Top 10 foods for a healthy heart
What should we eat to have a strong and healthy heart?
A healthy heart is not only hereditary and the absence of harmful habit is not enough to keep it that way. There is also a list of products that will keep your “Motor” in a ‘good shape’.
1 Oatmeal
Porridge represents a perfect breakfast, it is nourishing and full of fat acids Omega-3, folates and calcium. In combination with the cellulose these elements will help you to reduce the cholesterol and support blood vessels in their tone. Most useful is the rough milling croup: as bigger grains are, as much cellulose they content. There is a lot of it in different fruits, for example in bananas and they would constitute a great addition to the porridge.
At the Harvard School of Public Health, a 14-year study was conducted on 27,000 men aged between 40 and 75, and according to the results those who had the highest whole-grain intake (nearly 40gms/day) reduced their risk of heart disease by 20 percent and those who had nearly 25gms/day reduced their risk by 15 percent.
Another big study was conducted on 91,058 men and 245,186 women and the results showed that for each 10gms daily intake of fiber the heart disease risk went down by 14 percent and there was a 25 percent reduction in the risk of dying from heart disease.
2. Salmon
This fish is one of the most resourceful natural sources of Omega-3 acids. Two or three fish meals per week and your pressure will be ok. The regular consumption of salmon favors normal blood coagulation and, according to statistics, decrease by three times the heart attack probability. It also contains a strong antioxidant – astaxantin that means you have the guarantee of a healthy skin and good memory. If this fish is too expensive for you, you my replace it with tuna, sardine or simple herring. They have the same quantity of acids.
On the one hand, farmed salmon has more heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids than wild salmon. On the other hand, it also tends to have much higher levels of chemical contaminants that are known to cause cancer, memory impairment and neurobehavioral changes in children.
In general, a new study shows that the net benefits of eating wild Pacific salmon outweigh those of eating farmed Atlantic salmon, when the risks of chemical contaminants are considered, although there are important regional differences.
The researchers’ benefit-risk analysis showed that consumers should not eat farmed fish from Scotland, Norway and eastern Canada more than three times a year; farmed fish from Maine, western Canada and Washington state no more than three to six times a year; and farmed fish from Chile no more than about six times a year. Wild chum salmon can be consumed safely as often as once a week, pink salmon, Sockeye and Coho about twice a month and Chinook just under once a month.
In addition to salmon, other fish that are good for the heart include:
* Albacore
* Black bass
* Bluefish Carp
* Channel catfish
* Herring
* Lake herring
* Lake trout
* Mackerel
* Pompano
* Tuna (packed in water)
* WhitefishThe recommendation is to eat fish at least twice a week. Generally speaking, two 3-ounce servings are sufficient
3. Avocado
It is not necessarily to eat this fruit daily. It is expensive and not so easy to find. It is enough to add a piece of avocado in salads or in meat – it will decrease the level of harmful cholesterol in your blood. Besides that, the ferments which are in avocado increase the process of carotenoids digestion.
4. Olive oil
It contains a lot of mono unsaturated fats, which are preventing the corking of vessels. A common research of scientists from seven national medical institutes proved that the inhabitants of the Crete Island are very rarely submitted to heart attacks, even though they have a genetic predisposition to a high level of cholesterol. It’s all about their diet: the salads and preparation of fried meals in Crete is made only with olive oil. On buying the oil we have to choose the less processed product (try to find on the bottle the phrase “first extraction oil”).
5. Nuts
Among this family the most enriched in Omega-3 acids and in mono unsaturated fats are Greek nuts and almonds. The consumption of nuts also favors a better digestion of cellulose and decrease the sensation of hunger.
Almonds, Brazil nuts, Chestnuts, Peanuts nutritional values
6. Berries
Bilberries, raspberries and strawberries – you may chose any berry you want and consume it permanently. They contain anti-inflammatory substances, which decrease the risk of heart diseases and cancer.