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Heart

Submitted by admin on Wed, 02/17/2010 - 11:40
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Health

Your heart matters!

The heart helps the rest of your body work by pumping oxygen and nutrients to every muscle. The heart is about the size of a clenched fist and beats an average 100,000 times every 24 hours, pumping around 5 litres of blood every minute.

Cardio-vascular disease is also known as heart and circulatory disease and can affect you in different ways. For example, coronary heart disease is a type of cardio-vascular disease, and includes angina heart attack and strokes.

Coronary heart disease:

Coronary heart disease is caused by a build up of fatty deposits on the walls of arteries which makes it harder for blood and oxygen to travel to the heart.

Angina - When enough blood or oxygen can't be delivered to the heart, this can lead to pain or discomfort in your chest.

Heart attack - This is when the fatty deposits break away to form a blood clot which will starve the heart of blood and oxygen.

What can cause these problems:

  • Smoking
  • High blood rpessure
  • High blood cholesterol
  • Physical inactivity
  • Being overweight or obese
  • Diabetes
  • A family history of heart disease
  • Age - as you get older, your risk increases
  • Ethnic group - some ethnic groups have a higher risk of heart disease. South Asian people living in the UK have a higher risk than the rest of the UK population

Symptoms of heart disease can be:

  • Breathlessness
  • Swelling of ankles and feet
  • Tiredness, which can be mild or severe

A healthy diet full of vegetables and fruit, as well as plenty of exercise will not only help to keep your weight down but also your blood pressure, cholesterol levels and help you reduce stress.

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About the heart

How can diet and food impact on the heart?

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Eating a good diet will help keep your heart healthy. Healthy meals should include plenty of fresh vegetables such as dhal, okra (bhindi), as well as chicken or fish such as sardines.

The Prophet (pbuh) taught, " A few morsels of food are enough for a person to keep his spine upright. But if he must eat more, then the most should be: a third of his stomach for his food, a third for his drink and a third for air."

Foods recommended in the Qur'an include fruit, vegetables, lentils, fish, dates, olives, figs, garlic and ginger. Try using olive oil or rapeseed oil instead of ghee and using wholemeal atta for chappatis.

Having smaller portions on your plate will help you lose weight. Try to have rice or chapattis and not both at the same time.

Islam places great importance on the heart and its wellbeing. The Prophet (pbuh) said: "Truly there is a morsel of flesh within the body, which if it be whole then the whole body will be whole and if it be diseased then the whole body will be diseased, verily this is the heart." The stomach is like a pond - there are outlets in all directions from it. If the stomach is healthy then the rest of the body will be healthy.

The Prophet (pbuh) relished eating dates and preferred a dinner table that was green, where a meal had plenty of salad.

How can exercise help the heart?

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The Prophet (peace be upon him) constantly preached the message of good health. He knew that healthy bodies carry healthy solis. The Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have said that a strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than a weak one, and there is good in both. This shows the importance Islam places on spiritual and physical strength.

The Prophet (pbuh) once raced 'Aishah and she won. Some years later, they raced again but he won. This showed how the Prophet (pbuh) had maintained his fitness and the importance of regular exercise.

Other ahadith shows that the Prophet (pbuh) had a naturally athletic lifestyle: riding horses and camels, working in the fields, markets (loading and unloading), even walking a mile or more through the desert to answer the call of nature, etc. So even going to the toilet involved significant exercise.

It is important to ask your GP or nurse about how to exercise before you start. It is recommended that gentle exercise for up to 30 minutes a day is extremely good - you should be a little out of breath and sweaty.

Good ways to start exercising gently:

  • Walk to the shops rather than taking the bus
  • Leave the car at home for small trips and go for a walk
  • Get off the bus or train one or two stops earlier and walk the rest of the way
  • Instead of sitting at your desk during your lunch break go out and take a walk
  • Use the stairs instead of taking the lift