The Best Diet for Heart Disease

Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death in the world; according to the CDC, one in four deaths is due to heart disease. The most important causes of heart disease include unhealthy diet, inactivity, drinking alcohol, and smoking. Among these factors, diet plays a significant role in the prevention of heart disease.
Due to changes in people's lifestyles, heart disease prevalence has increased compared to the past. Nowadays, people consume more high-calorie foods, increase their fat intake, and eat less healthy foods. Thanks to the expansion of machine life, their activity has also decreased, and these issues increase the risk of heart disease.
Risk factors leading to heart disease include diabetes, high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, obesity, and stress, most of which are due to unhealthy diet; you can reduce the risk of the diseases with a proper diet for heart disease .

Diet for Heart disease is a balanced diet. This means that the diet's energy should be sufficient to meet the person's daily needs and not more or less, and from All 5 major food groups should be in proportion to his/her diet.
Calorie in a cardiovascular patient's diet is determined based on various factors such as age, gender, weight, height, physical activity, and various other conditions. It is not possible to prescribe the same calories for all people. The best formula for calculating the calories a heart patient needs is the Mifflin.

In the continuation of this article, we will explain to you what the heart disease diet should be:

In a balanced diet, the amount of fat allowed is about 30% of the daily caloric intake. In the diet of heart patients, only 7% of this amount should be saturated fats. The rest should be provided through unsaturated fats. For example, in a 2000 calorie diet, we should consume 66 grams of fat, of which only about 22 grams should be saturated fat.
Saturated fats are generally found in animal sources such as red meat, chicken skin, butter and cream, full-fat dairy, etc. On the other side, unsaturated fats are more prevalent in plant sources. The best sources of fat for a heart disease diet include olives, avocados, nuts, and seeds.
By correctly adjusting the fat in your diet, you can reduce the level of lipid factors in your blood by about 10%. For every 1% reduction in blood lipids, the risk of heart disease decreases by 2%. In fact, with a healthy diet, you can reduce your risk of heart disease by up to 20%.

10 tips to reduce bad dietary fat intake in heart disease diet:

♦ Use healthy cooking methods such as steaming or boiling in water, avoid frying food as much as possible.
♦ Processed foods such as sausages, hot dogs, etc., or chips and cheese puffs are rich in trans fatty acids and saturated fats. Avoid such foods in the diet for heart disease.
♦ Avoid eating organ meat such as liver, kidney, heart, etc.
♦ Cut meat fats or chicken skin or fat as much as possible.
♦ At least twice a week, eat fish, be careful not to fry it, cook fish steamed, or grill.
♦ Use low-fat dairy in your diet plan.
♦ Avoid animal fats such as butter or cream.
♦ Include oily nuts and seeds, especially walnuts, hazelnuts, olives, and avocados in your diet. Besides providing you with many useful minerals, these foods contain large amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, which is good for your heart health. Of course, you should be careful that consuming too much of these foods cause you to gain weight.
♦ Hydrogenated vegetable oils contain large amounts of trans fatty acids, which increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Do not use these oils in your diet.
♦ The best oil for cooking is olive oil, and the best oil for frying food is canola oil.

Excessive carbohydrates, especially simple carbohydrates such as white rice, pasta, sweets, chocolate, cakes, jams, honey, etc., cause weight gain, increased blood triglycerides, and high blood pressure. All of these factors increase the risk of heart disease. Therefore, in the diet of heart disease, you should avoid excessive use of these foods.

To reduce your intake of simple carbohydrates, you can do the below tips:
♦ Instead of using white rice, eat it with legumes or vegetables, such as rice and beans, rice and lentils, etc.
♦ Use dried fruits instead of sweets, yet dried fruits are also high in carbohydrates and should not be consumed excessively to cause weight gain.
♦ Limit sugary drinks and use fresh fruit instead of juices.
♦ Do not add sugar and cream to your coffee or tea.
♦ Do not add sugar and cream to your coffee or tea; instead, you can add skim milk to improve the taste.
 
