Heart Healthy Diet- One of the factors that affect our health is being overweight. Moreover, it is one of the factors that put us at the risk of getting a heart disease. The foods we are consuming these days contain much cholesterol and we gain weight at lightning speed.
A healthy diet plan can help us lower the cholesterol level and maintain blood pressure. If you are interested in knowing about the best heart healthy foods, we are here to help you! Below are given the 8 heart healthy diets that can be quite helpful in maintaining the heart’s functioning.
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Contents
Ornish Diet
This diet plan is completely based on vegetarianism. That means if we are to follow the Ornish diet plan then meat, fish, egg yolk is to be totally avoided. Ornish diet has proven to be helpful in reversing heart problems. Eating plants mostly in their natural form is the best choice we all can make and this includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes. Sugar is permitted in moderation but is not encouraged.
Dash Diet
The DASH in the “DASH DIET” stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. It is especially recommended for people with hypertension (high blood pressure). It is a low salt diet plan which encourages the intake of more fruits and vegetables with low fat dairy products and whole grains. In addition to heart healthy diet, the Dash diet also offers many other healthy advantages also.
Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean diet is inspired by the diet plans from Greece, Spain and Italy. It encourages consumption of olive oil, legumes, unrefined cereals, vegetable and fruits. Fish is also an important part of this dietary plan.
Red meat is not included in the Mediterranean diet plan. If this diet is followed then, it helps in reducing LDL level (Low Density -Lipo protein or the bad cholesterol) which build up deposits in the arteries that can block the blood flow leading to a heart stroke.
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Mind Diet
MIND DIET or Mediterranean-Dash Intervention for Neurodegenerative delay takes two proven diets that include the Dash diet as well as the Mediterranean diet. This diet includes vegetables (green vegetable especially), fruits whole grains, fish, poultry, olive oil and wine. It excludes red meat, cheese, pastries and sweets. While taking care of the heart, this diet plan is designed chiefly for the brain, i.e., for Alzheimer’s prevention.
TLC Diet
Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes or (TLC) is a program that can help you reduce cholesterol. This lifestyle prohibits smoking and promotes good diet, exercise and weight loss. The diet’s main center is to diminish the amount of saturated fat we consume because saturated fats increase the cholesterol level. Eating out is allowed but being picky in the food’s menu is the only choice considered. Picky, here means to choose foods that have low-fat content.
Vegan Diet (A Vegetarian Heart Healthy Diet)
A vegan diet is a completely vegetarian diet. A vegetarian only eats foods that come from plants and does not eat foods that come from animals, including dairy products and eggs. A vegan diet follower is likely to lose weight than a non-vegan diet follower if he/she is regular with some workout.
Some of the important nutrients like calcium, vitamin D, Vitamin B-12 can be the deficit in vegetarians and that’s the main point of concern. However, overall it is a healthful diet if you are planning to lower cholesterol level for heart protection.
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Flexitarian Diet
This Diet is plant-based with the occasional inclusion of meat products. Flexitarian meals move around plant proteins rather than animal proteins and we all know that flesh increases fat content in our body drastically.
Moreover, if the bad cholesterol level too gets out of control, then it can be a serious issue for the heart. So, flexitarian diet is for those people who want to control cholesterol and want to have meat too.
The Engine -2 Diet
The aim of this diet plan is to provide optimal health and disease prevention with the added benefits of weight loss. If a regular meat eater is planning to follow the Engine-2 diet, then s/he will have to limit out much of the high cholesterol foods including some of the dairy products.
This diet plan too restricts the consumption of lots of fleshy products. However, sometimes fish can be included in your platter as fish is good for heart health. Vegan eaters always make a mistake of not including protein rich foods in their diet which can be fatal.
If not meat then milk at least can be considered & If you are a working woman & have a family at home you must keep yourself healthy, because a healthy woman can take care of her family in a much better way.
Before selecting any of these heart healthy diets, you should always make sure that you know all about the nutritional benefits that you can get from your chosen diet. Also, it is strongly recommended to consult a cardiologist or any nutritional expert before you plan to actually consume that particularly chosen heart healthy diet.
Totally switching on to a vegetarian diet is not easy if you are a meat lover. Similarly, there can be other reasons why people do not find it easy to stick to a particular diet plan. Add some fruits like Mango to your diet plan and get the benefits of mango for your body. However, what we believe is that strong willpower supported by hard work is the best formula for attaining any aim in life!
So if you want to keep yourself healthy, you first need to have a firm determination that you want to do the same! Once you have committed to yourself, just combine your heart healthy diet with a suitable exercise routine.
The best daily health tips for all include workouts as an essential part of health. Stay away from all bad and unhealthy habits like smoking, drinking, etc.
Life is a blessing, treasure it, do not waste it!
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