Search Results for: heart health

October 26, 2022 By Vandana Juneja Leave a Comment

Top 5 Eating Habits That Are Bad For Heart Health

There are lots of habits which play a key role in maintaining good heart health. Eating right, being active, managing stress well and getting good quality sleep are just a few of them. Then, there are habits which are bad for heart health. These habits, over a period of time, if left unchecked, can increase the risk for heart disease. Let’s go over some of these eating habits that can affect your heart.

Top 5 Eating Habits That Are Bad For Heart Health

Junk & Packaged Food: This one is a no-brainer. Eating junk and packaged food items like chips, namkeens, maggi and bakery items, etc. are bad for heart health. These food items are loaded with saturated fats and sodium which increase the amount of LDL (Bad cholesterol) in our body. High levels of bad cholesterol can build up plaque in the blood vessels and clog them, leading to atherosclerosis, heart failures and stroke.
High Sugar Intake: Regular and high consumption of sugar can damage blood vessels and the nerves that control your heart, causing high blood pressure and damage to artery walls. Besides table sugar, there are many food items with hidden sugars that we should avoid like – bakery items, desserts, mithai, packed juices, and instant food items like ready to cook breakfast cereals, aerated drinks, energy drinks, etc.
Overeating: Being overweight is a major risk factor for heart disease. Eating uncontrolled portions leads to weight gain which can cause a myriad of health issues. So avoid eating, not only high calorie foods in large quantities, but be careful about the portion of your regular meals as well.
Eating Red Meat: Red meat is high in saturated fat and there’s also evidence that processed meat increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Ideally, less than 10% of your diet should come from animals and animal products.
Avoiding Fruits & Vegetables: Fruits and vegetables are a great source of Vit C and beta carotene. These antioxidants help prevent plaque deposition in the blood vessels. So, try including fresh fruits and vegetables in your daily diet.

Apart from the above mentioned foods, make sure you lead an overall healthy lifestyle to avoid facing any health issues. If you need help with improving your lifestyle or seek guidance to manage an existing condition, reach out to an expert by subscribing for GOQii’s Personalised Health Coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

For more on heart health, check out Healthy Reads.

We hope this article helps you avoid these foods which are bad for heart health. Do leave your thoughts in the comments below!

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September 29, 2022 By Dr. Viral Thakkar 3 Comments

7 Yoga Asanas For Good Heart Health

Stress, poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle can have serious long-term health consequences. High blood pressure and high cholesterol are just two among many of the consequences of not treating your body well. Just know that even during the current times, you can make a positive U-turn and get active! Try yoga for good heart health!

How Does Yoga Help Heart Health?

Yoga, as a practice, emphasizes on breath, focus and meditation. Apart from building awareness of your mind and body, yoga also helps heart health by boosting blood circulation, keeping blood pressure in check and relieving stress.

Let’s take a look at 7 Asanas you must practice for good heart health.

1. Virabhadrasana or The Warrior Pose boosts energy in the body and mitigates stress. It is ideal for heart patients as it keeps blood pressure in check.

2. Sukhasana greatly improves the breathing pattern, which in turn enhances blood circulation.
3. Uttanasana helps relax the muscles and eases the mind. It lowers high blood pressure and ensures that your heart remains healthy!

4. Setu Bandhasana or The Bridge Pose is an excellent yoga asana for heart patients as it improves blood circulation, lowers blood pressure level, and stretches chest muscles. It can lessen depression, stress, and anxiety too.
5. Trikonasana or Triangular Pose relaxes the mind and calms down anxiety levels. This pose also opens and strengthens the chest area, and improves the digestive system.
6. Shavasana is another ideal asana for heart patients. This asana helps in repairing cells and tissues. It reduces blood pressure and assists in developing a better balance of the air element in the body.
7. Bhujangasana or The Cobra Pose is good for heart patients as it expands the chest area and relaxes muscles. As a result, blood circulation gets better and the heart feels reinvigorated.

