February is the month of love and heart health awareness. This Valentine’s Day, be sure to give your loved ones the best gift by following these Valentine’s Day heart health tips.
Valentine’s Day Heart Health Tips
1. Exercise Together
Exercise is crucial to having a healthy body and heart. What makes it even better is doing it with a partner.
Working out with someone else, especially a spouse, can help to push each other harder and to achieve fitness goals. You’re both there to support each other and it tends to not be about competition.
Plan a time each day to exercise for at least 30 minutes. There are plenty of partner exercises or different programs like P90X you can do together and see how you’ve progressed together.
2. Cook Together
As a whole, Americans eat far too much sodium than they should. High sodium consumption can lead to high blood pressure and heart disease.
Cooking at home is healthier for your body and your relationship. When you cook at home, you control the ingredients and you can use fresher ingredients than restaurants may. That way, there’s less sodium.
Additionally, cooking together can be fun and a bonding time. It can be a time to talk about the day or joke around and relax. You can also experiment with new recipes and learn each others’ taste in food.
3. Turn off the TV
TV time is usually a relaxing part of the day where you can unwind and enjoy your favorite shows. That’s ok to do for some of the night, but it’s better to share that time together to bond.
This is one of the Valentine’s Day heart health tips because being healthy isn’t just a physical aspect. Creating bonds with people can elevate overall happiness and decrease stress levels.
Having quality time with someone away from the tv or phone can help to release endorphins and hormones that create happy feelings. Genuine relationships also help you live longer because you feel a natural feeling of need.
4. Drink Less Together
Not all couples drink the same amount of alcohol as their partner, but many times each will drink about the same as the other.
Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol frequently can lead to high blood pressure and heart disease. Drink a glass of wine or a bottle of beer every so often won’t do much damage, but drinking a couple each night will.
Studies show that people who drink too much alcohol have higher blood pressure and risk of heart attack. Together, you can keep each other accountable and healthier.
5. Find a New Hobby
As stated previously, spending time with other people and building relationships helps people stay happy and healthy. Having hobbies also helps to keep people active and together.
Doing activities together and finding one you both like is a great way to stay active and have built in time together. Joining a bowling club, swimming, gardening, or a yoga class are all hobbies that also help meet new friends.
Having activities that you enjoy and look forward to give extra purpose to daily routines. Finding joy in exercise also helps to make it not seem like a chore, but something to look forward to.
6. Take Heart Healthy Supplements
The last of our Valentine’s Day heart health tips is to take supplements that keep your heart healthy.
Supplements such as L-Arginine Plus are all-natural and give you vitamins necessary to maintaining energy and a healthy immune system. Along with vitamins, l-arginine and l-citrulline help increase blood flow and nitric oxide production.
More blood flow means that blood pressure can go down and reduce the risk of a heart attack or heart disease. A simple supplement can make a significant difference in your heart health.
Resources
https://www.newsmax.com/Health/Headline/heart-hearth-valentine-day/2017/02/12/id/773231/