Healthy food = healthy heart

February 7, 2022

Five Servings Rule

To keep your heart and blood vessels healthy, consume five servings of fruits and vegetables (500 g) each day. They are a source of fiber, which like a sponge absorbs excess fats and removes them from the body. We are talking primarily about saturated fats, which tend to deposit on the walls of the arteries and impede blood flow, leading to heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular problems.

It may seem like five servings of fruits and vegetables is a lot. It really isn't. It is one apple and a bell bell pepper or two tomatoes; a banana and a serving of cabbage or carrots or beets. There is no need to chase exotic vegetables and fruits. For example, cabbage is a wonderful product, and one of the most affordable in any season.

The question often arises: how useful are frozen fruits and vegetables? If the freezing is done correctly, it preserves almost all the nutrients, including vitamins, micronutrients and trace elements. Therefore, the use of frozen foods - vegetables, fruits, berries - is a good help in the winter and fall. In addition, there are also dried fruits. Apricots, prunes, dates, raisins contain a lot of potassium, magnesium, various vitamins, useful for the body in general and for the heart in particular.

Do not forget about fiber

Many people completely eliminate bread from their diet. While whole-grain bread is essential for the cardiovascular system. It is full of B vitamins and fiber. Cereals - especially rice, buckwheat, and spelt - are also useful. They help remove "bad" cholesterol.

Choose healthy fats.

To prevent cardiovascular diseases, it is important to limit your intake of saturated fats, especially trans fats. Fats are necessary for the body as a source of energy. But we must choose foods that contain polyunsaturated fatty acids, the "protectors" of the vascular walls. Fatty acids are found in vegetable oils: olive oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil and rapeseed oil.

Similarly useful for blood vessels are substances that are in fish oil, so cardiologists strongly recommend that patients include more fish in your diet. And unlike meat, which should be lean, fatty fish is more useful. For example, herring, mackerel or salmon. You can also use canned fish, but without any harmful additives. For example, canned tuna is good to add to a salad with lots of greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, dressed with vegetable oil or low-fat yogurt - you get a healthy, healthy dish that will protect the heart.

Regular consumption of fish (at least 1-2 times a week) is an important component of atherosclerosis prevention. As well as nuts - it is enough to eat 30-40 grams a day. It is important to get a sufficient amount of protein, both animal (lean meat, poultry) and vegetable (lentils, peas).

Less sugar

It is important to limit the amount of sugar in your diet. No more than 50 grams of sugar per day - added or originally contained in foods. The habit of drinking sugary sodas, heavily sweetened tea or coffee can lead to an increase in body weight and therefore an increased risk of developing diabetes. This is essentially the equivalent of cardiovascular disease, because diabetes affects small blood vessels. Approximately 80% of patients with diabetes die from heart attacks, strokes, peripheral atherosclerosis, and related problems.

Today, the spread of alimentary-dependent diseases has reached pandemic proportions. It is a recognized risk factor for brain strokes, myocardial infarction. Therefore, reducing excessive consumption of simple carbohydrates is one of the important characteristics of a healthy diet.

Use salt wisely

Another aspect of good nutrition is the judicious use of salt. Average consumption in Russia is approximately 12-14 grams per day. The standard recommended by the WHO is less than 5 g. How can I limit salt? People often say that it is unrealistic. In fact, everything is possible if you stick to certain rules. However, they must be reasonable. For example, you should not refuse completely from pickles or herring, but if you eat potatoes with them, you can no longer salt them. It is necessary to maintain a certain balance, to watch yourself, under-salt the cooked food - many people do it automatically, before even trying the dish.

The amount of salt consumed affects the level of blood pressure - the less salt, the lower the pressure. Therefore, hypertensive people can help themselves by limiting salt in the diet.

All of these recommendations are the consensus view of expert cardiologists, as summarized in the latest National Guidelines for Cardiovascular Prevention and the recommendations of the European Society of Cardiology. This is based on serious research, which showed that people whose diet contains the above food groups suffer fewer heart attacks, strokes, and die less often from cardiovascular diseases. So it is worth following the rules of a healthy diet to support the heart and blood vessels in their important work.