There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to healthy eating for cholesterol and blood pressure. Nutrients to reduce or avoid include saturated fats, trans fat, sodium, refined grains and refined sugars. The superhero of heart health is fiber and healthy fats! So what are the sources of these nutrients? And how do you balance them to keep our hearts healthy? Read on to find out!
We’ll break this down simply. Saturated fat increases cholesterol levels in your blood. Trans fats, which are artificially made fats, do the same but with a much heavier and longer-lasting effect.
For quick identification, sources of saturated fat can be boiled down to this. If it’s solid at room temperature, it’s saturated fat. For example, butter, the bacon fat leftover in the pan, the fat in a steak and the fat in dairy products like whole milk and cheeses. As such, limit your intake of saturated fats like these to 20 grams or less per day.
- Trans fats are found in processed snack foods like baked goods made with shortening. Also, it can be found in microwave popcorn and fried foods from restaurants. Trans fats increase bad cholesterol levels while decreasing good cholesterol levels. For this reason, limit it as much as possible.
- Sodium is an essential nutrient, but too much can increase blood pressure. Be wary of high-salt foods including frozen meals, snack foods and canned foods like beans, soups, and vegetables. Soy sauce and tomato sauce also have large amounts of sodium. And generally, all restaurant food, no matter how “healthy” the options seem, is high in sodium. Restaurants have a product to sell, and most Americans need a hefty amount of salt to be satisfied!
- Refined grains and sugars include white bread like bagels, pizza, and pancakes. But sodas, desserts, and even foods that don’t taste sweet like tomato sauce have high amounts of sugar. If a grain food like bread or rice doesn’t have any fiber on the label, it’s likely refined. In any case, it should be replaced with a whole-grain option like whole-wheat bread or even plain popcorn.
Heart Healthy Nutrients
Fiber is our best friend! This nutrient has tons of benefits. From cancer prevention and digestion support to helping existing cholesterol in our arteries. Fiber generally comes from plant foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, lentils and whole grains. Extra special sources for heart health include all nuts, seeds, beans, and lentils. Other sources include apples, pears, berries, oranges, sweet potato, asparagus, brussels sprouts and oatmeal. We recommend eating 25 grams per day for women and about 35 grams per day for men.
Healthy Fats help us because they increase the good cholesterol (HDL) in our blood. This helps reduce bad cholesterol like LDL, triglycerides and total cholesterol. This is another shoutout to plant foods. Healthy fats come from plant oils like olive, sunflower, peanut and sesame. It also includes avocados, seeds like chia or flax, and all nuts but especially walnuts. You’ve probably heard that some fishes are good sources of healthy fats, specifically omega-3’s. And that’s right! Salmon, canned light tuna pollock, and catfish are all good sources that are lower in mercury. Limit higher-mercury fish like king mackerel, swordfish and shark.
So…this is probably a lot to process. But when you break it down, a heart-healthy diet looks like this:
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Eat lots of plants. A rainbow of fruits and vegetables serves us in so many ways. A good first step is replacing meat with beans one day per week.
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Try leaner protein. Pick freshly shaved turkey breast or chicken breast over baloney for your sandwiches. Or choose heart-healthy salmon over steak.
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Look for lower-sodium options. Packaged foods and restaurant foods are probably the biggest culprits.
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Reduce white bread and sugar. Instead, opt for whole grains and lower-sugar choices when possible. Some options are quinoa instead of white rice, a fruit cup with whipped cream over a jelly donut, and a corn tortilla over a flour tortilla.
The closer we eat to the earth and reduce processed foods, the longer we can keep walking on it! Looking for more recommendations to support heart health? Try five minutes to a healthier heart.
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