Heart Healthy Foods You Should Include In Your Diet
If you are under the care of a cardiologist, you want to do all you can to help your heart to be as healthy as possible. Along with following your doctor's orders there are other things you can do on your own that are good for your heart. You want to incorporate foods in your diet that are known for helping to strengthen hearts. Some of the foods you want to add to your diet include:
- Oatmeal – Oatmeal is packed with fiber and has plenty of potassium, folate and omega 3 fatty acids. This makes it a great choice of food for helping to lower bad cholesterol and decreasing your chances of developing clogged arteries.
- Avocados – Many people think of avocados as fatty foods one should try to eat sparingly. However, avocados contain a lot of monounsaturated fat, which means they can help to raise your good cholesterol levels while decreasing the levels of your bad cholesterol.
- Fresh, ground flaxseed – Flaxseed contains fiber and phytoestrogens. Adding flaxseed to foods each day can lower bad cholesterol, raise good cholesterol and help to keep arteries cleaned out. Fresh ground flaxseed is best, so you may want to invest in a coffee grinder. Grind it up and add it in all types of foods while you are cooking.
- Red wine – Red wine has antioxidants such as resveratrol that help to remove toxins from your blood. Red wine also helps to raise your good cholesterol and improve your circulation.
- Tofu – Tofu contains several minerals known for being heart healthy. Folate, calcium, potassium, magnesium and niacin are all in tofu, making it one food you should try to enjoy regularly to help lower bad cholesterol, raise good cholesterol, increase circulation and prevent the development of clogged arteries.
- Soy milk – Soy milk has niacin, calcium, potassium magnesium, folate and B-complex vitamins. This makes soy milk one of the best heart-friendly foods to include in your diet on a daily basis. You can drink soy milk in replacement of regular milk, cook with it and even use it to make yourself a daily smoothie.
- Dark chocolate – Dark chocolate contains cocoa phenols and resveratrol. Eating a bit of dark chocolate a day can actually help to lower your blood pressure.
Along with regular exercise and taking any medications prescribed by your doctor, you also want to try to include as many of the foods listed above into your daily diet as possible.