Healthy Heart Diet

What you eat and keeping yourself on a healthy heart diet is always important. However, if you’ve had a heart attack… important is a large understatement.

So what are the guidelines for a healthy heart diet?

• Eat your veggies! Work those vegetables into every meal and don’t forget your fruit either.
• Whole grain breads… easy on the whites.
• Work on eating more cereals and other grains and legumes such as beans and peas.
• Change what you base your meals around. For example, instead of making a meat the main part of the meal with rice and beans… reverse the portions… rice and beans with just a small side of the meat.
• Speaking of meat… lean and skinless.
• Dairy products - make them low-fat
• Greatly reduce or all but eliminate fast foods, desserts, soft drinks and all those high in fat and sugary decisions.
• Small amounts of margarine and vegetable oils… olive oil is better.
• Any cooking process other than frying (grilling, steaming, baking, or even microwaving.)
• Cut back on the salt.
• Change your grocery shopping habits to the perimeter aisles and stay away from those middle aisles and re-discover cooking at home with your new healthy heart diet.

When it comes to a heart healthy diet, reducing the amount of fat you consume is a must. This is particularly true if you are already overweight or have high blood cholesterol levels. So, get with your doctor and talk about an appropriate, long term, and graduated form of exercise and physical activity to help hasten the loss of that excess fat.

Alcoholic beverages should only be consumed in moderation… not more than a few drinks at any one time and during any given week.

What about smoking?

What about NOT!

Smoking is the number one risk factor contributing to heart disease. And by the way… it’s NEVER too late to quit. If you try to quit and fail… then try again… and again… and again… no matter how many times you have to quit… quit you must.

What role does high blood pressure play?

If high blood pressure (hypertension) isn’t controlled it can certainly add to the load of the heart and in effect accelerate you on the road to having another heart attack… or even other problems such as a stroke. And the scary part about high blood pressure is that you can’t feel it… there are no warning signs. So, if high blood pressure doesn’t sound too healthy… it’s because it isn’t… get yourself checked by your doctor.

While we’re on the subject… when it comes to controlling your blood pressure, allow me to show you a very familiar list:

• maintain a healthy weight
• get regular exercise
• follow that heart healthy diet above
• moderate your alcohol intake
• and did I mention not smoking!

Changing your lifestyle to a heart healthy diet, getting regular physical activity, and not smoking are excellent ways to reduce your risk of a heart attack… or even a second one.

When it comes to the risk of a heart attack, there are contributing factors that we can’t control… so let’s be sure you take control those risk factors that you can.