Top12 foods for Heart healthy

Top12 foods for Heart healthy

To follow a balanced, heart-healthy diet, you need to eat veggies, fruit, fish, soy, grains, legumes, nuts and seeds on a regular basis. But some foods have more heart-healthy disease-fighting nutrients than others.Find out how these 12 foods may help lower your risk of heart disease.

Avocado

Avocado contains heart healthy fiber, vitamin B, vitamin C, potassium, and healthy fats. In fact, their monounsaturated fats lower cholesterol to improve heart disease risk factors. Plus, avocados are incredibly tasty and are great in homemade guacamole or desserts. You can also use avocado oil to make salad dressing.

Nuts

Grabbing a handful of nuts is a heart-healthy way to beat the afternoon itch for a cookie. "Almonds are very high in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, vitamin E, and fiber, while walnuts are a great plant-based source of an omega-3 fatty acid called alpha-linolenic acid.

Top12 foods for Heart healthy

Yogurt

Research shows yogurt may protect against gum disease. Left unchecked, gum disease may elevate a person’s risk for heart disease.

Blueberries

Blueberries are a tasty fruit that contains a ton of antioxidants.study on women aged 25-42 found that eating 3 or more servings of blueberries and strawberries a week reduced heart disease risk by 32%. This is mainly due to anthocyanins and flavonoids that decrease blood pressure and dilate blood vessels . Blueberries are also rich in fiber, and the combination helps control cholesterol levels as well as plaque.

Whole Grains

People who eat plenty of whole grains tend to be leaner and have a lower risk of heart disease than those who don’t. This is probably because whole grains contain antioxidants, phytoestrogens and phytosterols that are protective against coronary disease.

Papaya

Papaya is a delicious tropical fruit with vitamins C and A. It also contains high levels of fiber, folic acid, and potassium. Potassium is a crucial vitamin to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. The nutrients in papaya also help prevent diabetes, cancer, poor digestion, high blood glucose in diabetics, high blood pressure, and slow wound healing . You can mix papaya into a healthy fruit salad or try creating papaya salsa.

Salmon/Fish

Consuming two or more servings of fish per week is associated with a 30 percent lower risk of developing coronary heart disease over the long term,.Fish,especially “oily” kinds, such as salmon and tuna,contain omega-3 fats, which lower levels of triglycerides in the blood that may contribute to blood clotting. Omega-3s also lower blood pressure slightly and can help prevent irregular heart rhythms. No common fish delivers more of the omega-3 fatty acids than salmon. Flaxseed oil, canola oil and walnuts also contain omega-3 fats.

Top12 foods for Heart healthy

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are a classic heart-boosting choice! The fruit contains lycopene, as well as beta-carotene, folate, potassium, vitamin C, flavonoids, and vitamin E. These nutrients feed your heart and protect it from damage by reducing low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, homocysteine, platelet aggregation, and blood pressure.

Red Grapes and Raisins

Red grapes, like red wine, are packed with resveratrol, which helps keep platelets in your blood from sticking together. Raisins, which are simply dried grapes, “… are packed with potassium, which is known to lower blood pressure

Berries

Eating just under a cup of mixed berries daily for eight weeks was associated with increased levels of “good” HDL cholesterol and lowered blood pressure, two positives when it comes to heart health

Top12 foods for Heart healthy

Green Tea

Green tea contains catechins, which have the ability to prevent atherosclerosis, hypertension, endothelial dysfunction, ischemic heart diseases, cardiomyopathy, cardiac hypertrophy and congestive heart failure. They work by decreasing oxidative stress, preventing inflammatory events, reducing platelet aggregation and halting the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells

Olive Oil

At the foundation of the Mediterranean diet, four tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil a day reduces your risk of heart attacks, strokes, and overall mortality by 30%. This is partly due to its monounsaturated fats, which can help reduce both cholesterol and blood sugar levels