What you eat has a great impact on your heart. Foods that are heart healthy are fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and beans. These foods have lots of heart-healthy fiber, nutrients and phytonutrients. Eating fish twice a week is also a great way to get enough of the heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
When choosing foods with fat, look for low levels of saturated fat. Fatty meat and full fat milk, yogurt and cheese are high in saturated fat. Replace these fats with the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats found in most plant foods and vegetable oils.
One of the best things you can do to keep your heart healthy is to maintain a healthy body weight. When your weight is healthy, you are more likely to have healthy blood cholesterol levels, normal blood pressure and a strong and healthy cardiovascular system.
Eating only until you are full, including lots of low calorie fruits and vegetables in your diet, and eating planned and relaxed meals instead of on the go are just a few ways to stay trim. Exercising is helpful in many ways: You'll burn excess calories, strengthen your heart and cardiovascular system, and avoid sedentary activities where passive eating is common.
What to Look for
When shopping at the supermarket, choose most of your foods from the perimeter of the grocery store. In other words, fill your cart with fresh produce, fresh meat and dairy items, and fresh breads, grains, beans and nuts. These minimally processed foods and ingredients are mostly free of added sugar and added fat and contain fewer additives, preservatives and artificial ingredients.
When it comes to prepackaged and processed foods, read ingredient labels and nutrition facts. Try to avoid foods that are high in sodium like soups, sauces, packaged dinners and salty snacks. Choose low sodium versions or prepare these foods at home with less added salt.
A heart healthy diet doesn't necessarily need to be low in total fat. Diets with up to 35 percent of calories from fat are recommended for most people without a strong family history of heart disease or existing heart problems. To keep your heart healthy and cholesterol levels normal, though, avoid high levels of saturated fat and all trans fat.
Trans fat is now labeled on the Nutrition Facts label on food sold in the United States. The recommendation is to eat as little trans fat as possible for heart health. Look for foods with 0 g of trans fat and no hydrogenated vegetable oils listed in the ingredients.
What you do want is lots of fiber and simple ingredients like fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans. If you can't understand the ingredients, choose a more natural alternative or prepare the food at home where you can control the ingredients.
Common Pitfalls
Lots of heart health claims exist on packaged foods. But these claims often focus too much on individual components of foods and do little to help you create a complete heart healthy diet. Remember, there isn't one single food or magic ingredient that can protect your heart. The key is to eat a variety of plant foods to get heart healthy nutrients and fats, eat lower-fat meats and dairy products, and avoid foods that have lots of added sugar, trans fat or sodium.
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