Ready to strengthen your heart health with food? Learn how eating heart healthy can improve your health with these eight simple steps.
The food that you eat affects your health in multiple ways, but changing your eating habits can be hard nonetheless. By following these eight steps, you’ll know which foods to eat and which to avoid if you want better heart health.
1. Portion Size
Besides knowing what to eat or not to eat, the next important step to keep in mind is knowing how much to eat. To control your portion size, use a small plate, eat more low-calorie foods, and eat smaller amounts of high-calorie foods.
2. Fruits and Vegetables
By adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet, you’ll increase the amount of vitamins and minerals you consume daily. However, you’ll want to limit fried or breaded vegetables, frozen fruit with added sugar, and canned fruit with heavy syrup.
3. Whole Grains
A good way to regulate your blood pressure and heart health is by consuming whole grains like oatmeal and buckwheat. Nevertheless, you should limit or avoid grain products like cakes, donuts, cornbread, frozen waffles, white bread, and white, refined flour.
4. Unhealthy Fats
Not all fats are the same; in fact, saturated and trans fat can increase plaque formation and lead to atherosclerosis. Conversely, there are healthy fats like olive oil, avocados, nut oils, canola oil, and cholesterol-lowering margarine you can consume instead.
5. Low-Fat Protein
You don’t have to eat red meat to get your protein – instead, substitute it for healthier, lean meat options. These include poultry and fish; you can also consume low-fat dairy products, eggs, and legumes as healthy protein sources.
6. Sodium Intake
High salt (sodium) intake can increase the risk of high blood pressure, a significant risk factor for heart disease. Limit your daily sodium intake to 1,500 mg max and use salt-alternatives like herbs and spices to add flavor.
7. Daily Menus
It is easy to eat unhealthy if you don’t plan what you’re eating, resulting in fast food or takeout being your diet. However, if you make daily menus, you can watch your portion sizes as well as what you eat and more.
8. Treat Yourself (Occasionally)
While eating things like candy bars, potato chips, or fried foods is not healthy, it’s okay to treat yourself occasionally. However, don’t let this make you give up on your healthy diet – the purpose is to eat healthy foods most of the time.
Improving Heart Health
By following these simple steps, you can strengthen your heart just by eating healthy. However, if you want to further boost your heart health, consider taking L-arginine Plus.
It’s a daily heart supplement designed to promote circulation, low blood pressure, energy levels, and overall heart health. Try L-arginine Plus along with a healthy diet to give your heart the support it needs.