WORLD HEART DAY Rujuta Diwekar shares easy tips for keeping heart in good health

Team L&M

On the ‘World Heart Day today, celebrity nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar shares four expert tips for women to keep their hearts happy and live a longer, more content, stress free and healthy life, This she has done through her audiobook Women and Weight Loss Tamasha on Audible.

Eat within 15 minutes of waking up
“Eat something within the first ten-fifteen minutes of getting up. Tea/coffee should not be the first thing you have when you wake up. These stimulants will increase the blood pressure, heart rate, breathing rate and only end up stressing the body. In turn, the body will respond by hampering fat burning. On the other hand, if you eat something within the first fifteen minutes of getting up, blood sugar and energy levels increase, leading to an increase in metabolic rate and fat burning, and a decrease in acidity and bloating,” urges Rujuta. By adding this step to their morning routine, one is also less likely to put on weight and sugar levels can be stabilized, which aids in keeping the heart healthy!

Light cardio everyday rejuvenates the heart
Cardio or stamina-building exercises are a must to improve mobility of fatty acids in your system. “Try and perform cardio exercises that will not stress your weight-bearing joints like knee, ankle, lower back and hips. Cycling and swimming are superb options that provide a good cardio-respiratory stimuli to the heart and lungs while not stressing your joints, tendons, bones, ligaments” she says.

Sleep Is Golden
“Irregular sleep and waking times inhibit our mental, physical and spiritual growth. The heart, kidney, liver, lungs, intestines, height, muscle mass, bone density, hormones, enzymes, every single cell and function in the body don’t grow/operate to their optimum capacity.” says Rujuta Diwekar. For the heart to function at its best, apart from cardio exercise, a proper eight hours of sleep is also recommended.

Add fiber, carbs and essential fats to your diet
Diabetes and heart diseases have a direct link but most often the real problem is misunderstood. Rujuta says “The problem is not that the blood sugar is high, the problem is that the cells are starving. They are not getting the nutrients which insulin is supposed to deliver to them. Don’t skip carbs for dinner, you need them. Simply get the wholesome ones instead of the processed or fibre enriched variety. Rice, jowar, bajra, wheat, barley, nachni — whatever’s your poison. Without adequate protein, insulin will not function well. It will also not function well without essential fats. So eat more complete meals: khichdi + kadhi + ghee or roti + sabzi + dahi or rice + dal + sabzi, etc,” says Rujuta Diwekar.