Heart-Healthy Diet: 5 Foods to Include and 5 Foods to Exclude For Better Heart Health
By Nmami Agarwal 28-Feb 2022 Reading Time: 4 Mins
Heart diseases are one of the most widely spread problems occurring around us. It already accounts for one-third of all deaths worldwide. Diet happens to play a very important role in the development and control of diseases. Diet impacts your heart health deeply. There are food items and groups that exert influence on the body’s blood pressure, triglycerides, cholesterol levels, and inflammation, they all serve as triggers for heart diseases. Here are some food suggestions that you should include or exclude for better heart health.
Food to include in your diet-
1- Leafy Green Vegetables like kale, spinach, and collard greens are a great source of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. They are a good source of Vitamin K, which protects the arteries and helps in blood clotting.
2- Whole Grains- Whole grains include all three parts namely germ, endosperm, and bran all are nutrient-rich parts and are found in rye, barley, quinoa, and buckwheat. They are high in fibre and reduce the LDL levels of the body (bad cholesterol)
3- Berries like blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries are all packed with nutrients and antioxidants like anthocyanins, that protect the body against stress and inflammation.
4- Avocados are a great source of monounsaturated fats, which are known to lower the levels of cholesterol especially LDL, and are also rich in potassium.
5- Fish oil- fatty fishes like mackerel, salmon, tuna, and sardines are all loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, salmon is known to decrease diastolic blood pressure effectively, and lower blood triglycerides or cholesterol.
Food to exclude from your diet-
1- Red or processed meat are sources of unsaturated fat, they can be replaced with plant protein like nuts, soy, or legumes.
2- Sugary food and beverages, any food with added sugar is harmful to the body, people are advised to cut off from sugar from daily intake of calories as well, this can help maintain weight and fight of cardia issues as well
3- Processed foods have all kinds of stuff that harm the body like high sugar, salt, trans fat, saturated fat and additives, and food colouring, none of these items is beneficial for health.
4- Refined carbohydrates mostly lack fibre and can lead imbalance in blood sugar levels, overconsumption can lead to insulin resistance and weight gain and risk cardiovascular diseases. Some refined carbs that we should try and limit are white flour, desserts, pizza dough, cakes, biscuits, breakfast cereal, etc
5- Salt- high levels of sodium increase the risk of high blood pressure, and therefore sodium should be limited.
Over to you
A proper cardiac diet aims at encouraging people to eat healthful, and anti-inflammatory food which reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.