Finally, high carbohydrate intake can increase your weight, and you should use it in a moderate amount.

Table salt, or more specifically sodium, raises blood pressure and increases the risk of heart disease. The recommended daily dose of sodium is 2400 mg, and since 40% of table salt is sodium, this amount of sodium is equivalent to 1 teaspoon of salt. Therefore, in the diet of heart disease, the amount of sodium intake should be limited. You should note that different foods also have hidden sodium, such as bread, processed meats, canned food, etc. People with high blood pressure or hypertension should more restrict their sodium intake through table salt.
You can use citrus juice, spices or aromatic vegetables to improve the taste of your food.
When buying packaged food, pay attention to the label on it and check the amount of sodium so that your sodium intake does not exceed your daily requirement.

Use the following strategies to reduce your sodium intake on your diet:

♦ Add salt at the end of the cooking process.
♦ Avoid canned and processed foods as much as possible.
♦ Pickles increase blood pressure due to their high salt content, do not consume pickles to reduce sodium intake.
♦ Eat nuts and seeds raw and avoid salty foods.
♦ Use spices and other condiments instead of salt to improve the taste of food.
♦ Separate the allowed amount of salt at the beginning of the day and then use only the same amount until the end of the day.

Fibers are compounds found in plants' cell walls such as fruits, vegetables, grains, seeds, and nuts. In addition to reducing the risk of heart disease, fiber consumption also reduces colon and stomach cancer risk.
Dietary fiber consists of two types of soluble and insoluble fiber; insoluble fiber found in foods such as wheat bran eliminates toxins in the intestine; on the other hand, reduces constipation and lowers the risk of intestinal and gastric cancers.
Another type of dietary fiber is soluble fiber; due to intestine bacteria's effect on the soluble fiber, compounds are formed that improve the damage to intestinal cells and reduce cholesterol production after absorption and entry into the liver.
It is best to use both types of fiber throughout the day in your heart disease diet to get its benefits. The best dietary fiber sources include whole wheat and barley, brown rice, peas, beans, squash, fruits, vegetables, etc.
Many studies have shown that fiber intake is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.

There have been many studies on eating fruits and vegetables and its effect on reducing heart disease risk. Fruits and vegetables effectively prevent heart disease because of the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants content.
Since there is not much evidence on the effect of vitamin and mineral supplements on reducing the incidence of cardiovascular disease, and on the other hand, antioxidants prevent cholesterol from stick to the inner wall of blood vessels; it can be concluded that the effect of fruits and vegetables in the prevention of cardiovascular disease due to their high antioxidant and fiber content.
Also, certain fruits and vegetables such as bananas, apricots, potatoes, dates, etc. due to their high potassium, reduce blood pressure, increasing cardiovascular health.
Homocysteine is one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Leafy vegetables with high folic content acid lower the level of homocysteine in the blood and reduce heart disease risk.
In the healthy heart diet, you should eat at least three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruits daily. In choosing fruits and vegetables, observe variety and use several types of fruits and vegetables during the day. Try to eat fresh fruits and vegetables in your heart disease diet instead of junk food.

Finally, you can improve your heart health and prevent heart disease by following these 10 tips.

♦ Become physically active. Get at least 150 minutes of physical activity a week appropriate for your physical condition.
♦ Do not put yourself in a stressful situation and avoid putting mental and physical stress on yourself.
♦ Do not smoke and avoid tobacco.
♦ If you are overweight or obese, losing weight can help you reduce your risk of heart disease.
♦ Eat a healthy diet.
♦ Cut off saturated fats from your diet and use unsaturated fats such as olive oil or canola oil.
♦ Avoid fried foods; cook most of your food boiled, steamed, or grilled.
♦ Limit your intake of simple carbohydrates and simple sugars.
♦ Increase fiber intake in your diet; good fiber sources include whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes.
♦ Increase the intake of fruits and vegetables in your diet.