Consuming a cardiac diet includes avoiding foods that contribute to high blood pressure, weight gain, risk of type 2 diabetes and spikes in cholesterol levels. The goal of consuming heart healthy foods on a daily basis is to curb cardiovascular disease, but the benefits extend to overall disease prevention. Following the right diet, combined with other lifestyle changes, can reverse and prevent worsening of existing heart disease in addition to reducing the risk of chronic illness.
Types
Recommendations for a cardiac diet from the National Institutes of Health include following a DASH diet: Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. Choose foods low in saturated fat, cholesterol, total fat and salt content, with an emphasis on fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fish and nuts. According to the Mayo Clinic, consuming a Mediterranean diet benefits the heart. Specifics of the Medterranean diet include replacing vegetables oils with healthy fats from canola and olive oil and consuming nine serving of fruits and vegetable daily. Include red meat in the diet no more than two to three times a week. Fish and poultry consumption is encouraged at least twice weekly. Drinking red wine in moderation is also a heart-healthy option if desired.
Potential
Plant-based foods are an important component of a cardiac diet for lowering LDL, or low-density lipoprotein, cholesterol levels; high LDL levels lead to plaque formation in the arteries, which supply blood to all the major organs. Phytonutrients from fruits and vegetables prevent the oxidation of cholesterol, which causes damage to the arterial walls from free-radical formation. The Harvard School of Public Health recommends a mix of dark green, yellow and red vegetables to provide the body with a variety of nutrients, rather than focusing on one specific fruit or vegetable.
Effects
Eating a diet for cardiac health can also prevent other diseases, including cancer and arthritis. Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, nuts and plant oils have powerful anti-inflammatory effects on the body; they keep memory intact, promote skin health, and help prevent prostate cancer, osteoporosis, arthritis, colon and rectal cancer, asthma, macular degeneration, rheumatoid arthritis and depression. According the University of Maryland Medical Center, adopting components of a Mediterranean diet results in higher levels of "good" HDL cholesterol for preventing heart disease.
Prevention/Solution
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved Dr. Dean Ornish's program for reversing heart disease in 2008. Dr. Ornish pioneered research showing that heart disease can be reversed through diet and other lifestyle interventions. The diet excludes all meat, caffeine and dairy products, with the exception of non-fat yogurt, milk and egg whites. Cholesterol consumption is limited to 5 mg daily, and the polyunsaturated- to saturated-fat ratio is 1 to 1. Ten percent of calories daily come from fat. Dr. Ornish's research was published in the article "Intensive Lifestyle Changes for Reversal of Coronary Heart Disease" in the December 1998 issue of the "Journal of the American Medical Association." The findings proved that heart disease could be reversed after five years of lifestyle modification to include exercise, smoking cessation, stress management and by choosing a vegetarian diet.
Expert Insight
The American Heart Association advocates heart healthy foods for the entire family, including infants and children. Coronary heart disease begins in childhood. A focus on foods that are part of a cardiac diet should begin during youth and maintained throughout life. A position statement from the AHA states children over age two should consume five servings of fruits and vegetables daily, in addition to a variety of foods that are low in saturated fat and cholesterol. The goal is to keep children's cholesterol levels normal and prevent adult heart disease.
