How Your Diet Can Help Your Heart Health

Heart conditions, including heart disease, are some of the most common chronic health conditions out there. In fact, heart disease is considered the most common preventable chronic illness. But there’s a lot that we can all do to reduce our chances of experiencing it. Your diet is always going to be one of the most crucial elements in managing your health, and here are some of the foods that can help you improve your heart health in different ways.

Oily fish

The description might not be the most appetizing thing, but oily fish such as salmon, trout, and tuna do tend to be some of the tastiest types you can get. What’s more, the oil that they are high in, omega-3 fatty acid, is practically a superfood all on its own. Aside from reducing your risk of cardiovascular disease, they also reduce the risk of blood clots in general and help to keep the arteries smooth, which prevents them from getting damaged over time. Omega 3 fatty acids can lower your blood pressure and increase the amount of “good” cholesterol in your blood.

Use whole grains while avoiding the other kind

Fiber is great for your heart. Whole-grain foods are well known to regulate your blood pressure and to improve your heart health in other ways. As such, you should keep an eye out for whole-grain foods, such as high fiber cereals, oatmeal, brown rice, and flour, pasta, and bread that is marked as whole grain. On the other hand, make more of an effort to reduce your white bread, as well as cut down on donuts, biscuits, muffins, waffles, cakes, and things like egg noodles. Consider them more of an occasional treat.

A cup of coffee

Caffeine is one of those things that you are always warned to take in moderation. It is true that too much coffee can affect your sleep and increase your blood pressure too much. However, it has been found that people who drink coffee habitually, in moderation, have a lower risk of heart failure  But, is coffee a blood thinner, as you might often hear? Not quite. That doesn’t mean there aren’t heart health benefits to it, however.

They’re berry good for your health

When it comes to real-life superfoods, and not fads, berries are well worth the closer look. They are full of nutrients that play a key role in keeping the heart healthy, as well as being packed with antioxidants. Antioxidants and the heart have a complex relationship. Basically, antioxidants prevent the damage that free radicals can cause in the cells, and the damage that they cause has been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. As such, berries can be good for your heart in more than one way.

There are other steps you can take to manage your heart health, including exercising, drinking water, and avoiding stressing it with alcohol and tobacco. When it comes to your diet, however, including some of the foods mentioned above might not be a bad idea.