Exercise is a very important factor for heart disease prevention. Here's why.
- Exercise strengthens your heart muscle, which allows it to beat faster.
- Exercise lowers your blood pressure, which allows your heart to have less pressure on it.
- Exercise reduces weight which can reduce blood pressure.
- Exercise is a stress reliever, stress can cause heart disease.
- Cardio, often running, biking, or swimming, lowers blood pressure which reduces your risk of heart disease.
Rather than trying to omit fats from your diet, start trying to regulate them instead. Fats are crucial for a healthy diet.
“Good” Unsaturated Fats - Unsaturated fats such as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated are perfectly healthy. Vegetable oils (canola, olive, corn, sunflower), fish, nuts, and seeds are just some examples of foods high in these fats. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats raise HDL levels far more than they raise LDL levels.
“Middling” Saturated Fats - Saturated fats in butter, red meat, ice cream, etc. are, by comparison to unsaturated fats, bad for health. Saturated fats are best consumed in moderation, and are healthy that way. Just don’t go overboard with the ice cream, since saturated fats raise HDL and LDL levels.
“Bad” Fats - Bad fats like trans fats, even when they are eaten in small amounts, increase risk of disease. Trans fats are in fried and processed foods, and raise LDL levels while lowering HDL levels.