There’s very little argument about certain foods being good for a healthy heart. Everyone knows that fruits and vegetables are good for you. However, some of the foods that are good and bad may surprise you.
Patients have been able to improve their diet by knowing and understanding the nutritional value of most of the common foods. Some of the foods patients could be eating more often include oatmeal, blueberries, fruits, and nuts. Dark chocolate is good for heart health as it contains antioxidants and has been known to lower blood pressure. The good news is that many of the best foods also taste great, are easy to find, and are economical to purchase!
Foods to avoid include candy, soda pop, white bread, processed meats and most processed foods. Skip deserts if you can.
It’s easier to know the types of food that are good and bad rather than trying to memorize individual items. Here are some general rules you can follow to help you with this.
- Buy less processed foods. The more processed the food the worse it is. Raw fruits and vegetables are great and totally unprocessed.
- Buy more of the foods around the outside walls of the grocery stores and less from the inside isles. The inside isles contain mostly boxed and processed foods.
- Replace white bread with 100% whole wheat bread.
- Avoid trans fat which is partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.
- Avoid junk food and fast food.
- Eat more fruits and vegetables.
Searching the Internet will provide you with many lists of the best and worst foods for heart health. For most foods there’s not much disagreement about what’s good and bad.
Some of the popular foods known to be heart healthy include, salmon, sardines, avocado, blueberries, olive oil, almonds, walnuts, spinach, brown rice, flax seed, dark chocolate, and green tea.
Unhealthy foods, especially for heart health, include soda pop, french fries, potato chips, hot dogs, fast food, processed food, and anything with trans fat. Trans fat is partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.
It’s not always easy to eat healthy food. Fast food is the most convenient food available. These days when everyone is in a hurry it’s often the only choice. Grocery stores give you the options that restaurants don’t. If you can find a grocery store deli instead of a fast food restaurant you’ll have great choices for heart healthy food.