With American Heart Month upon us, we want to celebrate this by discussing how we all can eat for a healthier heart. Before reading on, we encourage you to read our article, “February is American Heart Month - Tips for a Healthy Heart at Any Age” to learn more about how to keep your heart healthy.
Eating for a Healthier Heart
You have probably heard the expression, “you are what you eat” and we could not agree more. The food you choose to put into your body is correlated with your health and in the case of this article, specifically to your heart health.
Eating for a healthier heart means selecting a wide variety of natural whole foods. Below are several tips to help you learn to make healthier food choices.
Avoid Processed Foods
Nutrition can get very confusing very quickly especially with the plethora of fad diets that all claim to be better than the next. However, we encourage you to skip the fads and just keep it simple - cut out the processed foods. This means avoiding the quick on the go meals that come premade frozen, in a box, or quickly grabbed from a drive-thru. These heavily processed foods normally contain large amounts of carbohydrates, added sugars, and hydrogenated oils - all of which should only be consumed in moderation.
Eat a Wide Variety of Foods
Think color! The more natural vibrant colors you are eating daily the better! Aim to eat a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and lean meats daily. Think bright red strawberries, dark blue blueberries, vibrant yellow peppers, dark leafy greens, etc.
Cut Back on Added Sugars
New dietary guidelines now require food labels to include added sugars, separated from total sugars. These types of sugars are exactly what they sound like, it is the number of grams of sugar that has been added to the food - not found naturally. In general, most persons consume no more than 25 grams of added sugar daily. Make sure you are reading the ingredient labels.
Drink in Moderation
If you do choose to drink alcohol be sure to do it responsibly. For women, moderation is one drink per day and for men two drinks per day.
Take-Home Message to Eating for Heart Health
When it comes to eating a heart-healthy diet keep it simple. Stick to the outside aisles of the grocery store and do your best to make things from scratch made from high-quality natural ingredients. If you have more questions about nutrition always feel free to ask your doctor during your next visit!