Suffering from high blood pressure or high cholesterol related issues, and want to manage diabetes? If you are reading this article, then chances are that you are looking for a heart healthy diet plan, which is unofficially known as cardiac diet. This is essentially a combination of nutrient rich diet coupled with an exercise program tailored to suit individual health conditions, needs and of course lifestyle. It is good or recommended for those suffering from cardiovascular diseases to follow a heart healthy diet. This type of diet is considered highly beneficial also for those who want to lose weight or ensure that onset of lifestyle disease is delayed successfully. We’ll also talk about alcohol and heart disease.
What is a heart healthy or cardiac diet?
It goes without saying that a lot of fruits and green vegetables are the most important part of cardiac diet for anyone with a family history of artery diseases. However, the real trick is to get the most of the benefits of fruits and vegetable is to ensure that you do not add salt or sugar to your fruit or vegetables. Eating raw fruits and vegetables is highly effective. It boosts your immune system, heart health, digestive system and overall health.
Cardiac diet that everyone can follow easily
Green vegetables such as:
- Spinach
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Tomato
- Carrot
- Bell peppers
- Omega 3 fatty acids- Salmon, chia seeds, Tuna, walnuts, flaxeed and sardines to name a few.
5 things you must avoid to make your food heart healthy
Saturated fat, which mainly comes from fatty beef, dairy products and packaged food including donuts
Too much salt– you cannot avoid eating salt completely, nor is it recommended to stop eating salt. Here, the key is moderation. You should limit your salt intake. Extra sodium or salt raises your blood pressure, which results in various cardiovascular health issues. In fact, simply avoiding sprinkling additional salt on food can do the trick if you have not been diagnosed with high BP yet.
Sugar– It may be difficult if you have a sweet tooth.
Are frozen vegetables good for heart? Startling facts
If you are under the impression that frozen fruits or vegetables are not as nutritious as their fresh counterparts, then here is the reality check. A research conducted by University of Georgia produced some startling facts. The findings were quite opposite to what is commonly believed that fresh fruits and vegetables are richer in nutrients than frozen food. Mainly broccoli, corn, green peas, spinach and cauliflower were studied over a periods of two years at 3 different stages; fresh, while stored in fridge and in a frozen state.
Fresh produce have high nutritional value
In fact, some fresh produce were found to have higher nutritional value in frozen state than they had when they were fresh. Freezing process essentially pauses the perishing process, which results in keeping the highest nutritional value of food intact.
Here is what author Ron Pegg said and disapproved the assusmption.
There is a misconception out there that if you freeze [produce], you are losing the nutrients, the vitamins, and the minerals,” says Pegg, who designed the study. “And that fresh is much better than the frozen. That is not the case at all.”- Ron Pegg. Read the full report.
By going through the above report, we can safely conclude that fresh fruits and vegetables are the best diet for heart, whether they are frozen or farm fresh. It hardly makes any difference as long as the standard freezing process is followed.
Cardiovascular or artery diseases
Before talking about heart disease or heart attack, let’s take a look at artery diseases. As the name suggests, it is a disease related to arteries, which are essentially blood vessels that carry nutrients from the heart to other parts of the body. Arteries start depositing plaque on their inner walls when we lead a sedentary lifestyle for prolonged periods and many other factors such as obesity or diabetic issues. Arteries with a build-up of fatty deposits become narrow from inside, which make it difficult for them to carry blood in sufficient quantity. This leads to many other health issues or artery diseases. As narrow arteries try their level best to carry as much blood as they can, they get damaged over a period of time and result in many other health issues collectively known as cardiovascular disease.
Is alcohol good for heart ?-Alcohol and heart disease
Many people argue that drinking alcohol is good for health as reported by many research work and journals. However there is a catch. Simply drinking alcohol to your heart’s content will cause more harm than good. Moderation is the key. Two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women above the age of 45 is considered safe and good for heart health.
This brings us to another important point as to why drinking more is not more beneficial. Well the answer is simple; excess of anything is bad and alcohol is no exception. However, there is more to it. Alcohol in excess quantities over a long period of time increases your blood pressure and weakens your heart muscles, which are some of the reasons of heart attack and many ailments.
Why is alcohol in moderate quantities good for heart?
Blood carries nutrients to all parts of the body. As we drink alcohol, it gets absorbed directly by the bloodstream through our digestive system. As alcohol passes through your arteries, it reduces the amount of fatty deposits, which are mainly responsible for narrowing your arteries. By clearing some of the deposits, alcohol essentially cleans your arteries and makes them flexible and wide. This results in more and better flow of blood through them and reduced blood pressure. Patients who drink moderately are often fitter than those who don’t drink but eat a lot of fatty food and lead a sedentary lifestyle.
