Heart Friendly Diet
Keeping your heart healthy is the best way of achieving optimal health. What you eat is the key to your good health. Choosing the right food items can keep your heart pumping healthily without obstructing the blood flow. For a healthy heart, nutritionists recommend a diet low in cholesterol. They suggest avoiding whole milk, cheese and butter, ice cream and other such products. They further suggest reducing the consumption of sugar because excess sugar in the body is converted into fats and remains in the body, if not burned with proper amount of physical activity.
Certain foods can lower cholesterol and thus reduce the risk of heart diseases. According to nutritionists, a heart-friendly diet contains complex carbohydrates in moderate amount, little cholesterol, little amount of sugar and very less sodium or no sodium.
Here are some foods that are heart friendly and takes very good care of your heart.
1. Oats: Eating one-cup of oatmeal a day can help you to reduce cholesterol because oatmeal contains beta-glucans and soluble fiber which reduces cholesterol significantly.
2. Onions have the capacity to raise HDL cholesterol. So eat raw onions along with your meals.
3. Flax seed oil which is the best source of Omega-3 and lingams can reduce blood cholesterol and blood pressure.
4. Walnuts can lower cholesterol level and prevent blood clotting to a great extent because it contains a linolenic acid, a type of fat.
5. Drinking a glass of apple juice or eating one or two apple a day is beneficial for heart health. Studies have shown that phytochemicals in apples can reduce blood pressure and risk of heart attack by making the blood thinner
6. Legumes or beans contain fiber which can reduce cholesterol, blood clotting and improve the function of blood vessel.
7. Olive oil and Canola Oil: Among all cooking oils, olive oil is the best source of monounsaturated fat and powerful anti oxidants that can lower LDL cholesterol level.
To maintain heart health, we must control the intake of salt in our diet. It is possible only when we avoid table salt, chips and fast foods. Fast foods like burger and pizzas contain too much of salt. The best option for heart friendly diet is to incorporate lots of fruits and vegetables in your diet. Fish and chicken can be eaten but consumption of meat shouldn’t be more than 6 ounce per day. Remove processed food from your diet, because they contain preservatives which are not good for our health. Living a healthy lifestyle and sticking to a heart-friendly diet can prevent stroke and heart disease to a great extent.
