How to Keep Your Blood Flowing

When it comes to health maintenance, most of our attention is paid to our weight and whether

or not we can turn our muffin tops into six packs.

It’s true that maintaining a healthy weight and body structure can help prevent a host of problems,

but it isn’t the only key to a healthy body.

In order to have a truly healthy body you need to work on all of your body’s systems.

In this post we’ll teach you how to keep your circulatory system healthy–and why that matters.

Why Your Circulatory System Deserves Your Focus

Your circulatory system is what keeps your blood flowing.

It is, quite literally, what keeps your body alive.

If your circulatory system isn’t healthy it will be harder not just to keep your blood healthy,

but to deliver healthy blood (and all of the nutrients and enzymes it carries) to all of the

different parts of your body that thrive on it.

A poorly maintained circulatory system can contribute to weight gain, cause heart attacks,

strokes, and venous disease.

Venous disease, according to the Intermountain Vein Center of Utah, includes seemingly

small problems like spider veins and varicose veins as well as larger and more urgent issues,

like thrombosis (clots) and chronic venous insufficiency.

How to Keep Your Circulatory System Healthy

One of the first things that you need to do if you want to improve the health of your circulatory

system is to quit smoking and using tobacco products.

Nicotine acts as a stimulant which can cause the vessels in your circulatory system to constrict

and your heart to speed up.

Smoking can lead to heart attacks, atherosclerosis and a bunch of other severe problems.

It isn’t just bad for your lungs, it is bad for your blood.

Stop smoking immediately!

One of the methods that will help you quit smoking will also help you improve the health of

your circulatory system and that is to exercise.

Stop sitting around!

Get up and get moving!

Exercise is a great way to combat the symptoms of addiction (which is what smoking is).

It is also an important part of maintaining a healthy weight and, by extension, a healthy body.

Any movement is good–walking, yoga, etc.

If you really want to improve your circulatory system and maintain a healthy weight, however,

you’ll want to engage in aerobic exercise–the kind that raises your heart rate and really gets

your blood pumping–for at least 20 minutes most days of the week.

Eat healthful foods.

Yes, we all love our fast and our junk foods.

Unfortunately these foods are terrible for our bodies.

While having fast food or a bit of candy every once in a while isn’t a problem, relying on it as

your primary source of sustenance can cause terrible problems for your mind and your body.

Eat natural and organic foods.

There are a lot of great heart healthy and low cholesterol diet plans out there.

Use them to help you plan your meals and snacks.

You’ll feel so much better when you do.

How to Recognize When There is a Problem

Unlike what we see on television and in movies, most heart attacks and other major

circulatory issues do not just suddenly appear out of nowhere and take us down.

There are often warning signs.

Here are the ones you need to watch out for:

• Your feet and/or hands are very cold, even when you haven’t been out in cold weather or

handling cold items.

• Your feet and legs swell up

• Your muscles are cramping

• You have pain in your legs if you walk more than a few feet

• You experience tingling in your extremities

• Your limbs “fall asleep” often and sometimes for no reason

• You experience pain in your chest and in your back

It is important that you take all of these symptoms seriously and seek professional evaluation

for them.

So many people assume that if they just start adopting healthy habits when symptoms appear

they can skip the visit to their doctor.

This isn’t the case!

If you are experiencing these issues there is likely already a problem and the sooner you see a

physician the better your chances of overcoming it are.

Remember: medicine is not the enemy!

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What are you doing to keep your circulatory system healthy?

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