If You Are Eating These Foods, You May Be Making Your Heart Disease Worse

Posted by: Tampa Cardio

On: April 13, 2023

Heart disease - what not to eat

No matter your age, what you eat affects your health. As we age it becomes more noticeable and if you have a diagnosis of heart disease, watching what you eat becomes an integrated part of your wellness care.

Your heart health is directly connected to nearly everything that you put in your body, and a solid nutritious diet can do wonders for keeping heart disease at bay or ensuring that you stay healthy and feeling well if you’ve already been diagnosed. When it comes to heart disease and quality of life, what you don’t eat is just as important as what you remember to put into it.

Listed below are four major food groups to avoid if you want to stay heart-healthy.

Processed or refined grains and carbohydrates.
Whole grains are supposed to be good for you, and in their original state, they are. The problem is that refined grains and carbs lose most, if not all, of what was beneficial about them during the refinement process, such as their original fibers and minerals. What makes these foods even worse is what is then added to them during processing, such as fat, sodium, and sugar, all of which can lead to weight gain and high blood pressure.

Foods to avoid:

  • white bread
  • white rice
  • certain breakfast cereals
  • instant oatmeals

Processed or refined sugars.
Sugar is bad for you for a number of reasons, but perhaps the most important of which is the effect that it has on your heart. Sugar provides the human body with “empty calories” that crowd out the benefits from the healthier foods you consume at the same time, essentially canceling them out. Eating high amounts of added sugar can also raise your blood pressure and high triglyceride levels, as well as contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes.

Foods to avoid:

  • soft drinks
  • candy and sweets
  • certain breakfast cereals
  • preserved foods such as frozen and canned foods

Trans and saturated fats.
Some types of fat can be good for you, so it’s important to recognize which kinds are not, namely trans fats and some saturated fats. While trans fat is arguably more harmful than saturated fats, and should generally not be consumed in any amount, they both can harm the body by raising “bad” cholesterol and lowering “good” cholesterol.

Foods to avoid:

  • deep-fried food
  • margarine
  • microwave popcorn
  • pie crust

Sodium.
While salt is fine in moderation, the kidneys are only capable of processing a limited amount, and an excess of sodium can thus result in increased blood pressure in the arteries. Not only can hypertension lead to heart failure or a heart attack, but it also puts you at risk for kidney failure and stroke as well.

Foods to avoid:

  • processed meats
  • fast food
  • certain snacks
  • certain salad dressings

For a Tampa cardiology center that also offers its very own onsite nutritionist, available to assist patients with a variety of conditions in getting their diets on the right track again, contact Tampa Cardiovascular Associates today by calling (813) 975-2800. www.tampacardio.com.

Posted by: Tampa Cardio

On: 13/04/2023

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