A healthy heart is an effort of a lifetime. It takes the right diet and strict exercise regime to keep that machine functioning at its best. Read on to know what is heart healthy diet for women.
Your heart is a machine, that is continuously pumping blood. Just as every machine requires servicing, your heart requires a little care and attention too. But obviously, you cannot send your heart to a service station, for a regular maintenance. Thus, maintaining a healthy diet is all that you can do, to keep it hale and hearty. Having a right diet, is the only way of preventing your heart from any kind of illnesses. Today, the risk of heart related problems is equal for both men and women. After the age of 40, it is imperative for a woman to take care of her heart’s health to lead a healthy life for a healthy family.
Harmful Fats
Experts say, that the daily consumption of foods high in nutrition can reduce the risk to your heart by 80%. Thus, it is important to understand how your food affects your heart. Restricting your intake of saturated fats and quitting any form of trans fat is the best way reducing the level of bad cholesterol or LDL. Avoid the butter, cheese, margarine or even white butter on your bread and food to keep away from these fats. Substitute the high fat food such as fried potato with baked potato and cook your meals in healthier oils such as olive oil, safflower, sunflower or canola. Start your day by eating only egg whites and plain toast. This is a better idea as compared to the tasteless oatmeal breakfast. You do not have to make drastic changes in your diet to have a healthy meal. Small changes like adding vegetables, fruits and low fat substitutes to your food will go a long way in making your heart healthy.
Low Cholesterol
Low cholesterol is the biggest culprit for heart related problems. Watching what you eat is the only way of controlling your cholesterol levels. The best way of avoiding HDL or bad cholesterol is by keeping away from fried packaged food. Replacing chips, cookies and fries with fruits, proteins and fibrous food stuffs is the best way of avoiding any form cholesterol intake. Nuts, fish oils, olive oil and food substances that contain sterols or stanols, block absorption of cholesterol. Simply avoid packaged food to bring down your cholesterol levels.
No Processed Food
Eating a lot of processed food can be a major risk to your heart. Easy food items such as packaged dinners, processed meats and dairy products are harmful to the heart and must be avoided as much as possible. Replace these by fresh food, fruits, salads, soups and unsalted meats. Eating excessive salt increases your blood pressure, which exposes you to the risk of heart attack. Thus reducing your intake of sodium and avoiding processed food items as much as possible is a great way of staying fit. Instead of salt, try adding spices and herbs to your food to make it tasty.
Besides eating healthy meals, it is also important that you exercise everyday. Cardiovascular exercises make your heart strong and improve the blood circulation. Regular exercise builds endurance, improves flexibility and reduces body fat, thereby minimizing the risk to your heart. While balancing your exercise and diet, maintain your focus on fibrous food as they are rich in nutrition and a great help in keep the heart fit as a fiddle. They not only mitigate the risk of heart diseases, but also assist weight loss. Go back to eating homemade meals as they are fresh and the ingredients can be monitored. Bake or boil your meals, instead of frying them. A healthy meal and a health conscious mind is the key to a healthy heart for a lifetime!