We all know that eating healthily is an essential part of living well – but how do you get started? Learn how to follow a heart-healthy diet.
While it’s important to know what foods to avoid, it’s even more important to know what foods to eat for your health. According to studies, adding specific foods to your diet is just as essential as limiting certain foods.
By following a heart-healthy diet, you can help lower your blood pressure, blood sugar, triglycerides, total cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol. Furthermore, by choosing to eat healthy foods, you may significantly reduce the risk of developing certain health issues.
The American College of Cardiology (ACC) and American Heart Association (AHA) provide guidelines for heart-healthy diets. According to their recommendations, your diet should emphasize vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, lean animal protein, and fish. Meanwhile, you should avoid trans fats, saturated fats, red meat, processed meats, refined carbohydrates, and sweetened beverages.
Tips for Eating Healthily
By eating fruits and vegetables, you’ll fill your diet with foods rich in antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber. Make it a goal to eat a combined seven to nine servings of fruits and veggies per day for the best results.
If you need ideas on how to include them in your diet, consider buying pre-cut veggies and fruit, fresh or frozen. Also, you can drink veggie/fruit smoothies, eat vegetable-based soups, and eat fruit slices instead of cookies and chips.
It’s also important to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables to be able to get a variety of nutrients in your system. For example, you can make your food a rainbow of colors by eating oranges, tomatoes, plums, blueberries, spinach, and bananas.
Limiting Unhealthy Foods
While we need fat in our diet, not all types of fat are necessary. For instance, trans fats and saturated fats are bad because they increase your LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. Instead, you should eat good fats like monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats available in seeds, nuts, avocados, flaxseed, olive, soy, and fatty fish.
Also, when it comes to protein, it’s better to get eat more plant-based proteins than animal protein. Animal protein (beef, pork, lamb, poultry, eggs) typically comes with higher amounts of cholesterol and saturated fat. As a result, they contribute to weight gain and a higher risk of developing heart disease.
The Outlook
When creating your new heart-healthy diet, there are some other things to keep in mind. Make sure you eat more fiber and whole grains, choose low-fat or non-fat dairy products, limit sweets and alcohol intake, and are mindful of portion control.
As you improve your diet, your heart health will improve as well. In addition to eating healthily, you can take supplements like L-arginine Plus for an extra boost. Its ingredients are effective at promoting circulation, blood pressure, cholesterol, and more. If you’re ready to support your heart, then start eating better and take L-arginine Plus.