely you would want to run away from it, but don’t let the name fool you. Omega-3 is actually extremely beneficial when it comes to lowering your triglyceride levels. Simply taking a supplement or adding fish or fish oil to your diet is all you need to boost those healthy fats and help improve your heart.
Change your diet.
Even if you don’t need to lose weight, it’s a good idea to change your diet in order to improve your heart health naturally. One simple change you need to make is to remove the high-fat and high-salt foods you may currently be eating. Try to stay away from processed foods as well as red meats and full-fat dairy products. Starchy vegetables, canned fish, coconut, sugary drinks, and syrup should be avoided as well. You should even limit your fruit intake to about two to three pieces a day, as the natural sugars can make your levels soar. Instead, try sticking to lean proteins and low-starch vegetables. Even a moderate amount of dark chocolate is good for your heart. Making these changes will help you improve your levels significantly.
Limit (or eliminate) your alcohol intake.
Triglycerides and alcohol do not mix well together, so if you suffer from a high triglyceride level, then you need to keep the alcohol at bay. Even just one alcoholic beverage can make your levels spike high, so it’s best to try to avoid them altogether and instead stick to fruit juices or water.
Ditch sugar.
Sugar is another culprit of high triglyceride levels, so try to avoid this as much as possible. Don’t add sugar to your coffee, and avoid drinking pop or other high-fructose drinks. And obviously, you’re better off choosing that banana over that glazed doughnut.
Exercise regularly.
Like most health-related issues, getting plenty of exercise will help you combat your heart issues and get your health back on track. Try to make sure you’re doing at least 30 to 60 minutes of exercise three times per week. Even a nice walk around the block is enough to get that heart pumping and help improve your heart health.
This is a sponsored post. All opinions are 100% my own.
