Your heart beats around a lakh times a day. Diet, activity and a few nutrients help keep it working well.
Nutrients that support your heart
Omega-3 (fish oil)
The EPA and DHA fats in fish oil support the heart and brain.
- How much you need: No official allowance; supplements usually give 250–1,000 mg EPA + DHA a day.
- Best food sources: Oily fish (mathi/sardine, mackerel), walnuts, flaxseed.
Be careful:
- On blood thinners (warfarin, clopidogrel, aspirin): ask a doctor — more bleeding risk.
- Fish allergy: avoid fish oil.
Coenzyme Q10
Helps cells make energy; often taken by people on statin (cholesterol) tablets.
- How much you need: No official allowance; supplements usually 100–200 mg a day.
- Best food sources: Meat, fish, nuts, whole grains.
Be careful:
- Can weaken warfarin — ask a doctor.
- Not in pregnancy without advice.
Magnesium
Needed by muscles and nerves, for a steady heart rhythm, and for bone.
- How much you need: Men 440 mg, women 370 mg a day (ICMR-NIN 2020).
- Best food sources: Nuts, seeds, whole grains, pulses, green leafy vegetables.
Be careful:
- Kidney disease: not without a doctor.
- Can loosen stools.
Everyday habits that help
- Exercise daily
- Healthy diet, less salt
When to see a doctor: Supplements never replace BP, sugar or cholesterol medicines. Chest pain is an emergency.
Before you take any supplement
- Supplements fill a gap in the diet; they do not treat disease. Anyone with a diagnosed condition (diabetes, kidney, liver or heart disease) or on regular medicines should ask their doctor first.
- Doses here are for ADULTS. Children’s and pregnancy supplements are chosen by the doctor.
- Only products made entirely of nutrients are suggested (vitamins, minerals, probiotics, amino acids, plant extracts) — anything that also contains a drug is left out.
- Daily amounts are the ICMR-NIN 2020 recommended dietary allowances where one exists; more is not better.
- Products are listed focused-first (1–3 ingredients), then multivitamins, each by how often our shops sold it — a multivitamin may carry only a small amount of a given nutrient.
Not sure what suits you? Ask our pharmacist at any FirstShield store, or message us on WhatsApp.