15 Ways to Live Forever

Men's Health has put together a long list of tips, tricks, and techniques that will protect you from the number-one killer of men: Heart decease. Here is 15 tips on how to keep your heart pumping.

1. Increase your heart rate. Watch a scary movie, read a good book, fall in love. When your heart rate increases it makes it stronger, according to researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Upsetting your heart rhythm once in a while is like hitting your heart's reset button, which helps it keep on ticking.

2. Dive in the pool (or get down and dirty on the dance floor). U.K. researchers found that men who burn just 50 calories a day in strenuous activities like swimming and hiking are 62 percent less likely to die of heart disease than men who burn nearly seven times as many calories during less active pursuits like walking and golfing.

3. Bike away the blues. Men who are suffering from depression are more than twice as likely to develop heart disease as guys who aren't depressed. In a trial of 150 men and women, Duke researchers found that after just 3 months of treatment, antidepressants and exercise were equally effective at relieving almost all symptoms of depression.

4. Meditate for 20 minutes every day. According to Thomas Jefferson University researchers, this may reduce your anxiety and depression by 25 percent or more. A University of Florida study found that patients with coronary artery disease who had the most mental stress were three times more likely to die during the period of the study than those with the least stress.

5. Pop an aspirin. According to a University of North Carolina study aspirin consumption reduced the risk of coronary heart disease by 28 percent in people who had never had a heart attack or stroke, but were at heightened risk.

6. Drink cranberry juice. University of Scranton scientists found that volunteers who drank three 8-ounce glasses a day for a month increased their HDL-cholesterol levels by 10 percent, enough to cut heart-disease risk by almost 40 percent.

7. Eat breakfast. In a study of 3,900 people, Harvard researchers found that men who ate breakfast every day were 44 percent less likely to be overweight and 41 percent less likely to develop insulin resistance, both risk factors for heart disease.

8. Have a salad for lunch. Leafy greens and egg yolks are good sources of lutein, a phytochemical that carries heart-disease-fighting antioxidants to your cells and tissues.

9. Fight lonelyness. According to research from the University of Chicago, lonely people have a harder time dealing with stress and are at greater risk of heart disease than people with a wide circle of friends.

10. Cut down on the salt. A 20-year study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that overweight men with the highest sodium intakes were 61 percent more likely to die of heart disease than those with lower intakes.

11. Have a drink. A Boston study of 38,000 men found that men who drink alcohol three or four times a week have a 32 percent lower risk of heart attack than men who drink less than once a week. Alcohol raise HDL cholesterol levels and keep the blood thin, reducing the threat of artery-clogging clots. According to the study, drinking more frequently won't provide additional heart protection.

12. Get romantic. Ten minutes of skin-to-skin contact with your mate can help keep your blood pressure and pulse from spiking during stressful times, according to University of North Carolina researchers.

13. Take your B vitamins. The Cleveland Clinic found that men with diets low in B vitamins were more than twice as likely to develop heart disease as men with higher levels in their systems.

14. Drink lots of water. Loma Linda University researchers found that drinking five or more 8-ounce glasses of water a day could help lower your risk of heart disease by up to 60 percent.

15. Get poetic. Swiss researchers found that men who recited poetry for half an hour a day lowered their heart rates significantly, reducing their stress levels and possibly their heart-disease risk.


Source: Men's Health Magazine