Are you doing everything you can to take care of your heart? It is by far the most important organ in the human body and it keeps us alive. A little over 700,000 Americans have a heart attack every year, and about 610,000 people die of heart disease every year which calculates to around one in every four deaths. Many heart related diseases can be remedied with cardiac surgery, but obviously we want to do everything to we can to make sure to avoid that. Here are a few pointers for how to keep your heart healthy:

1. Physical Activity – Daily physical activity is a great way to keep your heart healthy and avoid ever having to make an appointment with a cardiologist. To reap the benefits, you really only need to aim for around 30 minutes of moderate-level activity on most, if not all, days of the week. Thirty minutes a day is not much at all. If you have dogs this can be a 15 minute walk in the morning before work and a 15 minute walk when you get home. If you have a treadmill this is the same amount of time it takes to watch most week night sitcoms on television!

2. Avoid Sodium – This pointer is easier said than done seeing as sodium is in nearly all of the food that we consume. The next time you are in your pantry just take a look at the sodium count on some of your favorite foods – you may be surprised! To prevent heart disease, you should aim to consume no more than 2,400 mg of sodium a day. If you can stay under 1,500 mg per day that is even better! Remember this the next time you are cooking and maybe try to use a different seasoning other than salt. That extra salty potato chip isn’t worth having cardiac surgery.

3. Eat Right – Another way to increase your heart health and avoid eventual cardiac surgery is to change your diet to include heart healthy foods. The good news is that some of the most delicious foods are good for your heart! One example is fish that is high in Omega-3s like salmon, tuna, or trout. Some other heart healthy are nuts, berries, oatmeal, tomatoes, legumes, and dark green leafy vegetables like spinach and kale.

These are three tips that any heart specialist would recommend, but they will also tell you that sometimes cardiac surgery is necessary even for individuals who practice all three of these. Sometimes heart failure depends more on genetics than anything else so if someone in your immediate family has struggled with heart disease in the past you may want to let your primary care physician know. Avoiding cardiac surgery starts with you; remember to get in 30 minutes of physical activity every day, avoid sodium, and eat right!