Our heart health is influenced by several factors. Whereas we can control certain variables like diet, but we have to submit to uncontrollable factors like the weather.
Winter and heart
While those living in the tropical regions and maritime climate do not have to worry much about the cold weather, however, it is certainly hard on people living in places where the thermostat plummets.
The cold causes the arteries to tighten, which thus leads to reduced blood supply around the body. Consequently, the oxygen supply to the cells around the body is compromised.
Moreover, winter flu can also aggravate the symptoms of heart disease. Those suffering from atrial fibrillation are especially susceptible to the side effects of the winter flu, meriting a visit to the Internal Medicine specialist then.
Ways to keep your heart healthy
The good news is, that you can take steps to improve your heart health, despite the chill. Following are some steps to take:
Be physically active
It may be a mammoth of a challenge, but you have to get out of the blankets and move about. If you can take up an exercise regimen, that is great. However, you can start off small by simply being physically active around the house.
As you exercise, you increase your heart rate, and improve blood circulation around the body. Moreover, as our muscles get stronger due to exercise, our heart, being a muscle, is also strengthened.
Eat Hot and healthy Food
You might like fish and chips with a side of a dip, you are not doing your heart a favor. Eating fatty food clogs the arteries. It then endangers blood supply to the cells around the body, and also poses the risk of heart attack.
Therefore, instead of deriving warmth from the fried fish, try a hearty bowl of vegetable soup. Hot food is soothing against the cold weather, and vegetables are packed with goodness. Make similar healthy choices for the rest of the meals as well.
Hydrate
Often, in midst of drinking hot coffee and tea for warmth, we neglect our need for water. Moreover, caffeine also promotes water loss from the body.
Since during hot summers, we turn to water for refreshment, we do not have this stimulus for water intake in winters either.
The lack of sufficient hydration then alters the blood volume then, alongside posing other health problems. Thus, be sure to drink sufficient water. Use an app to track your water intake, keep a journal handy; anything that works to maintain your water supply.
Pay attention to your mental health
Many people have to confine themselves to their homes due to the horrid weather conditions. Several are locked by for weeks due to snowstorms and similar issues. The resultant cabin fever can take a toll on the mental health of people.
Change in weather also leads to depression and anxiety in many people. Moreover, long nights can also add to melancholy. Many areas have little to no sunlight, and since sunlight helps in averting the risk of depression, lack of it has a profound impact on the mood as well.
Stress and depression have grave implications for heart health. Thus, take steps to improve your mental health. Watch light content, be socially active, meditate, and laugh for a better mood.
Flu vaccine
We are more predisposed to flu, cough, and cold during winters. These may seem innocuous enough, but flu can take a toll on the body, and the heart. It also impairs our comfort as well.
Thus, if you get flu every season, then perhaps you should ask the Best Internal Medicine Specialist in Karachi for a flu shot. These immunization injections protect the body against frequent infections then.