Nutrition Tips For A Healthy Heart

Nutrition

oi-Staff

By Ajanta Sen

Saturday, March 14, 2015, 15:29 [IST]

Protecting your heart from the attack of various diseases is very essential for your heart health. A healthy heart depends on a well-balanced diet. A balanced diet not only helps to lower the threat of heart diseases but it also keeps cancer and other life-threatening diseases at bay. Follow few tips for healthy heart in this article of ours.

Restraining the calories in your food, regulating the intake of particular foods and consuming an assortment of foods are among the various nutrition tips for healthy heart. A well-balanced diet helps to reduce your blood pressure and cholesterol and thereby lowering your risk of heart disorders. Good nutrition also helps to reduce your weight in a healthy way.

Food To Have A Healthy Heart!

Sometimes even after being aware of consuming specific foods for a healthy heart, it becomes very difficult to change your habitual diet. However, now you don’t have to worry even if you have been accustomed to an unhealthy diet for a long time. Here are some simple tips for healthy heart which will enlighten you about which foods you should eat and which to curb:

Fruits And Veggies
Fruits and veggies abound with minerals, vitamins and fiber and low in calories. Eating fruits and veggies is one of the best tips for healthy heart because they comprise some substances which can help avert cardiovascular diseases. In order to incorporate these in your daily diet you can make recipes which contain fruits or veggies as staple ingredients. For example, you can make vegetable or fruit salads, vegetable curries, vegetable soups, fruit custards etc.

Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates or carbs give energy to your body. There are 2 kinds of carbs- Good carbs(or complex carbs)and bad carbs(or simple carbs). Soda, sugar, desserts, pies, pastries, candies, cookies, white bread, white rice, white pasta and artificial syrups fall under the category of bad carbs. Bad carbs add calories to your diet instead of adding nutrients. Hence, you should avoid consuming these to lower the risk of heart diseases.

One of the most effective tips for healthy heart is consuming only good carbs. Good carbs consist of longer sugar molecule chains and your body takes more time to break them down for using them. As a result, they give more energy to your body. Good carbs include whole grains like brown breads, whole-wheat pasta. Studies say that by consuming these you can keep the threat of heart diseases at bay.

Whole Grains
Whole grains help control blood pressure which leads to a healthy heart. Thus, adding whole grains to your daily diet can be one of the best nutrition tips for healthy heart. Replace your refined grain foods with whole grains such as barley, brown rice, oatmeal, whole-wheat flour, whole-grain bread, quinoa, couscous etc.

Flaxseed is another good example of whole grains. They are rich in omega 3 fatty acids and fiber which can reduce your levels of blood cholesterol. Take a blender and grind some flax seeds in it. Take about one teaspoon of this powdered flax seed mixture and mix it in your recipes like in applesauce, yogurt or breakfast cereals.

Cut Down Your Salt Intake
Chopping down your salt intake is one of the numerous tips for healthy heart. Excess salt or excess sodium in your diet can increase your blood pressure which can lead to heart disorders. Processed or canned foods like frozen meals and soups contain excess sodium which you must avoid to keep your heart healthy. Make soups at your home so that you can reduce the salt amount. In the market you can find some salt substitutes which contain lesser amount of sodium, you can use these in place of your regular salt.