Having a heart that works well is important for life. Having unusual heartbeats within your regular heartbeat pattern which are faster or slower called arrhythmia. Arrhythmia can lead to poor health outcomes such as stroke and heart failure.
Your lifestyle choices play a major role in your risk of developing arrhythmia. Lifestyle choices which increase your risk include saturated fat, added salt, smoking, stress, excess caffeine or alcohol, certain drugs, and medications. Lifestyle choices which you can include to help reduce your risk include:
- Coffee in moderation. The recommended amount for most people is 400mg a day or four regular cups of coffee.
- Including tea in your diet. Black, green, and white tea all have caffeine with around half the caffeine content to one cup of regular cup of coffee per cup. Moderation in these varieties is important but the antioxidant properties found in tea may promote a healthy heart rhythm.
- Nuts. One of the many reasons nuts are cardio protective is because of the vitamin magnesium. Magnesium helps your heart to relax after calcium stimulates your heart to contract.
- Fruits and Vegetables. These are rich in antioxidants and phytochemicals which help your heart to pump as it should.
Seafood may also promote a regular heartbeat as a rich source of essential omega-3 fat. This type of fat plays a role in inhibiting arrhythmia by reducing the excitability of the heart muscle. In addition to this the resting phase of a hearts regular contraction or refractory period is lowered. Omega-3 fat does this by stopping the ion channels which signal this to happen and as a result help to regulate your heartbeat.
Take home message: There is no one secret ingredient to a healthy heart. You whole lifestyle influences the function and health of this essential organ. If you can see a lifestyle choice which is missing or needs to be removed to promote your heart health this is the time to take action to look after your heart for a healthy life.
References:
- Voskoboinik A, Prabhu S, Sugumar H, Kistler PM. Effect of Dietary Factors on Cardiac Rhythm. Am J Cardiol. 2018 Oct 1;122(7):1265-1271. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2018.06.019. Epub 2018 Jul 4. PMID: 30075892.
- Kang JX. Reduction of heart rate by omega-3 fatty acids and the potential underlying mechanisms. Front Physiol. 2012 Oct 30;3:416. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2012.00416. PMID: 23115552; PMCID: PMC3483717.