In my practice, these Asanas are beneficial! But, before you begin practice, consult your doctor or physician especially if you have had any major/minor surgeries or other health issues. If you’re a beginner, check out some of these Myths and Facts about Yoga. For live sessions on yoga, practice with experts on GOQii Pro within the GOQii App, who will guide you on the correct form and posture in real time.

We hope this article has helped you. Do leave your thoughts in the comments below!

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August 22, 2019 By Navnee Garg 1 Comment

Healthy Fats vs. Unhealthy Fats: Weight Loss, Heart Health & More

“Fat” used to be a bad word in nutrition. Years ago, your doctor might have recommended that you limit or avoid fat in your diet. You will be surprised to know that all fats aren’t bad. In fact, some ‘healthy fats’ lower your cholesterol level and help keep you healthy.

What are Dietary Fats?

Dietary fats are essential to give your body energy and to support cell growth. They also help protect your organs and help keep your body warm. Fats help your body absorb some nutrients and produce important hormones too. Your body definitely needs fat.

Healthy Fats vs Unhealthy Fats

Since fats are an important part of a healthy diet, rather than adopting a low-fat diet, it’s more important to focus on eating more beneficial “good” fats and limiting harmful “bad” fats.

Monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats are known as the “good fats” or “healthy fats” because they are good for your heart, your cholesterol, and your overall health. Adding more of these healthy fats to your diet may help to make you feel more satisfied after a meal, reducing hunger and thus promoting weight loss.

Sources: Olives, Avocado, Nuts, Peanut butter, flaxseed, walnut, soymilk, tofu.

Unhealthy or “Bad” fat are the Trans Fats. Small amounts of naturally occurring Trans Fats can be found in meat and dairy products but it is artificial Trans Fats that are considered dangerous. This is the worst type of fat since it not only raises bad LDL cholesterol but also lowers good HDL levels.

Sources: Commercially-baked pastries, cookies, doughnuts, muffins, cakes, pizza dough, Fried foods (French fries, fried chicken, chicken nuggets, breaded fish), Anything containing hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, even if it claims to be “Trans Fat-Free”.

Saturated fats, while not as harmful as Trans Fats, can raise bad LDL cholesterol and too much can negatively impact heart health, so it’s best consumed in moderation.

Sources: Red meat, butter, ice cream, chicken skin.

Tips to Add More Healthy Fats to Your Diet

Instead of obsessively counting fat grams, aim for a diet rich in a variety of vegetables, fruit, nuts, and beans, with two or more weekly servings of fatty fish, moderate amounts of dairy, small amounts of red meat, and only occasional fried or processed meals.

Say NO to Trans Fats from your diet. Check food labels for Trans Fats. Limiting commercially-baked goods and fast food can go a long way.
Limit your intake of saturated fats by replacing some of the red meat you eat with beans, nuts, poultry, and fish, and switching from whole milk dairy to lower fat versions.
Prefer Omega-3 Fats: Include a variety of fish sources as well as plant sources such as walnuts, ground flax seeds, flaxseed oil, canola oil, and soybean oil.
Cook With Olive Oil: Use olive oil for stovetop cooking rather than butter, stick margarine, or lard. For baking, try canola oil.
Eat More Avocados: Try them in sandwiches or salads. Along with being loaded with heart- and brain-healthy fats, they make for a filling meal.
Go Nuts: You can add nuts to vegetable dishes, use them instead of breadcrumbs on chicken or fish, or make your own trail mix with nuts, seeds, and dried fruit.
Snack on Olives: Olives are high in healthy monounsaturated fats and make for a low-calorie snack.
Dress Your Own Salad: Commercial salad dressings are often high in unhealthy fat or added sugars. Create your own healthy dressings with olive, flaxseed, or sesame oils.

We hope this article helps you make more informed decisions on eating healthy fats. Do leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Want to know some Healthy Fat based recipes? Stay tuned for the next part of the article!

