Healthy Food for a Healthy Heart
Beside exercise, eating healthy is the best thing we can do to stay healthy and avoid heart disease. Heart disease impacts 50 million Americans with more than 300,000 deaths from cardiac arrest every year. Research has shown positive effects of eating certain foods and supplements that can help battle heart disease. If you believe that you are at high risk for heart disease it's highly recommend that you seek the advice of a doctor. Modern technology has provided us prescriptions that can lower high blood pressure, prevent arterial plaque, and lower cholesterol.
As a preventive measure before medication is required, there are certain foods that can be added to our diets that have shown significant results in studies of fighting heart disease.
Nuts
Nuts are a solid secondary source of protein behind Seafood, Meat, and Poultry. Of all nuts, walnuts are considered the best at fighting triglycerides and regulating blood sugar. Almonds are also a good source of vitamins. Like any food we ingest, it's important to regulate intake and not over consume. On average, a healthy adult should have 2 tablespoons of nuts 3-5 times per week.
Seafood
Seafood, specifically fish with a high oil content and rich in omega-3 acids and improve health and lower bad cholesterol. One of the best fishes for fighting heart disease is Halibut. Just three ounces of Halibut 2-4 times per week can significantly lower LDL. Other fishes high in omega-3 acids are red snapper, trout, and cod. Fish to stay away from are catfish, abalone, octopus, and salmon.
Meat and Poultry
A high protein diet is key to staying healthy and maintaining muscle tissue. Lean meat is best compared to a ground beef or steak high in fat content. Lean meat contains a significant source of the amino acid carnitine which is critical for the product of energy in heart muscle.
Vegetables
Vegetables provide a treasure-trove of antioxidants and fiber. The most beneficial are mushrooms, broccoli, and greens. Other leafy vegetables such as kale, collard greens, spinach have a high source of iron and contribute to preventing blood clotting. Everyone should try to eat at least one cup of green vegetables at least 5 times per week.
Spices
Some spices from India are known to fight heat and brain diseases like Tumeric. Tumeric is currently being heavily tested in the battle against Alzheimer's. Other spices that fight heart disease are cayenne, ginger, horseradish, and carob. Cinnamon has been shown in studies to reduce diabetes a leading cause of heart disease. Nutritionists recommend that you add these spices in moderation to your daily intake of food.
Diet and exercise are the best combination to staying healthy. When thinking about the diet it's important that we eat specific foods in moderation to maintain a healthy heart. Some of the foods and spices we have listed here may be foreign to us, but there are many cook books and diet plans that will help you to ingest these foods and build them into your normal daily diet. Doing so have been proven to the most effective method of controlling and regulating our internal body systems.
As a preventive measure before medication is required, there are certain foods that can be added to our diets that have shown significant results in studies of fighting heart disease.
Nuts
Nuts are a solid secondary source of protein behind Seafood, Meat, and Poultry. Of all nuts, walnuts are considered the best at fighting triglycerides and regulating blood sugar. Almonds are also a good source of vitamins. Like any food we ingest, it's important to regulate intake and not over consume. On average, a healthy adult should have 2 tablespoons of nuts 3-5 times per week.
Seafood
Seafood, specifically fish with a high oil content and rich in omega-3 acids and improve health and lower bad cholesterol. One of the best fishes for fighting heart disease is Halibut. Just three ounces of Halibut 2-4 times per week can significantly lower LDL. Other fishes high in omega-3 acids are red snapper, trout, and cod. Fish to stay away from are catfish, abalone, octopus, and salmon.
Meat and Poultry
A high protein diet is key to staying healthy and maintaining muscle tissue. Lean meat is best compared to a ground beef or steak high in fat content. Lean meat contains a significant source of the amino acid carnitine which is critical for the product of energy in heart muscle.
Vegetables
Vegetables provide a treasure-trove of antioxidants and fiber. The most beneficial are mushrooms, broccoli, and greens. Other leafy vegetables such as kale, collard greens, spinach have a high source of iron and contribute to preventing blood clotting. Everyone should try to eat at least one cup of green vegetables at least 5 times per week.
Spices
Some spices from India are known to fight heat and brain diseases like Tumeric. Tumeric is currently being heavily tested in the battle against Alzheimer's. Other spices that fight heart disease are cayenne, ginger, horseradish, and carob. Cinnamon has been shown in studies to reduce diabetes a leading cause of heart disease. Nutritionists recommend that you add these spices in moderation to your daily intake of food.
Diet and exercise are the best combination to staying healthy. When thinking about the diet it's important that we eat specific foods in moderation to maintain a healthy heart. Some of the foods and spices we have listed here may be foreign to us, but there are many cook books and diet plans that will help you to ingest these foods and build them into your normal daily diet. Doing so have been proven to the most effective method of controlling and regulating our internal body systems.
