Close your eyes and imagine a dinner table laden with bacon double cheeseburgers, creamy donuts, crispy nachos, fried chicken, French fries, and hot fudge sundaes! Drives you crazy to reach out for every unhealthy yet delicious food possible, right? Wonder how these foods could help you lose weight and keep you away from several heart diseases? Wish it could come true! Open your eyes and face the reality. These foods are a source of contracting various dangerous diseases and problems landing you with a large box of medicines to keep you alive for the rest of your life. As such, to keep away from any kind of heart problems, you should actually be eating spinach, Brussels sprouts, and cantaloupe. How unexciting and tasteless! Nevertheless, there are foods loaded with vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that will give you endless opportunities to reach out for them and keep your heart healthy, in turn. So, for all you people who wish to switch to a heart healthy diet, here is what you’ve been searching for. Read on.
Diet Plan for a Healthy Heart
Reduce Unhealthy Fats & Cholesterol
To reduce your blood cholesterol and lower the risk of coronary artery disease, it is highly essential to limit the consumption of saturated and trans fats. This can be done by consuming solid fats, such as butter, margarine, and shortening, in limited amounts. Further, trim all excess fat from meat or choose lean meats with less than 10 percent fat. And if you cannot prepare your meals without fats, opt for monounsaturated fats like olive oil and canola oil, or polyunsaturated fats, found in nuts and seeds.
Low-Fat Protein Sources
You can complete your protein nutrition by consuming lean meat, poultry, and fish, low-fat dairy products, and egg whites or egg substitutes. However, it is best to choose low fat versions, such as skim milk instead of whole milk and skinless chicken breasts instead of fried chicken patties. Further, you can replace high-fat meats with fish that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, known for lowering blood fats and hence, are heart healthy. Omega-3 fatty acids can be found in cold-water fish, like salmon, mackerel, and herring; flaxseed; walnuts; soybeans and canola oil. Legumes are another good source of protein with less fat and no cholesterol. Beans, peas, and lentils are some good options.
Fruits & Vegetables
Fruits and vegetables are not only good sources of vitamins and minerals, but they are extremely low in calories and rich in dietary fiber. They even contain substances that are known to prevent cardiovascular diseases. Pick up fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, low-sodium canned vegetables, or canned fruit packed in juice or water. However, keep away from coconuts, vegetables with creamy sauces, fried or breaded vegetables, canned fruit packed in heavy syrup, and frozen fruit with added sugar.
Whole Grains
Being a good source of fiber and other nutrients, whole grains help in regulating blood pressure and heart health. Whole grains can be added in your diet by replacing refined grain versions with whole-wheat flour, whole-grain bread, high-fiber cereal, whole-grain pasta, oatmeal, ground flaxseed, and whole grains like brown rice, barley, and buckwheat. Avoid products, such as white bread, muffins, frozen waffles, corn bread, doughnuts, biscuits, granola bars, cakes, pies, egg noodles, and buttered popcorn.
Cut Down Salt
Adding lots of salt in your food increase blood pressure, thereby enhancing the risk of cardiovascular diseases. As such, reducing and limiting the amount of salt is highly significant for following a heart healthy diet. Apart from reducing the amount of table salt, canned or processed foods, such as soups and frozen dinners, also contain high amounts of salt. In order to reduce your salt intake, prepare your own soups and stews and eat fresh foods. Further, you can choose your condiments carefully to limit salt consumption. These include salt substitutes, herbs, and spices. Also replace tomato juice and soy sauce with reduced-salt versions.
Watch Your Portion Size
Apart from guiding yourself with the foods to eat in a heart healthy diet, it is also important to know how much you eat. Overloading your plate, counting seconds, and eating speedily until you feel stuffed will only lead to intake of more calories, fat, and cholesterol than you should ideally be consuming. Thus, count your portion size to maintain a healthy weight and reduce the risk of heart diseases. Keep a track of your servings to avoid overeating.
By following these guidelines for a heart healthy diet, you can enjoy eating food that is both nutritious and flavorsome. Sketch out a healthy diet plan and eat your heart out!