Strokes affect more than 700,000 people each year. We are going to cover what you can do to help prevent you and your loved ones from having a stroke. Or, at least, a better chance, than if you did nothing.

Like all organs in the body, the brain needs nutrients and oxygen to function properly. These life-sustaining products reach the brain via the blood that travels through our circulatory system. They are a serious health disability that can affect you, regardless of your age.

Some of the major ill health choices that can lead to stroke are: Smoking and excessive alcohol consumption are some bad habits that you should get rid of. Next in line is if you have high cholesterol or diabetes. High blood pressure and blood clots can lead to a stroke. Obesity… is one of the main causes that opens doors for you in the stroke department. It doesn’t matter if you are ten pounds overweight or two hundred pounds overweight, if losing a few pounds is what it takes…then let’s tackle the problem!

Sticking to a daily exercise habit is a simple matter of commitment. You must develop a daily habit of thirty minutes a day, that you do it without thinking. Every day you brush your teeth, comb your hair, go to work and dozens of other daily activities that you do as a habit. A daily walk, as simple as it may seem, will help prevent you from having a stroke.

The circulatory system of blood that travels throughout the body carrying nutrients and oxygen is of paramount importance in our talk on strokes. Lack of adequate flow to your brain, possibly a clot, is the cause of a stroke. This is what you can do, starting tomorrow. When you get home from work, put on some running shoes and shorts. Turn around and head back out the front door you just entered.

Make this a daily habit. At first you won’t be able to run past… two or three of your next-door neighbor’s houses. Alright! Go slow on a walk for a few. Once your breathing is back to normal, pick up the pace a bit in your jog once more. Easy does it, all the way around your entire city block. That is if you live in the city. If not, then hop in your trusty car and mark half a mile, mile marker. Go ahead and mark another mile or two to a half mile, mile markers for the next few months, you’ll need them.

As you can see, I have taken you to a simple running and walking plan to save you from a stroke. Over time, the pounds will melt away, because your distance will increase a mile or so every month. Yes, in a year you could be running twelve miles! I did it twenty years ago when forty five pounds melted and it has held up ever since. Combine this little stroke prevention plan with some good nutrition habits and you’ll be a much healthier person or runner!