What happens when we’re too connected to our phones?
The common position cuts off circulation to the legs, making it more difficult for blood to get to your leg tissue. Make a habit of sitting with your legs uncrossed or slightly elevated.
Sitting for hours at a time has repeatedly been shown to harm your circulation and muscles, and even shorten your life span. Consider getting a standing desk or taking regular breaks to get on your feet and work the valves in your leg veins.
Saturated fats can largely be found in red meat, chicken, cheese, and other animal sources.
When the body experiences stress, blood vessels constrict, so learning to manage your stress is a vital way to improve your circulation.
Found in foods like beets, garlic, pomegranate, and spinach, nitrate helps enlarge your blood vessels and create more room for blood to move through.
Iron is an essential mineral for the circulatory system as it is required to make hemoglobin, one of the major components of red blood cells, which is needed to carry oxygen. Eating iron-rich foods or taking an iron supplement can improve your circulation.
Maintaining a healthy weight helps promote good circulation and keeps arteries clear.
Squats are a great way to get your blood pumping through the major muscles of your body.
The omega-3 fatty acids found in fatty fish like salmon, tuna, mackerel, and sardines promote cardiovascular health and improve circulation. Vegetarians and vegans can get supplements!
Activities like jogging, cycling, and swimming get your blood pumping, make your heart stronger, lower your blood pressure, and improve circulation.
Blood is about half water, so you need to stay hydrated to keep it moving. Aim for eight glasses a day.
For smooth circulation, you need healthy veins and arteries, but if your cholesterol levels are too high or too low, the vessels can become injured and blocked.
It'll help keep your weight in a healthy range and your arteries clear.
A doctor can help diagnose what might be the problem and suggest treatment for any underlying conditions.
See also: 30 signs that you may have heart trouble.
In addition to some healthy exercise and stress relief, walking contracts and relaxes the muscles, squeezing the large veins in the legs, thereby promoting circulation in those more stagnant areas of flow.
Heart-pumping exercise improves the body’s ability to take in and use oxygen, and also improves the capacity of blood vessels to dilate, which helps them work more efficiently.
Downward-facing dog alone is a great exercise, as it puts the hips and heart above the head, allowing gravity to increase blood flow towards the head.
Take a body brush with stiff, flat bristles and stroke on your dry skin, from head to toe, using long motions on your legs and arms. Try to make a habit of it right before you shower.
Compression socks or stockings slightly squeeze the legs so your blood doesn’t hang around too long. Ask your doctor which length and amount of pressure are best for you.
When your ankles or feet swell, try the legs-up-the-wall yoga pose, or viparita karani. Lie on the floor and scoot your bum to the wall with your legs up.
Not only can a massage help with stress, but it also helps improve circulation. When the muscles are manipulated properly, they release lactic acid while improving the circulation of lymph fluid, which helps relieve tension and muscle discomfort.
Signs of poor circulation typically occur in the arms and legs. They include throbbing, stinging, numbness, tingling, cramps, pain, and swelling.
Additionally, your hands or feet may feel cold, if you're light-skinned your legs might get a blue tinge, and you could experience dry skin, thinning hair, and brittle nails.
The antioxidants in tea promote cardiovascular health, and the heat can provide a temporary circulation boost by opening up your arteries and veins a little wider.
From the beginning of your life to the very end, your blood never stops traversing about 60,000 miles (100,000 km) of blood vessels, carrying nutrients and oxygen to every corner of your body, from your heart and brain to your muscles and skin. Led by your pumping heart, these roadways make up your circulatory system, which vitally affects your entire well-being. When your circulation is poor, it slows or blocks the blood flow, and the cells in your body can't get what they need. You start to experience mild symptoms at first, which can escalate dangerously.
Most people are unknowingly engaging in habits that cause poor circulation, but fortunately it's quite easy to implement better habits that will increase your blood flow and help you lead a happier, healthier life. Click through to see what you can start doing now.
Easy ways to improve poor circulation
Hands cold? Ankles swelling? See the symptoms and simple fixes
HEALTH Blood
From the beginning of your life to the very end, your blood never stops traversing about 60,000 miles (100,000 km) of blood vessels, carrying nutrients and oxygen to every corner of your body, from your heart and brain to your muscles and skin. Led by your pumping heart, these roadways make up your circulatory system, which vitally affects your entire well-being. When your circulation is poor, it slows or blocks the blood flow, and the cells in your body can't get what they need. You start to experience mild symptoms at first, which can escalate dangerously.
Most people are unknowingly engaging in habits that cause poor circulation, but fortunately it's quite easy to implement better habits that will increase your blood flow and help you lead a happier, healthier life. Click through to see what you can start doing now.