5 Dietary Tips to Boost Heart Health

Some Guidelines
1. Watch your sodium intake.

2. Eat with a calm mind it helps in good absorption and assimilation of food.

3. Limit your alcohol consumption to no more than one drink a day.

4. Learn about your family history of heart disease.

When it comes to basics, adequate sleep, weight control, regular exercise, not smoking and knocking out stress are critical in beating heart problems.

However, incorporating healthy food into diet is another very important step towards keeping your heart in shape.

Remember, it’s not what you eat but what you don’t, that makes a difference.

By adding good things to your diet you will automatically end up eliminating the bad ones. This magic mantra will not only help protect against heart disease but also improve the quality of your life.

The Med Guru gives you some diet tips to prevent heart disease and boost your heart health.

1. Upgrade Your Breakfast
What better way to kick-start your day than with a healthy breakfast! A nutritious morning meal not only revs up your metabolism and promotes satiety it also plays a role in helping people lower their cholesterol.

A simple trick to make the morning meal heart healthy would be to upgrade it. Switch from refined to eating a high fibre whole grain. Whole grains are packed with vitamins and heart-protecting phyto-chemicals, plus insoluble fibre to help digestion.

Those fond of toast should use whole-grain bread while the cereal lovers can opt for a whole-grain variety or an oat-based choice like. Regular or multi-grained idlis for breakfast and even having an egg a day won’t clog your arteries.

2. Healthy Cooking Methods
Cooking healthy meals is equally important for cutting your risk of heart disease. Discard the butter and adopt low fat methods. You can bake, broil, microwave, roast, steam, poach, lightly stir fry or sauté the food in vegetable or olive oil.

Banish foods containing high levels of trans fats such as fast foods, potato chips, fries, packaged cookies and biscuits which can boost cholesterol levels in the body and elevate your risk of heart attack.

Cardiologist Dr JPS Sawhney says, “If you overheat your vegetable oil then it turns into dangerous trans fats. It is our cooking methods that are faulty.”

3. Nibble on Nuts
Nuts such as cashews, almonds, walnuts, pistachios, flaxseed or peanuts rich in monounsaturated fats are known to reduce the risk of heart disease.

However, it is important to remember nuts are high in calories, hence should only be eaten in small amounts. Experts advise munching a handful of nuts with breakfast or as an afternoon snack.

Washington, D.C., registered deititian Mary Dickie stated, "Have a half-ounce with your breakfast cereal. You're less likely to over-eat nuts then. Their fat increases the absorption of nutrients in produce up to 18 times."

4. Add Fruits and Vegetables
Most fruits and vegetables are low in calories and rich in dietary fiber that making them heart healthy. Adopt smart strategies like keeping washed and cut fruits and veggies in your refrigerator for quick and healthy snacks.

Also try and add fruits and veggies to all your meals. Mix berries with your cereal for breakfast, make a salad of carrot sticks or tomatoes at lunch and toss fresh or frozen vegetables in soups and stews for dinner.

5. Eat Fish for a Strong Heart
When it comes to a healthy heart, nothing beats the benefits of eating fish. Studies have established the unsaturated fats in fish, called omega-3 fatty acids, lower inflammation and reduce the risk of heart disease, particularly sudden cardiac death.

Whether it is salmon, tuna, sardines, mackerel, hilsa or lake trout, any kind of seafood is fine and helps your heart.

So, what you’re waiting for? Just make these small dietary changes to jump start a healthy heart.