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September 29, 2018 By GOQii Editor Leave a Comment

WHOLEHEARTEDLY HEART HEALTHY

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Death rates due to heart diseases continue to rise in India, claiming 1.7 million lives in 2016, as per the Global Burden of Disease report released exactly a year ago in September 2017. Recently, a national daily in India published a report stating that deaths in India due to heart disease have risen by 36% over the past 26 years. GOQii India fit report released early this year finds that there has been a rise in the number of lifestyle diseases among Indians. Of these, an increased number of people have high cholesterol with data showing an increase from 9.4% in 2016 to 10.1% in 2017.

Given the above statistics, Heart health is something that needs immediate attention. Today is World Heart Day and let us all be responsible and consciously make simple changes to our life to improve our heart health. In this blog, we have jotted down few simple lifestyle tweaks that you can implement in your life if you already have not done so.

Love your couch a little lesser:

After a hectic workday at your desk, we love to get cosy on the couch, even though it isn’t the best thing to do. Did you know that people working desk jobs are more prone to contracting a heart disease than the others? You might begin to see the connection here. Yes, being physically active has a big impact on achieving a healthy heart. Start slow, even a short walk after every meal will help you in many ways. Along with improved blood circulation, factors like obesity and blood pressure can also be controlled by giving your body the exertion it craves.

2. Toss the butt for good:

Kicking the butt is always tougher than picking up smoking. Smokers who try to quit, regress many times before leaving it completely and this is totally natural. But the determination to come back on a healthy track is what really matters. If you think you can’t do it alone, try counselling or other methods like nicotine patches, nicotine gum etc. Forget heart health, if you want to be healthy in general, the time has come to say goodbye to your cigarettes.

3. Stop stressing out:

We totally understand why you think it is impossible, considering our busy schedules and the endless deadlines which are caught in a loop. The problem is that high amounts of stress cause strain on the heart due to the release of adrenaline, making the heart beat faster and also narrowing your arteries. It also harms your heart indirectly by contributing to factors like blood pressure, cholesterol and obesity. To keep your stress levels in check, choose a program such as yoga, meditation etc. that’s convenient and suitable for you and stop stress from overpowering you.

4. Keep the weight under control:

Overweight and underweight conditions like obesity or anorexia attract heart diseases easily. So calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI) to check for the category you fall in and if you do not fall under the normal category, you need to gain or reduce some weight. More than being healthy, a change like this will boost your self-confidence and help you feel more comfortable in your own skin.

5. Eat Healthy To Stay Healthy:

This is one of the most important steps towards achieving a healthy heart. At the end of the day, it is what we eat that constitutes the state of our body. Most importantly, stay clear of saturated fats and oil as this increases the level of bad cholesterol in the blood, which is extremely bad for your heart. Foods like red meat and processed food with high sugar and corn syrup content are all to be frowned upon, to achieve a healthy heart. Eat a lot of fruits, vegetables and lean protein foods like skinless chicken and fish (not fried). This not only helps in maintaining a healthy heart but also increases your quality of life.

Alcohol Consumption:

In the book “The Heart Truth” by Dr Aashish Contractor, it is stated that alcohol may be beneficial in raising good cholesterol (HDL) as well as other anti-oxidant properties when consumed moderately. If you are someone who hasn’t consumed alcohol before, please don’t start now thinking it’s good for your heart! But if you are someone who enjoys a drink or two, then do so in moderation. Dr Aashish personally defines moderate as one or two drinks, three days per week and the optimum amount of liquor to be 45ml a drink. It is important to remember that excessive consumption can cause harm and damage your heart and other organs. So drink responsibly folks!

Stay positive, Stay Motivated:

Pessimism lurks in each and every one of us. Sometimes, we decide to give up not realising how close we have come to our goals. When maintaining a healthy heart or being healthy in general, it is very important to know what you want and be clear about it. Self-doubting is natural but steering through that phase keeping a positive mind towards it is difficult. Don’t be another brick in the wall, be the one to achieve and prove it is possible. GOQii wishes the best for all of you on this World Heart Day!