Exercise: Remember, the heart is a muscle. Like any other muscle, if you exercise it regularly it stays strong and powerful. Likewise, if you don't exercise that muscle, it gets flabby and weak. Regular moderate exercise helps condition your heart. Little things like taking the steps instead of the elevator can make a big difference. The Asian Heart Institute suggests that healthy people exercise for at least 30 minutes, 3-4 days each week at 50-75 percent of maximum heart rate.

Healthy Food Habits: A well balanced diet with plenty of grains, fruits and vegetables is key to a healthy life. Current guidelines suggest that fat make up no more than 30% of your diet. Reducing fat and salt can help control blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Eat high fiber foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains which provides you with a good source of antioxidant vitamins which also help keep your heart healthy. The Indian diet is rich in fried foods and oil. A lot of the beneficial effects of the vegetables are lost if they are fried. Also, the choice of oil is important - choose an oil low in saturated fats. Strict dietary therapy can lower total cholesterol by 5-10%.

Quit smoking: Nicotine is considered the number one preventable cause of heart disease. If you use tobacco, no single action will improve your heart health better and faster than quitting the evil weed. A number of over-the-counter and prescription medications are now available that can ease the transition to a smoke free lifestyle.

Blood Pressure control: Have your blood pressure checked. High blood pressure puts a tremendous stress on your cardiovascular system. In time, this can lead to a weaker heart, a high risk for stroke and heart attack and a high risk for kidney disease.

Cholesterol: Have your cholesterol checked. Cholesterol a kind of fat circulating in your blood stream, plays an important part in heart health. When the level of cholesterol, particularly LDL (low-density lipoprotein) or bad cholesterol, surpasses the normal range, your chance of heart attack and stroke may increase. As with high blood pressure, diet and exercise can go a long ways towards getting your cholesterol under control.

Watch the weight: Being overweight stresses your heart, your lungs, your kidneys and other organ systems. Learn what your ideal body weight and body mass indexes are.

Don't stress out: Stress is epidemic. Stress is believed to be an independent risk factor for heart attack. Stress reduction can be as simple as taking a walk. If you feel that stress is ruining your life, there are a number of stress reduction strategies you can learn that can help prevent the stress reaction from happening in the first place and help minimize when it does happen.