Heart - 4 Common Habits That Can Damage it!

Certain habits can cause damage to your heart even if you maintain a healthy diet and exercise regularly. According to researchers, working people having who have a desk job are more prone to suffer from heart conditions due to stress in their work life, lack of proper rest, limited movement, etc. Most of the times you tend to ignore your bad habits as the side effects do not occur immediately but can cause serious damage to your heart. Following are the common bad habits that you should avoid for a healthier heart-

1. Sitting all day
Something as seemingly trivial as it is, sitting all day can have an adverse effect on your heart. According to studies, if your job involves sitting on a desk for more than five hours then you have double the risk of suffering a heart failure compared to a person who has an active lifestyle. Make sure you take at least a five minute walk in an hour to reduce chances of hardening the arteries. A sedentary lifestyle has serious side effects on your overall health too.

2. Stress too much
Stress causes the body to release adrenaline which influences the way your body functions. In that case there might be an increase in heart rate or your blood pressure level. Over time, stress can cause damage to the blood vessels in your heart and increase your risk of sudden stroke or heart attack.

3. Overdoing it on salt
Excessive sodium can spike your blood pressure thereby making your more vulnerable to heart conditions. Processed foods like potato chips, canned vegetables, frozen meals and meats contain a fair amount of sodium which can have an adverse effect on your heart. It is important to take the nutritional value of these foods in account before purchasing it so that you get the ones with lowest amount of sodium.

4. Not getting enough sleep
The heart rate dips when you sleep and goes up and down as a response to your dreams in various stages of your sleep. It is important for your heart to rest as it actively works in your waking hours. Sleep deprivation has similar effects on your heart like stress and can wreck your cardiovascular health. It is of utmost importance to sleep for at 7 hours to keep your heart healthy.