While most diets are designed to be temporary, the person who is looking to modify their diet for heart health is looking for diet tips that can be applied and adhered to for the rest of their life. Because of this, super restrictive diets are not livable for the long term. Instead, making careful choices, substituting foods where possible and adding foods to the regular eating routine are all things that can be done and kept up with long term. The key is to practice these heart smart tips for a while, and then they begin to become second nature.
Heart Health and Food Tip #1:
Add fish to your diet. Fish is the easiest place to get Omega-3 fatty acids. These fatty acids are considered “good fats” for a few reasons. First of all, fish oil helps raise “good” cholesterol numbers which helps prevent arterial blockage. On top of this, the Omega-3 fatty acids are anti-oxidants that bind to a completely different set of free radicals compared to the anti-oxidants from plant sources. Fish oil also has been shown to help increase blood flow, lower blood pressure. To get an idea about how powerful fish oil is, know that those on anti-clotting medication have to be very consistent about their consumption of fish because it can throw off their clotting factor.
If fish is not something you enjoy eating, consider taking fish oil capsules on a daily basis instead. You will get all of the health benefits of fish in capsule form. If you are also counting calories, be aware that fish oil IS oil and will add slightly to your daily fat and calorie consumption. Also, be sure to take a healthy and recommended amount. Over consumption can lead to problems!
Heart Health and Food Tip #2:
Garlic is good! Most people enjoy a little garlic flavor here and there but having garlic on a daily basis has been shown in multiple studies to have a positive effect on heart health. There are at least fifteen different antioxidants in garlic which all work together to prevent damage, protect the heart and new research is beginning to show that garlic is actually able to help remove arterial plaque. On top of this, garlic is good for the rest of the body too. Studies have shown that a regular diet of garlic helps with joint pain, especially from osteoarthritis as well as having an overall energy boost effect on the body.
Most of the studies show that cooked garlic works just as well as raw in terms of getting the health benefits. For people that don’t like garlic, it too is available in pill form. Many of these pills even claim to be free of any garlic odor which is one reason people typically avoid garlic.
Heart Health and Food Tip #3:
Switch to olive oil. There has been clamor around the “Mediterranean diet” because it is a fat rich diet that has a culture that is virtually free of heart disease. There are regions of the Mediterranean where fat consumption is over 40 percent of their daily calorie intake yet they are incredibly healthy people. Statistics show that the residents of one country in the region are twenty times less likely to die of heart disease than Americans. Monounsaturated fats are pointed to as the heart health cause and there are other oils and foods that are high in these oils.
Most foods can be enhanced with olive oil. However, frying foods is hard because olive oil has such a low burn point and smokes easily. Consider a blend for frying and consider pan frying things instead as well. Mild olive oils can be used instead of vegetable oil for inclusion in most recipes without any discernable taste of the olives as well.
Heart Health and Food Tip #4:
A handful of nuts a day keeps the cardiologist at bay. Almonds and hazelnuts have both been shown to be good sources of monounsaturated fats as well. In fact, Hazelnuts are more packed with this heart healthy fat than olive oil. A small handful a day of either almonds or hazelnuts has been shown to have health effects including elevating “good” cholesterol levels, lowering the bad ones and reducing the triglycerides levels as well.
For those who don’t like the taste or texture of almonds, you can still get much of the benefit from purchasing almond milk. It is a good substitution for putting on breakfast cereal or can be mixed fifty-fifty with milk to help reduce animal fats and get the benefits of almonds.
Heart Health and Food Tip #5:
Choose whole grains. As whole grain options become available for more and more products, it is becoming easier to choose them for any dish. Whole grains are full of fiber which essentially acts like a sponge, pulling and prevent toxins from entering the body. Many studies have shown that there are numerous benefits of a high fiber diet, including maintaining heart health as well as preventing certain types of cancers.
Whole grain breads are an easy switch, however whole grain pasta for many is a tough sell. Some new varieties have nailed the normal taste and texture while maintaining the whole grain health benefits. Consider quinoa pasta as well as it is very high in fiber, is also gluten free and has a texture and flavor that is unique but very pleasant.
More articles:
- Fish and Heart Health
- The French Have Excellent Heart Health – Is It The Wine?
- Reduce Your Risk of Strokes and Improve Heart Health with Super-Foods
- The Best Diet for Heart Health
- How To Modify Your Eating Habits After Heart Surgery
- Heart Secrets of the Mediterranean Diet
- Why Fatty Fish are Heart Healthy and Pack a Powerful Punch
- A Heart to Heart About the Benefits of Tea
- Nuts for Preventing Heart Damage
- Eat Olive Oil: The Fat that Works for You