10 foods that your heart needs: It’s all about the Heart – (part 1)!!!

salad


The blood is the center of the human body – in a way
It is not just a romantic notion only – the role of the heart can hardly be downplayed. It is working 24/7, 365 days a year, (even works in a leap year) pumping blood in the arteries and managing the veins as best it can. It is only logical that it should be cared for.


Heart health is important and symptoms should be monitored at all times to continue seeing that the heart is functioning properly. Coronary Artery disease, heart failures, valve problems, high blood cholesterol leading to blockages are just some of the many diseases that can cause negative affect on the body. Although it is a serious problem – heart issues can be managed through a sustained diet and life style.


The good news is – a lot of foods good for the heart also taste great on the palate.

Prevention of a heart disease is one of the best presents that you can give to your body. In this two part series blog – I will go in detail and list foods that are good for the heart. Needless to say – exercise plays a pivotal role in heart health. Researchers have found that for cardiac health – YOU DO NOT require to have a serious workout regime. Simple exercise like walking regularly may be all that you need.

If you ever needed a reason to start walking!!!

Ten food items that should be included in your Menu:


  1. Oat (Oat meals – Oat Porridge)

When it comes to the fight against Cholesterol – the oats should be the first name on the list. They contain a specific a beta-glucan, a natural LDL (bad Cholesterol) absorber from the body which is later excreted.

The best bit is, all you require is to add the Oats as part of your breakfast. Studies have indicated fast results with even 5% of decrease in Cholesterol within 2 months.

  1. White Meat (Fish)

Omega-3 fat is an essential nutrient that is extremely good in prevention of the coronary problems. This fatty acid helps in prevention of bad cholesterol and helps increase the good cholesterol by a factor of 4% within weeks.
A regular intake of Salmon, sardines and herrings can help your heart to function better – also the amazing taste
  1. The amazing Nuts:


Another “cracking” way to lower your cholesterol is by adding nuts to your food. Almonds and Walnuts are great additions to Salads. Although nuts are good for the heart, they are rich in calories and must be taken in moderation to keep the balance going.

  1. Black Tea


Black tea substantially reduces blood lipids and the risk of having coronary disease. Taken in moderation it has the chance to decrease the blood cholesterol. A study carried out by USDA showed that black tea can reduce blood lipids by up to 10% in less than a month.

The best part is – black tea is also rich in anti-oxidants that can help fight cancer.

  1. Beans (Red and White both)


There is something about beans that should make them part of your regular diet. A recent study found that by just adding 100 grams of beans to the soap, the total amount of cholesterol including LDL is decreased by 8%.

The gracious amount of fiber present in the beans makes them an ideal food. Whether it is kidney beans, red beans or any other sort – they can help in up to 30% of your fiber intake.

How to incorporate these foods in your daily routine?

It is one bit knowing about the foods that are good for you; it is entirely another bit to add these foods in the daily routine.

A lot of the time we have the information but are unable to utilize the information properly. The reason why it is difficult to add some of the foods to the meals is that we have certain habits that are hard to get rid of. For starters, rather than eating oatmeal or eat porridge for breakfast, we have the habit of going for cereals.

While some of them contain oat based grains to some extent – they are hardly picked as the first preference. A lot of people conscious about the food also skip breakfast which is detrimental when it comes to losing weight.

Ensure having a breakfast and you will do a great service to your body.


Then comes the habit of snacks – although we know that nuts are good for health, they are rarely used for snacks. Instead of having a nut based snack – we diverge to other traditional snacks which offer almost very little when it comes to health benefit.
Have a small serving of nuts as snacks – they are delicious and better alternative to processed foods.
The same goes for black tea – often ignored to coffee. Although health benefits of coffee are immense the adding a few weekly cups of tea in your routine can be extremely beneficial. Black tea without sugar may sound not the best composition – but give it SOME TIME and you will find out that it works perfectly well as well.
Beans in soups and salads are great. They can replace bread for your meals and if not replace completely, they can sustain with bread at the same time.
It all comes down to the matters of preference and while some of these options are not difficult to adapt in your life style; you alone are responsible for judging the intakes of specific foods.


Photo credit: <a href=”https://www.flickr.com/photos/johannphoto/6991598317/”>johannphoto</a> / <a href=”http://foter.com”>Foter</a> / <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/”>CC BY-ND</a>