Miracle Obi asked:


Eating for a healthy heart does not mean giving up everything you enjoy. Changing the sort of food that you have eaten all life may not be easy, but it is important in reducing the risk of developing heart diseases. In continuation of eating for a healthy heart 1, this is the highlight on the remaining groups of foods so that you can know how to include all in your daily healthy balanced meals.

Group 3:  Fats and oil: There are two types of fats and oil, saturated and the unsaturated fats. They all contain the same amount of calories and are composed of fatty acids. At room temperature saturated fats are solid while unsaturated fats tend to be liquid. Examples are:

Meat fat   (beef, pork, lard. Mutton, dripping).

Dairy fat (cheese, butter, cream)

Plant fat (palm oil, coconut oil)

Processed fat (cakes, biscuits. Pies, snacks, margarine)

Saturated fats increase blood cholesterol and LDL-C levels rise is linked with risks of heart diseases. So it is highly required that you reduce your intake of saturated fatty acids.

Unsaturated fats are found mainly in vegetable. It is sub-divided into monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. The monounsaturated fat is oleic acid, the main constituent of olive oil. This oleic acid is known to protect the heart by reducing the artery clogging LDL-C and then makes the blood platelets less sticky and less likely to form blood clots.

Other major source of monounsaturated fats are canola oil, nuts, and peanut oil. Research showed that eating nuts can significantly lower the amount of bad cholesterol (LDL-C) in the blood.

The polyunsaturated fats have two families, the Omega-6 and Omega-3. Omega-6 fatty acids are found mainly in vegetable source such as sunflower, sesame seeds, corn, and safflower margarine and soy oil. While Omega-3 are found in oily fish such as trout, salmon, sardine, mullet, tuna, anchovies, herring, mackerel, also in green leafy vegetable, canola, soya , rapeseed and walnut oil. It is advised to consume more of Omega-3 because fish oil is a very rich source of eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and decosahexanoic acid (DHA) which helps maintain a healthy heart. They have shown to:

Reduce blood pressure

Reduce thrombosis (blood clot) by thinning the blood

Reduce blood triglyceride levels.

So as you enjoy fish in your meals, try to include one portion of oily fish.

Group 4:  Proteins: are made up of amino acids and is required for the repair and maintenance of all body tissues, in fact it’s called the building block of life. The major dietary sources of protein are all type of fish, meat, eggs, milk, cheese, beans, peas, lentil, nuts, and cereal grains. Different food contains different type of protein, so it is important to eat a variety of protein source to ensure you are getting enough from each.

Group 5:  Vitamin and minerals: these are essential part of your diet. They are the anti-oxidant that your body needs to fight off diseases. We have the fat soluble vitamins (vitamins. A, D, E, & K) while the water-soluble vitamins are all the eight B vitamins, vitamin C and folic acid. The main anti-oxidant is vitamin C, vitamin A in form of beta-carotene, and vitamin E. This helps the heart by reducing the oxidation of LDL-C, thereby reducing the buildup of fatty deposits in the arterial walls. Sources are all kinds of fruits, vegetables, corn, olive and vegetable oils, cottonseed, apricots, sweet potatoes. Most often folic acid and the B vitamins are readily available from our balanced diet. The good source includes leafy green vegetables like spinach and broccoli, cereals, rice, milk, eggs, fish, citrus fruits, potatoes, berries.

Finally drinking enough water helps to flush out the unwanted materials in the body. By making good choices in your meal and eating well, you can reduce the risk of developing heart diseases. Enjoy! You deserve the good health.

To learn more about eating for a healthy heart visit http://synthetichearts.com/how-to-keep-your-heart-healthy-healthy-heart-tips/

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John Adison asked:


Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.  The most important way  that you can prevent a heart attack is to change your lifestyle.  The three most important areas to change are to improve your nutrition, increase your exercise and stop smoking.  Improvements in these three areas can reduce your chances of a heart attack and increase your chance is a long and healthy life.

There are two types of cholesterol. LDL is the bad cholesterol that clogs up the arteries. High levels of LDL can lead to potential cardiac arrest when the blockage becomes too severe. HDL is the good cholesterol and actually works in the body to keep the arteries clear by breaking off and washing away the plaque created by LDL. Your cholesterol profile factors in the levels of good and bad cholesterol in your blood.

The very first thing you need to do to protect your heart is to take a long look at your lifestyle. Are you overweight? Do you smoke? Do you eat fast foods on a regular basis? How much exercise do you get? These are all questions that you need to ask yourself. If you don’t like the answers, then you really need to find ways to change your lifestyle. No one said it would be easy, but it will definitely be worth it.

A wake up call but why wait for that when it really is so simple to look after our heart and lets face it, it does most of the work! Some simple tips avoid high fat and high sugar foods, eat vegetables and fruit, choose vegetable oil over animal oil, eat fish especially those that give us more beneficial fatty acids,reduce salt intake,choose wholegrain bread over white bread,give up smoking, drink at least 8 glasses of wat

To help you keep your heart healthy, most doctors recommend that you take additional supplements that contain vitamin E. They may also suggest that you eat foods that are naturally rich in vitamin E, such as nuts. Nuts have high amounts of vitamin E, and most of them taste great. You can find other foods that contain vitamin E as well, although nuts have the highest amounts.

Maintain a healthy diet – Eating a diet that is low in saturated fats and cholesterol will increase your chances of preventing heart disease. Your body actually turns saturated fats into cholesterol so you want to avoid it as much as you can. Fresh fruits and vegetables are great to add to your diet as well as foods that are not processed and have no preservatives and are low in sodium.

Maintain a healthy diet – Eating a diet that is low in saturated fats and cholesterol will increase your chances of preventing heart disease. Your body actually turns saturated fats into cholesterol so you want to avoid it as much as you can. Fresh fruits and vegetables are great to add to your diet as well as foods that are not processed and have no preservatives and are low in sodium.



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