Fix Your Diet to Fix Heart Disease
Heart disease is a common disease all around the world, and for people who suffer from heart disease, diet is a very big deal. Healthy habits and proper diet, along with exercising, can prevent the narrowing of arteries and reduce the risk of heart diseases.
However, not many know about the kind of diet that maintains their cholesterol level, blood pressure, blood sugar, and maintain their weight as well. The best thing that one can do is to focus on their diet and figure out what is good for the heart and what is not good. In order to cope up with heart disease, you need to fix your diet and work upon it. Let us provide you with a few strategies that will help you to maintain your heart health.
How to fix your diet
Have a look at these strategies that will help you maintain good heart health.
Include vegetables, legumes, fruits and whole grains in your diet
Since plant-based foods are high in nutrients and fiber, you should definitely consider these. You can include them in many ways in your diet, such as in a salad, as an entrée, or even as a side dish. The only thing you have to be careful about is not to include in a lot of fat or cheese.
Be wise when choosing fat calories
The first thing which you must do is to put a limit to the saturated fat as well as avoid trans-fat as much as you can. Be sure to check out the ingredients mentioned whenever you are buying any product. Avoid buying anything which has partially hydrogenated oils. Even if you are using added fats in your cooking or baking, you must choose oils that are high in monounsaturated fat like olive oil or peanut oil.
Make sure you take enough protein
It is very important to include protein-enriched foods in your diet in order to maintain healthy heart health. You must eat balanced meals with portions of lean meat, leafy green vegetables, and fish to get the required amount of protein.
Limit cholesterol
Foods such as red meat or high-fat dairy products are known to increase the cholesterol level in the body. You should be aware of those foods that can increase your cholesterol level as this can be dangerous for heart health.
Pick the correct carbs
The most important thing that you must do is to avoid foods that have sugar in them. Apart from this, include foods that have the ability to control the blood sugar level such as brown rice, brown bread, sweet potatoes, quinoa, spinach, and oatmeal.
Develop the habit of eating regularly
Starving and adapting irregular eating habits will do you no good. Instead, you should focus on having proper meals in a day and establish the habit of eating regularly. This will not only help a heart patient to control his blood sugar, but it will also regulate the cholesterol level in the body. Apart from this, developing a regular eating habit will also increase the metabolism in the body and burn fat efficiently than ever before.
Limit the use of salt
No doubt, salt gives taste in the foods, and for some people cutting down on salt can be difficult. Nevertheless, too much salt is bad for blood pressure. If you cannot compromise without salt in your food, you can go for many substitutes such as condiments, spices, and herbs to add flavor in your food.
Keep yourself hydrated
It is very important to stay hydrated as this will make you feel hungry less often. When you eat less, you feel comparatively more energetic. You should drink at least 1 to 2 liters of water throughout the day until and unless your doctor has refused you to do so regarding any health issue you might have. Drinking water will not only make you feel energetic, but it will also reduce the risk of many kinds of heart diseases.
Appropriate portion size
To fix your heart diseases, you need to pay attention to the serving size of your meal. You cannot just eat lots and lots without any worry. You can make use of smaller glasses and plates, and before eating, check on the food labels so as to check their serving.
Make a weekly diet plan
If you are really serious about eating healthy and managing healthy heart health, you need to plan out the entire week’s menu. You should know which foods to eat and which ones to limit. Emphasize more on vegetables, fruits, and grains. Cut down on salts and include proteins in your diet. Put an end to sugar as it can lead to many problems. Apart from this, cut down on carbs and pay attention to the serving size as well. All this planning will help you to include a variety in your foods while at the same time it will also help you to create a very healthy meal.
The bottom line
While all of these strategies will surely help you to fix your heart disease, it is very important at the same time to visit your doctor regularly for your checkup. Apart from this, exercising is another aspect that helps in maintaining heart health.
If you take a good diet but do not exercise, the chances are high that you can develop heart disease. A good diet is the answer and solution to many problems. A balanced diet, which includes proteins, limits sugars, salt, and carbs, can surely avoid any complications in the heart. So make sure to avoid foods that are not good for the heart.
If you’re not sure of the diet plan you should follow, you can always make an appointment at South Florida CardioVascular Specialists, and our experts will help you with all that you need to know.
So focus on those foods which are healthy and cut down and remove all the unhealthy foods from your life so that you can maintain good heart health. Just fix your diet to fix your heart disease!