Imagine that you are shopping or taking the children to school before going to work, when suddenly your heart begins to beat really fast. You feel as if your heart could jump from your chest; it is difficult to breathe and you feel dizzy and anxious. You might even worry that you're having a heart attack. However, after taking a few seconds or minutes to recover, you notice that your cardiac rhythm becomes normal again. If this happens to you, you may be experiencing tachycardia and, while it is not normally fatal, it can be unsettling. Therefore, we recommend that you know how to act when faced with this situation and learn how to stop heart palpitations naturally.
Vagus nerve stimulation:
If you feel that you are experiencing heart palpitations that start in the upper part of your heart, i.e. supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), you should consider the following advice:
- Slow down your breathing and blood pressure, splash your face with cold water or cough forcefully.
- Take long deep breaths while bending your head down towards your stomach or even by applying pressure to your eyelids.
- If these techniques do not work, apply slight pressure to the carotid artery, by placing your index and middle fingers next to the larynx (also known as the Adam's Apple).
These exercises stimulate the vagus nerve to curb the electrical impulses controlling the cardiac rhythm.
Stress:
If, when your stress levels increase, you suffer tachycardia, you need to adopt certain relaxation techniques, such as breathing deeply or even by taking up yoga. Furthermore, you need to take some time to relax and clear your mind; for example, you can relax a while on the sofa and read a book.
Try to minimize the problems in your life or change the way you react to the problems in your life. This can be very difficult to do alone, so finding a specialist - a psychologist, yoga instructor or acupuncturist - can help make this transition in fighting stress a little easier.
Exercise:
Find time in your daily routine to strengthen your heart muscles through exercise. Exercise helps the heart to pump more blood, which will lower your heart-rate and also reduce your stress levels. But for this to be effective, you must exercise on a regular basis.
Diet:
As in any healthy diet, you will need to control your intake of certain foods. Eliminate processed carbohydrates, such as white bread and refined cereals and wheat products from your diet, as well as potatoes, sweets, desserts and soft drinks. Add healthy foods, such as complex carbohydrates with high-fiber content, wholemeal bread and brown rice, vegetables (especially raw ones), legumes, fruit (except bananas), and meat. For vegetarians, three or four servings of legumes per week will satisfy your protein needs.
Minerals & vitamins:
Magnesium promotes a regular heartbeat, so you should add more magnesium-rich food to your diet. Some good options are: spinach, almonds, cucumber, avocado, lentils, onions, oranges, peaches, peas, beans, pumpkin and radish. If you believe that you cannot add sufficient magnesium-rich foods to your diet, take magnesium supplements instead. For this, we recommend that you look at our articles how to take magnesium and what is magnesium good for.
Caffeine:
Cutting your consumption of caffeine is crucial to stop heart palpitations naturally, and this includes coffee, tea, chocolate and other caffeinated drinks, such as soft drinks. You have to bear in mind that even caffeine-free drinks contain small amounts of caffeine. This doesn't mean that you cannot enjoy these drinks once in a while, but if you notice that your heart beats strongly after a second cup of coffee, it is likely that caffeine is your trigger.
This article is merely informative, oneHOWTO does not have the authority to prescribe any medical treatments or create a diagnosis. We invite you to visit your doctor if you have any type of condition or pain.
If you want to read similar articles to How to Stop Heart Palpitations Naturally, we recommend you visit our Diseases & secondary effects category.
- Make sure that you have a proper medical diagnosis of tachycardia before incorporating these methods into your lifestyle.
- Always consult with your doctor before adding new supplements to your diet.
- You should go for regular check-ups with your doctor or cardiologist.