Dietary Tips for Heart Health
By Sara Butler
Your heart is important and caring for it is something you have to take seriously for your entire life. According to the American Heart Association, more than 600,000 Americans die of heart disease every year. It's the leading cause of death in the United States for both women and men, so heart health is something that must be on your radar. One of the best things you can do to care for your heart is to eat a healthy diet, but even in that, there are some pitfalls that must be avoided. Here are some dietary tips to help you care for your heart and help you keep it healthy and ticking!
Cut Out Trans Fat
Saturated and trans fats are the enemy of your heart and cardiovascular system as a whole. If you want to care for your heart, then you must cut out all trans fats and reduce your intake of saturated fats too. Diets high in saturated and trans fats can cause elevated cholesterol, increase your risk of heart disease and stroke, and even increase your risk of developing other chronic conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, and some types of cancer.
Cutting out bad fats can be simple -- just avoid fast food, deep fried foods, and junk food. Easy, right?
Watch Your Sugar Intake
One thing you may be tempted to do when cutting fat from your diet is to buy low-fat or fat-free products to replace some of the things you love, but that will only add more sugar to your diet. How? Well, when companies produce foods with little or no fat, they have to replace it with something to make it edible and that something is often sugar. Make sure to look at the nutrition labels of foods you want to buy and pay attention to how much added sugars are in it. It's probably best if you have only natural sugars in your diet, which are sugars found in fruits and vegetables.
Go High Fiber
You may think fiber has more to do with your regularity and less to do with your heart health, but you'd be wrong! Foods rich in fiber such as berries, avocado, squash, sprouts, and pears help you to feel fuller for longer. That translates to fewer calories consumed over the course of the day and fewer calories makes it easier for you to maintain a healthy weight -- and that's good for your heart!
Caring for your heart isn't as complicated as you think. If you need more guidance, talk to the chiropractors at The Joint Chiropractic today!
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in St. Louis, Mo.