Having a healthy heart is something that all of us that are living and breathing on this earth should strive for. We all need this special organ to live, and by maintaining a healthy weight it could be a big step in the right direction in keeping it strong and resilient. A good way to go about doing this is by setting up a food diary. This will help in a big way by giving you a list of do’s and don’ts to go by, while on your journey to losing weight on a day to day base. When making this dieting list be sure to include a variety of fruits and vegetables and grains, as well as fat free or low fat dairy products. Foods of this sort are very nutritionally dense and they give your body the vitamins and minerals it needs without delivering a lot of fat or calories. Also be sure to choose fruits and vegetables from across the color spectrum to ensure that you get all of the nutrients that your body needs. Foods of this nature tend to be higher in fiber, which in return will make you feel much fuller longer and their also extremely good for the body.
Your dieting list should also include a serving of baked fish, for at least twice a week for the omega-3 fatty acids. As hard as this maybe, you will have to minimize junk food and any other snacks, because these foods are generally high in calories and very low in essential nutrients. Always make sure to read labels on your foods to ensure that you don’t consume too many fats or excessive calories without a payoff in nutrients.
The number one cause of death worldwide is cardiovascular disease, and the number one cause of that is high blood pressure. One of the leading causes of high blood pressure, nicknamed the “silent killer” is stress and by thinking more positively about things in our daily lives, it can be lowered. It is estimated that one in three Americans will develop high blood pressure in their life time, and having a bad sodium diet is usually the cause. Sodium increases blood pressure by holding excessive fluids in the body, creating an extra burden on the heart.
When the body takes on to much sodium it can bring on many health effects in the form of osteoporosis, heart failure, stomach cancer, kidney disease, and stroke. Today in America about 97 percent of adolescents and children are in taking way to much salt. This is putting them in an extremely higher category for cardiovascular diseases as they get older. Your health is and everything keeping it in tact is a task that we as humans should be ready and willing to endure.
So if it means changing a few eating habits to better our hearts, I say “So be it”, let’s eat healthier, live longer and be so much more aware of what we intake inside of our bodies on a daily basis.
