What you eat is key to keeping your heart in good shape and healthy too.
Here are best foods for heart health.
Heart disease, we all know, is a leading cause of death worldwide. It happens to both men and women around the world, especially the middle-aged people.
In addition to lifestyle factors like engaging in a regular exercise and not smoking, diet is one of the best ways to protect your heart. That’s because inflammation, blood pressure, cholesterol and other heart disease risk factors are affected by what you eat. In particular, diets high in fiber, healthy fats and antioxidants, have been shown to help support heart-health, where as high intake of added sugar and processed meats are associated with an increased risk of heart disease. While many diet claim to support heart-health, it’s important to choose one that’s backed by research and easy to maintain long term.
The dash diet:
Dash stands for Dietary Approaches to stop Hypertension, and was designed to help prevent and treat hypertension or high blood pressure. In turn, it reduces your risk of heart disease like the Mediterranean diet. The DASH diet doesn’t mandate a strict food list. instead, it recommends specific amount of food groups based on your calories needs, focusing on whole grains, fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy and lean meats, while limiting red meat, refined grains and added sugars.
For individuals with high blood pressure, reducing sodium intake has been shown to significantly reduce blood pressure, especially when combined with the DASH diets. However, research suggests that this effect is less significant among people with normal blood pressure levels.
The diet emphasis on high fiber foods such as whole grains, and vegetables and elimination of added sugars and saturated fats may also contribute to its heart health effects. Indeed, studies have proven that the DASH diets reduce heart disease risk factors like blood pressure, obesity, waist circumference, cholesterol levels and insulin resistance.
An umbrella review of 7review linked the DASH diet to a 20 percent reduce risk of heart disease,19 percent reduced risk of stroke, and 18 percent reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.
Vegan and vegetarian diets:
Vegan and vegetarian diets are eating patterns that eliminate all meats, including poultry, red meat and fish. While some vegetarians include other sources of animal products, such as eggs and dairy, vegans strictly avoid all animal derived ingredients, including dairy, eggs bee pollen, honey and gelatin. Instead, these diets emphasize fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils, soy products, whole grains, nuts, seeds and plant -based oil and fats. This high proportion of plant foods gives vegan and vegetarian diets several health benefits. For example, these diets are often higher in fiber antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory compounds – all of which aid heart health. Additionally, regularly consuming whole soya products like tofu, is associated with heart benefits.
In a review of 46 studies, soya protein intake was found to significantly reduce LDL (bad) and total cholesterol levels. Several other reviews have found vegetarian and vegan diets to significantly improve heart disease risk factors, including high cholesterol and blood pressure levels, overweight and obesity and unmanaged blood sugar levels.
Of course, diet quality remains important. Vegan or vegetarian diets that are high in added sugars, refined grains, and heavily processed foods don’t offer the same heart health benefits as those high in whole, minimally processed plant foods.
The low carbs diets:
Low carb diets not only restrict your carb intake but are also typically higher in protein and fat than the typical Western diet. They tend to limit foods like breads, grains, pasta, potatoes, and sugary snacks and beverages. Depending on the specific diet, carbs may be restricted to 10-40 percent of calories per day.
Research suggests that low carb diets may boost heart health by reducing certain heart disease risk factors, including overweight, obesity, and high triglyceride and blood pressure levels while increasing HDL (good) cholesterol. While one review found an increase in LDL (bad) cholesterol, it also showed a greater increase in HDL (good) cholesterol – suggesting that low carb diets may help maintain a favorable LDL to HDL ratio, although these results are promising more long-term research is needed.
Additionally, not all low carb diets are inherently heart healthy. Some observational studies note an increased risk of heart disease and related death in people following these diets. Yet, a study that considered diet quality associated low carb diet rich in plant protein and fat with a reduced risk of death from heart disease and all causes – whereas those high in animal protein and fat were linked to an increased risk. As such, diet quality is key. especially low carb diets, should contain adequate amount of fiber from plant food like vegetables and emphasize healthy fats such as avocados, nuts, seeds, minimally processed oil and fish rich in Omega 3.
Several diets have been shown to boost heart health. Despite their differences, these eating patterns all emphasize whole, minimally ones, especially those high in added sugar and saturated fats. Diet is just one piece of the equation of to support your heart health. It’s also important to exercise regularly, refrain from smoking and find ways to reduce your stress levels.
As disease prevention involves several lifestyle factors, it can be helpful to choose a plan that promotes a healthy weight and regular physical activity.
Finally, before starting on any diet, consult your health care provider to make sure it’s right option for your needs
Happy healthy eating!
Leave a Reply