Different opinions about moderate alcohol consumption
However, by this article, I have no intention to encourage the reader to start drinking alcohol because there is no guarantee that everyone will benefit from moderate drinking. In fact, even doctors and researchers have varied opinions about it. Many believe that those who can control their alcohol consumption habit, often have better and controlled eating habits than those who drink in excess quantities. The overall better health and reduced blood pressure is a result of their controlled eating habits and not of moderate alcohol consumption. Though some studies and observations indicate towards the benefits of alcohol on heart health, it largely depends on your overall lifestyle, body types and many other factors.
As per a study from more than 20 countries, moderate drinkers are 20-40% less likely to develop heart diseases than those who drink excessively or are non-drinkers.
6 little known tips for healthy heart
- Be social- Research has proved that those who stay alone are more likely to suffer a heart attack or cardiac arrest than those who socialize quite often. As you interact more with different people, you tend to relax your nerves which result in your favour.
- Laugh more often than you do
Did you know that laughing is one of the best medicines for heart? Laughing relaxes and expands your blood vessels, which is good for your heart health.
- Happiness is good for heart health
If you remain tensed or depressed, then you are on the higher risk of developing heart diseases. On the other hand, those who remain happy are less likey to develop heart disease.
- Good sex life is also important
If you are a man and have at least 3 orgasms a week, then your chances of having a heart disease is reduced by half.
- People with diabetes or women may not have chest pain which is the classic symptom of heart attack. Nausea, jaw pain and shortness of breath are the common symptoms among diabetic patients.
Heart healthy food
Though internet is flooded with lengthy explanations about heart healthy food such as green and leafy vegetables and fruits, I’d like to repeat the most basic idea. The bottom line is, the more natural and raw food you eat, the better your heart will be. However, here is a quick recap of the list of food for good cardiovascular health or healthy heart.
- Brown rice
- Kidney beans
- Broccoli
- Salmon and Tuna
- Oatmeal
- Almond
- Walnut
- All types of leafy and green vegetables in as much raw form as you can eat.
I am not diabetic, can I develop heart disease?
This is a very common misconception that if you don’t have high sugar level in your blood or you are not diabetic, your chances of developing heart diseases is low. In fact, cholesterol starts building up long before diabetes or high blood sugar level is detected. As cholesterol starts building up, you start heading towards CVD or cardiovascular diseases. Your heart starts working harder to pump blood to other parts of the body. It results in weakening of blood vessels. The sad fact is that in a majority of cases, people don’t notice any symptoms of diabetes or high cholesterol level until the situation really become serious.
Diabetes can be managed
Almost 80% of people suffering from diabetes are likely to suffer from heart disease. However, the good news is that both diabetes and heart diseases can be managed effectively if you make slight changes to your lifestyle.
One of the most important tips to manage type 2 diabetes
Lowering sugar intake and being physically more active are the most common diabetes management tips. What most people miss out on is managing stress. While it is true that modern lifestyle, fast food culture and tough professional goals lead to stress, there are ways to manage them instead of complaining. Stress for prolonged period is one of the major contributing factors for development of diabetes. If you can manage your stress level, then managing your diabetes or blood sugar level will be comparatively easier than trying to manage it by using medication alone.
Easy tips to manage stress
- Be realistic: Usually you get stressed when you set unrealistic goals that you cannot achieve for various reasons.
- Be systematic : It is part of being realistic. If your professional goals are what you must achieve, then look at the reasons that are causing you stress. Develop your competence, learn new skills, get the required tool and make time to ensure that you do what is required to achieve your goal instead of stressing over it.
- Don’t get stressed for things you cannot change
Think realistically
It has been noticed that most people get stressed over things they cannot control. Once you start thinking and working realistically, you will be able to identify what can be done by using the resources your have. Why worry about things you cannot do anything about?
Take life as it comes. Do not be stressed unnecessarily. This simple technique will help you manage diabetes and delay heart diseases to a great extent.
Need assistance with diabetes management?
Are you aware of the Big Diabetes Lie? You will be surprised to find out that most of what you know about diabetes is a lie. Not only can you manage your diabetes effectively, but you can also live a healthier and more active life than those who don’t have diabetes.
Moreover, you will not have to be dependent on medication, special diet or exercise programmes. All you need to do is watch the video till the end and decide what is good for you.
Manage your sugar level
You can either choose to manage your sugar level or glucose using the conventional medication, or opt for natural way of living a healthy life without spending a good amount of money every year on your medication. In fact, you’ll not even have to restrict your diet to live a healthy life. However, some changes will be recommended, which will include some changes in your eating habits. Don’t worry, their recommended diet or food programme will not mean compromising on your taste. In fact, you’ll get to explore a lot of other options that will be much better and tastier than what you normally eat. After all, you have been reading this article till the end means that you are really serious about your diabetes or heart health. Why not give it a try?
Read about 2 minute ritual to reverse the signs of heart attack