Home remedies to strengthen your heart

If you find yourself regularly out of breath or are simply looking for a tune-up, you don't need to look to pharmaceuticals to boost your heart health. These low-cost home remedies should do the trick.

If you feel exhausted at the slightest physical exertion, are constantly short of breath and retaining fluid in your legs, a visit to the doctor is definitely in order. Still, you don't necessarily need to reach for a chemicals to pump up a weak heart. Here are low-cost home remedies that are available to every household:

• Freshly-squeezed onion juice mixed with a little honey strengthens the heart.
• Peppermint milk provides an economical and effective treatment for a weak heart. Pour boiling milk over some dried peppermint leaves and let it steep for five minutes; strain and drink the milk in small sips.
• For six weeks, take 15 millilitres (one tablespoon) each of mistletoe and hawthorn juice at midday and in the evening. The hawthorn shrub has been a stalwart of both European and Chinese herbal medicine since ancient times. In the 1800s, it became particularly renowned as a heart tonic, a contention that has since been backed up by clinical trials.
• Rub your feet with rosemary oil.
• Go nuts. Nuts have many healthy effects on the heart. They help lower the LDL (low-density lipoprotein or "bad" cholesterol) level in your blood — and high LDL is one of the primary causes of heart disease. In addition, nut consumption reduces your risk of developing blood clots that can cause a fatal heart attack, and improves the health of the lining of your arteries.
• Sprinkle lots of cinnamon on food. Cinnamon strengthens the cardiovascular system, shielding the heart from disorders, and acts as a blood-thinning agent, which increases circulation.

You will need:

• 40 g  (1 1/4 oz) dried hawthorn blooms and leaves
• 15 g (1/2 oz) arnica blooms
• 15 g (1/2 oz) lemon balm leaves

What to do

Pour 250 millilitres (one cup) of boiling water over 15 millilitres (one tablespoon) of the herbal mixture. Wait 10 minutes and strain. Drink a cup three times a day.

• Anxious people have about a 25 per cent higher risk of developing coronary heart disease than their calmer counterparts, and are almost twice as likely to die of a heart attack over about 10 years, according to researchers at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. So chill out!
• Indulge in a daily cup of calming valerian tea, preferably in the evening: pour one cup (250 millilitres) of cold water over 10 millilitres (two teaspoons) of minced valerian root, let stand for a couple of hours and strain. Warm up the tea and sip slowly.
• Caraway or lemon balm tea likewise soothes nervous heart ailments, and they're quick and easy to prepare from fresh ingredients or from teabags.
• Add essential oils (anise, lavender, wild mint, orange or rose) or use them in fragrant oil burners for a calming, relaxing effect.
• Get more rest. Mom always told you to get your sleep. Now medical science backs her up. Lack of sleep has been linked to high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, heart attack and stroke. One theory: poor sleep causes inflammation, the body's response to injury, infection, irritation or disease. That revs up your sympathetic nervous system, which is activated by fright or stress.