Your heart is the most important thing you’ll ever own, so it’s vital that you do everything you possibly can to keep it in good shape. And it’s not that difficult to do. With just a few simple lifestyle changes, you can make a huge difference to the health of your heart.

There are several things you can change in order to take better care of your heart. The factors, which you can change, include:

• Whether you eat a healthy diet
• Whether you are physically active
• Your weight and shape
• Whether you smoke
• How much alcohol you drink
• Whether you are under stress
• Your cholesterol level
• Your blood pressure
• Your blood sugar levels

We all know how important it is to eat a healthy diet, but many of us aren’t aware how enjoyable healthy eating really can be and what a big difference it can make to the health of our hearts. In fact an unhealthy diet is a major cause of coronary heart disease.

There are lots of other small changes you can make to your diet that will help you to look after your heart. Eating more fruit and vegetables, including pulses and whole grains, will increase your intake of vitamins, minerals and fibre - it's also good to moderate your intake of salt and alcohol.

By switching to a healthier diet you’ll be able to:

1. Maintain a healthy weight and reduce the strain on your heart
2. Help to lower your blood cholesterol leve
3. Help to keep your blood pressure down
   

Healthy eating may also help to protect against other conditions such as cancer and Type 2 Diabetes.