Food and Your Heart Health
Nutrition is the cornerstone of a healthy heart. By not eating right you are raising your risk of heart disease. Understanding what a healthy diet is can greatly improve your risks for heart disease by controlling cholesterol and inflammation.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death. One factor that increases the risk of heart disease is being overweight. Luckily you can improve your chances of staying heart healthy by implementing a healthy eating plan.
The best thing you can do for a heart healthy diet is to focus on consuming foods that come are plant based. These include fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
You should also focus on eating more lean meats such as fish, skinless poultry and lower fat grass fed beef. You will also want moderate amounts of polyunsaturated or monounsaturated oils and fats, such as olive oil. By mixing together the plant based foods with healthy lean meats you can build a great diet for heart health. Next are some tips to get you going on a heart healthy nutrition plan.
Most of your meal should consist of fruits and vegetables of different colors. The meat, bread and starches should be no more than half of the meal.
Choose wholegrain instead of white varieties of bread products.
Lean meats such as poultry should be eaten and keep it in portions under 4 oz.
Dairy products should only be low fat or reduced fat. Keeping your dairy to a minimum will help with calories and fat.
Fish is a great way to add healthy lean proteins that are great for your heart. Start by trying out a baked fish once or twice a week.
Don’t consume fried foods – of any kind.
When in doubt use only whole foods, nothing processed, to make your meals.
Increase your consumption of water and reduce your intake of salt.
I know it is not easy to change your diet. Yet by taking the time to make changes that are lasting you can make big strides to a heart healthy life.
The sooner you start the better your chances of avoiding major disease, so what are you waiting for?
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