The American Heart Association's (AHA) primary goal is to reduce heart disease. While there are many approaches to doing so, like exercise and regular preventive doctor visits, diet is one of the most crucial elements. You have to make choices about food several times per day, and too many bad choices can increase cholesterol, weight and blood pressure. The AHA champions several foods as integral to a healthy heart and waistline.
There's a strong correlation between heart disease, obesity and diabetes.
Fruits and Vegetables
Nearly every diet on the planet leans on fruits and vegetables, and for good reason. They're low fat, and they contain high concentrations of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. They're also low in sodium. The AHA recommends limiting sodium intake to less than 1,500 mg per day for heart health. Try to include at least four and a half cups of fruits and vegetables. As a rule of thumb, make at least half your plate fruits and vegetables at each meal. If you find you're hungry throughout the day, increase your fruit and vegetable intake rather than relying on fatty, sugary snack foods.
Whole Grains
The AHA recommends three ounces of whole grains per day. Examples of whole grains include brown rice, whole wheat bread and millet. They're important foods to include in your diet for several reasons. First, they're high in fiber, which lowers the bad cholesterol that leads to clogged arteries. Fiber also makes you feel full, which can help with your weight-loss efforts. Second, whole grains are digested more slowly than their processed counterparts, which helps you maintain stable blood sugar.
Healthy Fats
Some fats clog up your arteries and contribute to heart disease while other fats lubricate your joints and help your body processes without negatively impacting heart health. The AHA champions good fats, like mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. The enemy fats are trans fats and saturated fats. You should avoid trans fats at all costs and limit saturated fats to less than seven percent of your total calories. Fast food, fried foods and fatty meats contain high amounts of saturated fats. Foods like avocados and nuts contain healthy fats.
Fish
The AHA recommends that you eat fish at least two times per week. Fish is both low in calories and low in saturated fats. It's also high in good fats. If you replace two servings of higher fat meat with two servings of lean fish, you can dramatically reduce your saturated fat intake.
