Way To A Healthy Heart

Heart is one of the most important organs of our body. Its shape is regarded as symbol of love. People give heart-shaped candies to their friends on Valentine Day. We hear songs written and sung on broken hearts. Heart beats faster when we hear something excited or scary. All these emotions come from the brain to heart. The heart is a muscle located to the left of our chest and about the size of our fist. There are many muscles in our body but this muscle is special because of its function. It circulates the blood in our whole body which provides with oxygen and nutrients, the body needs. The movement of blood through the heart is called circulation and the heart takes 60 seconds to pump the blood to every cell in the body. Our body needs steady supply of blood to keep it working right.

                The main causes of heart disease are high blood pressure and obesity. It is good to follow certain diet restrictions as precautionary measures. One should have more fruits, vegetables and salads in one's diet. Low sodium (salt) intake and avoid food which contains animal fat. Avoid smoking and drinking of alcohol.

                According to a newspaper report trans fats are the worst fats we consume. Pastries, potato chips, french fries, pizzas, chocolates etc contain trans fatty acids. These fatty acids are created by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil through a process called hydrogenation. These fats have longer shelf life. That is why they are used in the packaged food items like cookies, cakes, potato chips, samosas, french fries, sweets, deserts, cake mix, chocolate drink mix etc.

                These fats are not at all good for the heart. These fats increase the LDL (bad) cholesterol and decrease the HDL (good) cholesterol which restrict the flow of blood to the heart or brain which can lead to heart attack. So the above mentioned food items are a strict no.

                Eat food which contains more fiber. High fiber intake helps in lowering the bad cholesterol in the body to increase the health of the heart and reduce the risk of heart attack. Fiber can be found in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Eat low fat diary products. Better to avoid deep fried items. If at all you need to deep fry, use only healthier oils. Do not reheat. Use mono unsaturated oils like olive, mustard, canola, groundnut oil for cooking. Always use medium or low temperatures for cooking so the oil does not disintegrate into toxic compounds.

                The following are some of the natural remedies to keep your heart healthy and help cure of any heart ailment.

1. Add 10 to 15 black raisins to a cup of milk and bring to boil. Add little misri (sugar candy) and take regularly for 40 days to get rid off any kind of heart ailment.
2. A drink for healthy heart:—apple 1kg, carrot 1kg and misri ¼ kg. Take the extracts of apple and carrot juice into a bowl. Add misri and boil till it comes to thick consistency. Let it cool and store in a bottle. By adding little pepper take one tablespoon of the juice in a glass of water daily. Apples have heart stimulating properties and are fine in heart care.
3. Take 2 to 3 pieces of garlic daily along with your food. Garlic reduces the bad cholesterol in the body. If you have high cholesterol increase the intake of garlic and it helps in reducing blood pressure. Reduced cholesterol and blood pressure translates into a reduced risk of heart attacks and heart diseases.
4. Amla powder and misri in equal quantity (say one teaspoon each) can be taken twice daily to keep the heart healthy.
5. Eating one Pomegranate daily before going to bed for 40 days can reduce the risk of heart ailments.
6. Daily use of lemon juice is good as it avoids the accumulation of bad cholesterol in blood vessels and protects the heart.
7. Fresh grape juice and grape fruit are helpful in the treatment of heart ailments.
8. Crush tulsi leaves and take the extract in a spoon add little honey and take early in the morning.
9. Honey is considered excellent home remedy for heart care. It can be added to a glass of lemon juice and have at night regularly as lemon also prevents the accumulation of cholesterol in the blood vessels.
10. Onion juice is also helpful in controlling cholesterol level; it helps in cleaning the blood and relieving the heart.

The above remedies can be used as precautionary measures and even with heart ailments they have no side effects. Follow only one remedy except the last one.

By N Suguna