Heart health has become an increasing point of concern in adults, especially in America, for years now. Obesity, diabetes, and other diseases that attack the heart are essentially running rampant. While this is scary in and of itself, it’s even scarier when you consider what that means for the majority of pregnant women who are trying to start or add to their family. Poor heart health is a leading cause for fatal pregnancies, as the body is being put through quite the rigorous physical test while giving birth. Not only that, but a strong and healthy heart improves the quality of the fetus’ health as well.
While this is an important reality to realize, especially for sexually active young women, and women who are actively looking to start their family, it is just as vital to realize that there are a wide variety of things we can do to actively boost our heart health before and even during pregnancy.
The following activities can elevate your heart health and put your body in the ideal place to give birth.
Table of Contents
1. A Healthy and Nutritious Diet
First and foremost, our diet is one of the most influential aspects of our lives when it comes to heart health. While cardiovascular activity can certainly be beneficial for a whole number of reasons, exercise is really only a small portion of our overall health. Eating healthy on a regular basis is much more critical to overall health, and especially heart health.
In order to prioritize heart health in your diet, you should make sure that you’re getting enough vitamins, nutrients, and minerals from your daily meals. This means prioritizing fruits and vegetables throughout your meals, and eating other healthy-foods like fish.
Fish is actually a very heart-friendly meal, as it’s typically high in Omega-3’s which are beneficial to heart health, joint health, and brain health. If you’re specifically looking to improve the health of your heart, you should prioritize the integration of more fish-based meals into your weekly diet.
2. Exercising Regularly
Nutrition, of course, is the most important aspect to focus on for the health of your heart. However, that’s not all you need to prioritize. Exercising regularly will absolutely contribute to the overall health of your heart, and your ability to build up stamina for long periods of physical exertion – which is exactly what your body will be going through when giving birth. Exercising regularly is sometimes much easier to do before the pregnancy occurs, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t get some light exercise in during the pregnancy as well.
You likely won’t be able to do much heavy lifting during the pregnancy, but there are a wide variety of aerobic and cardiovascular based exercise routines that can keep you active and promote the health of your heart.
3. Getting Enough Sleep
At the end of the day, heart health really comes down to building a variety of healthy lifestyle habits. From eating well to exercising regularly, and of course, getting enough sleep on a weekly basis as well. Getting enough rest is vital to the overall health of any human being, as it gives our body a chance to rest and recover.
When we’re asleep, our heart rate typically drops to what’s known as a resting heart rate. This means it isn’t working very hard, and it has a chance to recuperate energy. Without this, you can put additional stress on your heart that can negatively impact your overall health. Getting enough sleep during pregnancy is just as critical, because you need to rest for you and the baby as well. Not to mention, while you carry a growing being inside of you, there is additional work put on your body at all times. This necessitates more rest than you would under normal circumstances.
4. Prenatal Vitamins
There are also a wide variety of prenatal vitamins that those trying to get pregnant and those who already are can take in order to really elevate their immune system and make sure that they’re getting all of the vitamins and minerals that they need as a pregnant woman.
High quality vegan prenatal vitamins are a great selection for expecting mothers as they’re easy on the system, sustainable, and vegan. Not to mention, they pack quite the punch when it comes to delivering a bundle of vitamins to the system.
5. Other Vitamin and Mineral Supplements
In addition to prenatal vitamins, there are other vitamins and supplements that women can take before and after pregnancy in order to promote the health of their heart. A woman’s once-daily is an easy and convenient place to start that guarantees you’re getting the vitamins you need each and every day.
Working these routines into your life will help any woman prepare for pregnancy by prioritizing the health of their heart.
