Your diet can greatly affect your cardiovascular health, and healthcare providers often advise people with cardiovascular conditions to follow a "cardiac diet." A cardiac diet is meant to promote heart health and prevent or slow the progression of heart disease. Talk to your doctor about a cardiac diet before you make any dietary changes.
Diet
The most prevalent risks of heart disease or heart attack are having high blood pressure and high cholesterol, as well as being overweight or obese, and a cardiac diet aims to attack all three factors. A cardiac diet typically limits or eliminates foods containing trans and saturated fats, as well as cholesterol, the Mayo Clinic says. Cardiac diets also promote increased consumption of whole grains, fruits, vegetables and low-fat proteins. You would also eliminate or reduce red and processed meats, high-sugar foods, salt and alcohol, notes the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Additionally, a cardiac diet excludes high-calorie, low-nutrient foods.
Food Choices
If you're following a heart-healthy diet, you would limit saturated fat to no more than 7 percent of total calorie intake per day, cholesterol to less than 300 mg daily and trans fat to no more than 1 percent of total calories, the Mayo Clinic says. You can achieve these targets by replacing lard, shortening, hydrogenated margarine and palm, cottonseed or coconut oils with trans fat-free or cholesterol-lowering margarine and olive or canola oil. You can reduce your animal-fat intake by choosing skim or 1-percent milk and other low-fat or fat-free dairy products, notes the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Replacing eggs and egg yolks with egg whites or egg substitutes can also reduce your cholesterol and fat intake. Cardiac diets include two or more servings of fish every week and no more than one or two alcoholic drinks per day, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. You should avoid soft drinks and replace fatty meats with lean meats, soy products and skinless poultry. Replace baked goods containing white flour with products made with whole wheat or whole grain, oatmeal, brown rice and flaxseed. Cardiac diets usually recommend that you consume less than 2,400 mg of sodium per day from either table salt or sodium added to processed foods.
Effects
Consuming whole grains and high-fiber foods in your diet can promote heart health by reducing blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains can help in controlling your body weight, which contributes to your cardiovascular health, says the University of Maryland Medical Center. Fruits and vegetables are also nutrient-rich but low-calorie foods and may actually prevent cardiovascular diseases due to certain plant-based substances, the Mayo Clinic explains. Replacing fatty meats with fish can not only lower your fat and cholesterol intake, but it can also provide omega-3 fatty acids that can lower your triglyceride levels. Finally, the component in the cardiac diet that aims to reduce cholesterol and fat intake, particularly trans and saturated fats, can lower your blood cholesterol levels and prevent plaque buildup in your arteries, which can reduce your risks of stroke and heart attack.
Dietary Supplements
A cardiac diet sometimes also recommends adding certain nutritional supplements. You might take supplements of magnesium, l-carnitine, l-arginine and coenzyme Q10 for heart health, says the University of Maryland Medical Center. Your doctor will likely also recommend that you get regular exercise in addition to a cardiac diet. The typical recommendation is at least 30 minutes of exercise every day or nearly every day.
Dangers
Many people have food allergies or dietary restrictions that can alter the cardiac diet, so talk with your doctor before starting the diet to discuss any special considerations. Don't start a cardiac diet or exercise regiment without first consulting a healthcare professional. Keep in mind that following a cardiac diet alone won't necessarily prevent or treat cardiovascular conditions.
