Fresh food is good for your heart.
The first step to keeping your cardiovascular system healthy is to eat the right food. If you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, it is even more important to plan your meals around fresh nutritious food. Following a heart healthy diet plan helps you make the right menu choices. Every small change in your diet helps your heart stay healthy.
Fat and Salt
When you eat, the nutrients are absorbed into your bloodstream and passed along to your tissues to keep them working. When you eat foods that are high in fat, some of it can build up in your veins and arteries. Over time, the fat build-up starts to work like a dam to reduce blood flow. Eventually the blood flow is completely blocked. Sometimes the build-up breaks free and moves to another area, causing a stroke or heart attack. When you eat foods that are salty, your body retains more fluid to help dilute the salt in your system. This extra fluid makes your heart work harder, causing high blood pressure. Low-fat and low-salt diets keep your cardiovascular system healthy.
DASH Diet
The DASH diet, or dietary approaches to stop hypertension, is a low-fat, low sodium diet that helps control high blood pressure. This diet encourages fruits and vegetables that are high in calcium, magnesium and potassium. These three minerals also help control blood pressure. Foods allowed as part of the DASH diet are naturally low in sodium.
Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean diet helps you cut your risk of heart disease. This diet promotes whole grains, legumes, nuts, vegetables and fruits. Fish and poultry are permitted a couple of times a week, red meat is restricted to a few times a month and healthy fats like olive oil are encouraged. The Mediterranean diet helps you lower LDL cholesterol. LDL cholesterol is the type that builds up in your blood vessels and causes blockages.
Vegetarian Diet
There are three basic types of vegetarian diets: vegan, lacto-vegetarian and lacto-ovo. A vegan diet excludes all animal products. Lacto-vegetarian allows dairy products, and lacto-ovo vegetarian diets allow eggs and dairy products. Vegetarians typically have lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure. They also have a lower BMI, reduced rates of heart disease and lower rates of stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers than non-vegetarians.
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