Heart Health

Improved Essays
Has anyone ever told you to stay positive? You should take those words to heart, literally. Paul J. Mills, a professor at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, is a specialist in disease processes. Mills has examined how gratitude can have a positive effect on the heart.

Mills and colleagues recruited 186 male and female adults with prior heart damage, including heart attack, hypertension, or infection. Instead of analyzing heart health through diet, fitness, or lifestyle choices, the participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire aimed at evaluating their level of gratitude.

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The results of the research, published in Spirituality and Clinical Practice
…show more content…
“It seems that a more grateful heart is indeed a more healthy heart, and that gratitude journaling is an easy way to support cardiac health,” Mills noted.

How much gratitude do you feel? It appears that a grateful heart is indeed a healthier heart. A feeling of gratitude, as well as writing about it, may have a significant effect on your heart health. Keeping a gratitude journal is a wonderful, heart healthy alternative you can easily employ.

It is important to make your heart health a priority. Doing what you can to decrease your risk for heart disease can help you live a longer, healthier life. Heart disease is the number one killer of adult Americans, responsible for more than 600,000 deaths each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Two of the major contributors to heart disease are poor diet and lack of exercise, and obesity can increase the risk for a variety of diseases.

Here are a few ways to improve heart health, suggested by the American Heart Association (AHA):

stethoscope with heart, medical symbol, vectorIncrease physical activity. The AHA recommends 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week. This includes those morning walks around the park at a brisk

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