Heart Healthy Tips – Why Quitting Smoking is Essential to Heart Health

We all know that smoking increases the risk for developing cardiovascular disease, even when there aren’t other factors that contribute to it like high blood pressure, a sedentary lifestyle or obesity. Even on its own, smoking can significantly increase blood pressure, increases the risk for blood clots, and decreases exercise intolerance. In addition, it also decreases good cholesterol levels. Let me quote something from the American Heart Association: "smokers are twice as likely to die from a heart attack compared to those who don’t smoke." Indeed, the need for heart healthy tips, especially those that give you guidelines on how to quit smoking, has never been greater than it is today.

Are you addicted to smoking? Keep in mind that the substance in cigarette smoke, nicotine, can be just as highly addictive as heroin or cocaine. Smoking is not only a physical kind of addiction, it is also considered as an emotional addiction too. Nicotine causes damage to the heart, lungs, blood vessels, metabolism and brain. If you feel quite hopeless now, have hope as there are many things that you can do to quit smoking, and there are many heart healthy tips out there that can give you a guideline or a detailed plan to help you quit.

We all know that there are lots of good reasons why smokers should quit their detrimental habit for good. Of course, one of the major reasons would be to enhance the quality and length of your life.

Yes, it’s high time to give up. Let me help you come up with a detailed plan on how to quit with these heart healthy tips:

1. Come up with a list of the things you can do, or good alternatives once you feel a craving hit you. I’ll give you a few good suggestions, but you can come up with your own. Do what works for you: you can chew on a gum, chew on a straw, do yoga, brush your teeth, listen to a meditation CD, etc. What we are trying to do is to substitute the negative vice or habit with a positive one.

2. Make a list of what you like about smoking and what you don’t like about the habit. Come up with a pros and cons list of sorts. Take a deeper look into why you started the habit in the first place.

3. Make a list of the challenges you will face as soon as you quit. Prepare your body and mind.

4. Get a journal and jot down your thoughts and feelings as this will motivate you to move forward.

Remember, it’s possible to prevent, reverse and control any heart disease if you make a decision to quit smoking now.

Puneet regularly writes about Cardiac problems, Non-invasive heart therapy, and Ejection Fraction. He recommends a natural-therapy called Wrudved. If you need more help, or want to rejuvenate your heart, log on to RejuvenateYourHeart.com

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