The cheat sheet for a healthier heart 

With billions of food products on the market it is more confusing than ever to know what to eat especially if you find yourself with dietary restrictions due to a health condition.

Stamps of approval are all over the place “Gluten free”, “vegan”, “low sodium”, “fat free”, but the question becomes, are these guides to help you or just entice you into buying their products? You have to wonder when things like broccoli are suddenly stamped fat free, vegan, and gluten free. Well no kidding? It’s a vegetable. It never had gluten, meat products in it, or fat… so why bother with the painfully obvious labels?

Our best advice?
Ignore the hype. Food doesn’t need to be this confusing and your diet certainly shouldn’t ever be based on what’s trending. Your body doesn’t care what diet craze is “in”.

What it means to really eat healthfully for your heart

Your heart is the center of your being. It’s the one major organ that you cannot do without so treating it well is vital. A couple of basic rules of thumb.

If its processed – leave it alone. This includes frozen premade foods, packaged meals, lunch meats with salts and nitrates in them, refined flours, sodas, candy, and fast foods. While the have some nutrients usually the bad outweighs the good. Save these for occasional cheat meals and special occasions.

High sugar and fats are not your hearts friend. Hydrogenated oils, saturated fats, and refined sugars serve no positive impact.

Eat natural. Your body is looking at food as fuel not as something tasty. Food is medicine. Fresh herbs, olive oil, beans, walnuts, sweet potatoes, salmon and oily fish, almonds, oranges, leafy greens, grass fed meats, berries, seeds, oats, whole foods are what your body craves.

Drink water – not energy drinks, not coffee or tea (which dehydrate), drop the artificial sweeteners all together as those come with a host of issues including a raised risk of heart disease. Aim for a gallon of water a day. NOT purified. Purified water seeks to be whole again and draws minerals and vitamins from your body. TIP: Add a pinch of pink salt (trace minerals) to your gallon of water for the day.

Movement – Get your body moving. We aren’t meant to be stagnant creatures. Exercise keeps your heart strong, especially when you feed it right along the way.

Eating heart healthy doesn’t need to be complicated. Tampa Cardiovascular Associates is happy to help. We offer nutritional counseling and customized diet plans built around your needs.

www.tampacardio.com

813-975-2800