This article was provided by Titan Medical.
Each year hundreds and thousands of people lose their life due to heart disease. This Valentine’s Day, focus on your heart and keeping yourself healthy! Here are some heart-healthy food tips that’ll keep both your tummy and heart happy!
Heart-Healthy Foods
1) Whole Grains
Whole grains are another great heart-healthy food. Grains are made up of three important parts that contain an abundance of nutrients: bran, endosperm, and germ. High nutrient grains include oats, whole wheat, quinoa, rye, and brown rice.
An analysis of 45 studies showed eating more than three servings of grain a day significantly lowered the risk of heart disease by nearly 22%.
2) Berries
Berries such as raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries are filled with heart-healthy nutrients. They are rich in antioxidants that protect against stress and inflammation, leading to heart disease development. Making berries a perfect heart-healthy food.
Berries serve as a great compliment to whole grain breakfast cereal or a low-calorie dessert. Take advantage of these multi-purpose, healthy sweet treats that are great alone or paired with other dishes!
3) Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate is full of antioxidants such as flavonoids, which boosts heart health. Making this the perfect heart-healthy food. Eating dark chocolate can lower your risk of coronary heart disease and reduce the risk of having calcified plaque in the arteries.
It is important to watch the calories, and sugar amount in the chocolate you consume as that can take away from some of the heart-healthy benefits.
4) Fish
Tuna, salmon, and sardines are just a few of the fishes filled with omega-3 fatty acids that are beneficial to heart-health.
Those who eat fatty fish multiple times a week for an extended period see their blood pressure decrease and lower cholesterol levels. If you are not one to eat fish, you can take a fish oil supplement that is high in omega-3 fatty acids and will give your body the nutrients it needs. Fish is an all-around great heart-healthy food.
5) Leafy Greens & Vegetables
Eating plenty of Kale and Spinach will fill your body with lots of vitamins and antioxidants. They are also known to lower blood pressure with the help of dietary nitrates.
Another vegetable high in antioxidants are tomatoes. Tomatoes lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) Cholesterol and help eliminate plaque built up in arteries preventing heart disease and stroke.
We hope you found this list of heart-healthy food helpful. Are there any other heart-healthy foods you have found that you think should be on our list? Comment them below.
