5 Eating habits for a healthy heart

A healthy diet is necessary to maintain a healthy heart and reduce the risk of heart disease. Here are a list of healthy eating habits as well as foods that are good for your heart.

1. Consume healthy fats & follow low-fat cooking method

Indian cooking often subject oils to high temperatures, as stir-frying is a routine process in every curry or other similar preparations. As a result, exposure to high temperatures not only destroys antioxidants like vitamin E and β-carotene but also produces toxic compounds that may potentially be bad for your heart. For persons suffering from heart disease or those who have had an heart attack, it is advisable to avoid refined oils, as during the refining process, oils are heated to high temperatures resulting in their degradation and generation of toxic substances.

• Include healthy cooking oils like unrefined and cold-pressed vegetable oils, olive oil or mustard oil for cooking.

• Prefer blending of edible oils (such as rice bran and safflower oil; coconut and sesame oil; canola and flaxseed oil) to reduce the reduce blood cholesterol, inflammation and, thus, the heart disease risk.

• Avoid cooking with hydrogenated fats.

• Prefer healthy ways of cooking like stewing, steaming, baking, broiling, grilling and boiling.

2. Include Fibre in every meal

• Fibre can be added to each meal by the way of complex carbohydrates- oats, rice bran, or whole cereals and pulses.

• Include salads for your lunch as well as dinner

• Consume a variety of whole fruits as a mid-meal snack.

3. Consume a variety of Superfoods

Certain superfoods are rich in antioxidants & phytochemicals, which are great for keeping your heart healthy. These help lower cholesterol, reduce inflammation, and slow the formation of plaque and thus prevents heart disease.

• Green tea is loaded with antioxidants called polyphenols and catechins, which can prevent cell damage and protect you from heart disease.

Other super foods beneficial for the heart are:

• Red Cabbage

• Chia seeds

• Flax seeds

• Colorful fruits & berries

4. Have small frequent meals

Prefer to consume 5-6 meals a day rather than 2-3 large meals, as this will help one control the blood sugar well, burn the calories effectively and eventually regulate the deposition of cholesterol in the arteries.

5. Reduce the consumption of packaged or ready to eat foodstuffs

Eating processed foods — such as packaged snacks, sugary cereals and drinks, chicken nuggets, and instant soup — may leave people more prone to heart disease and an early death, two new studies suggest. Both were published May 29 in The BMJ.

These processed foods aren't just full of fat, sugar, salt, and calories. They're also low in fiber, vitamins, and minerals that help prevent heart disease. Preservatives and other additives in ultra-processed foods might also contribute to weight gain, prediabetes, and inflammation, all of which are hard on the heart.

People who ate more than four servings of ultra-processed foods daily had a 62% higher risk of dying from all causes compared with those who ate only two servings per day.

Following good eating habits along with regular physical activity will keep you stay healthy and reduce the risk of high blood pressure , high cholesterol and eventually prevent against the heart disease.

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Note: The above information is for education purpose, it does not substitute the advice of your doctor or clinical physician.