Contents:
- Medical Video: LIVE IT: Reduce Risk of Heart Disease with Water
- Diligently drinking water, the key to preventing heart disease
- How many times should you drink water every day?
- What you also need to do to prevent heart disease
Medical Video: LIVE IT: Reduce Risk of Heart Disease with Water
Many well-known heart health experts emphasize the importance of healthy diet to prevent heart disease. Even so, it turns out there is one other thing that can be done to avoid the risk, but maybe you rarely do: drink lots of water. Yes! Believe it or not, this simple habit can unwittingly help maintain your heart health. Indeed, what is the connection?
Diligently drinking water, the key to preventing heart disease
The less you drink, the less fluid reserves in the body can help dissolve the salt content in the blood. That is, your blood will contain a lot of salt. This high salt content makes blood thicker. As a result, the overall blood volume will decrease.
Because your blood volume decreases, when your heart pumps further fresh blood, the amount you distribute doesn't get as much as normal. The heart will then work harder to cover up the shortcomings. That is why dehydration is often characterized by a heart pounding.
In the long run, the heart that needs to work extra hard continuously can experience a lot of interference. Research from Harvard University says that thick blood increases the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and other heart problems. In another study it was found that people who had thick blood had a higher chance of developing cardiovascular disease.
Well, regular intake of water can help rinse excess salt in the blood to be discharged out through the urine. Based on a study, men who diligently drink more than 5 glasses of water per day have a reduced risk of heart disease than men who rarely drink water (2 cups per day, even less).
In general, drinking enough water every day can reduce the risk of heart disease by 54% in men and 41% in women.
How many times should you drink water every day?
The general guidelines are around 8 glasses per day, but this standard can be reduced or reproduced according to the conditions of each person. The more active you are, the more water you need to consume.
However, this amount must also consider other sources of fluids, such as fruit juice, fruit foods, or fresh fruit and vegetables. If you can meet the needs of fluids from a healthy water source other than water, then the portion of your water can be reduced.
In essence, drink when you are thirsty and stop when you are not thirsty. Also, pay attention to the color of your urine. The darker and cloudy the color of urine, the sign you need to drink more. So, immediately consume water.
What you also need to do to prevent heart disease
Drinking lots of water can help prevent heart disease, but you still have to do some other things to maintain heart health, including:
- Consume foods that are healthy for the heart, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains.
- If you want to consume milk or cheese, choose a low fat one.
- Stop smoking and diligently exercise.
- Take care of your blood pressure, because hypertension is one of the trigger factors for heart disease.
