Foods to protect your heart....

Today's Post: Monday, 2-13-2012

I saw an article recently on foods that can benefit your heart.

It may be more important to know what foods and drinks are proven to harm your heart & we will summarize that here. That’s because almost any other food or drink will protect your heart better than they will.

But if you are going to replace those foods and drinks anyway, why not eat and drink the foods that protect your heart well and have other health benefits too?

So that’s most of this post.

1. Some foods or drinks increase the kind of small particle LDL that causes heart disease. Some tend to make you fat increasing your blood pressure too much. Some cause you to get high blood sugar that sticks abrasive sugar particles on your LDL which damages the inside surfaces of your blood vessels and can even destroy the smallest ones.

And, some foods cause excessive chronic inflammation which also damages the inside surfaces of your blood vessels.

So, to avoid all that:

Don’t drink ANY soft drinks or more than one or two a year—either diet or regular.

Always read labels and decline to buy or eat any foods that list any trans fat content OR list any hydrogenated oils as ingredients.

Always read labels and decline to buy or eat any foods or drinks containing high fructose corn syrup or “corn sugar.”

Virtually eliminate eating refined grain foods or only eat them a few times a year.

Cut back dramatically on eating real sugar or foods that contain it. Eat it a few times a month instead of several times a day.

Stop eating or buying oils high in omega 6 AND stop eating or buying the foods that contain them to the maximum extent you can. (These include soy, saffola, corn, and canola oils.)

Make a strong effort to eat no farmed fish. And, when you eat dairy products or meat or poultry from animals fed grain, do everything possible to remove their fat from what you eat or drink or eat or drink far less or both.

2. So, you can see why after that list of do NOT’s a list of foods good for you and your heart why a list of what to eat and drink instead is so valuable.

Here’s that list: (It has 12, repeat 12, kinds of heart OK or beneficial foods.)

a) Heart OK drinks include water, tea, green tea, coffee black or with just a bit of lowfat milk or occasional half and half (light cream), soda water – carbonated only, & occasional flavored soda water with no sweetener or other additives of any kind. Water is usually the least expensive. And tea, green tea, & coffee each supply caffeine and other health benefits.

Red wine and to a lesser extent white wine and even dark beer in moderation are actually good for your heart for people who can drink them safely.

Nice to know just before Valentine’s day!

b) Real butter in low moderate amounts, particularly if from cows fed no grain, is OK.

>>> c) Dark chocolate in low but regular amounts each week is actually good for your heart.

(Just be sure that butter and not hydrogenated oils are in it! And that real sugar and not high fructose corn syrup are not in it.)

Nice to know just before Valentine’s day!

d) Extra virgin olive oil protects your heart in several ways! Besides replacing oils high in omega 6, it helps replace butter and other fats from grain fed animals AND it boosts your HDL while lowering your LDL a bit. It’s the ideal choice and worth the extra expense by about 20 times!

e) For those who aren’t allergic, real raw, unsalted nuts and avocados are superfoods with similar oils to extra olive oil and add other heart protective ingredients too!

f) Wild caught fish and seafood not high in mercury protects your heart by replacing bad fats and grain fed protein foods AND supplies the heart protective omega 3 oils AND have other health benefits.

g) Beans and lentils and black-eyed peas protect your heart by replacing grain fed protein foods, lowering LDL, and saving you so much money you can more easily afford things like wild caught fish and extra virgin olive oil.

h) Occasional to very occasional poultry from chickens only pasture fed on pollution free pastures or from beef or lamb fed ONLY grass is OK for your heart. (Up to once a week for that kind of poultry and once or twice a month for that kind of meat can be OK, particularly if you eat the other things on this list and NOT the bad for you stuff in the first list.)

i) If you eat grains or foods based on them, eat ONLY 100 % whole grains and no more than once or twice a day most days. And, if you eat those, try to be sure to exercise most days of every week. Less processed oatmeal, steel cut or rolled oats is number one since it is proven to lower LDL cholesterol and prevent heart disease.

For those that need gluten free, quinoa and certified gluten free buckwheat work as do nut flours and meals for those not allergic as a grain substitute that’s also good for your heart. Barley is also somewhat good for your heart and may be least fattening.

j) One of THE best kinds of food for your heart and the rest of your health are raw and cooked vegetables. And organic vegetables are a bit safer to eat and usually a good bit more nutritious. (Both French fries and white potatoes do NOT make this list by the way.)

Try never to eat less than two servings a day. Try to eat one or two servings of a raw cruciferous vegetable and one or two servings of onion, garlic, or similar foods each day.

Cruciferous vegetables, broccoli, cabbage, red cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, water cress, radishes, etc and onion, garlic, and similar foods like leeks, protect your heart. They lower your LDL cholesterol two ways and by help you avoid foods that harm you and making you fat by filling you up—all of which protects your heart. Eating those two kinds of foods also prevents many if not most cancers!

Eat both raw tomatoes and cooked tomatoes on most days.

And, try to add other green, white, red, and orange other vegetables many days each week in addition to the first kinds!

If you eat 6 to 8 servings of vegetables overall on most days, that gives you the most heart protection and it protects all the rest of you and your health best too!

k) Organic fruit in moderation each day but eating some every day protects your heart.

It does this best with organic berries, grapes, and cherries. Try to eat one serving a day of one of those. Blueberries and dark red or sour cherries are particularly protective.

One or two more servings of fruit a day are OK on occasion. For those, organic plums and organic unwaxed apples are best. (Such apples or no sugar added applesauce also protect your heart by lowering your LDL cholesterol.)

Fruit juice tends to be fattening so usually eat the whole fruit instead since that gives you better heart protection too. But if you want a single serving of juice each day, organic 100 % cranberry juice is least fattening and has the least sugars and calories. (For people who want juice, vegetable juice made with the whole vegetable including the fiber can also be a good choice.)

l) Many spices are also good for your heart.

Turmeric plus black pepper or a curry spice containing turmeric plus black pepper protects your heart by lowering inflammation and your LDL AND helps prevent Alzheimer’s disease and many cancers too!

Ginger is related to turmeric and may be even better at protecting your heart.

Cinnamon helps your body process any real sugar or sugars in fruits or juices and protects your heart in other ways.

And, spices like basil, oregano, sage, cayenne pepper, black pepper, chili powder, nutmeg and more help protect your heart.

They do this directly in part because many of them contain ursolic acid that strengthens the muscles in your heart. And eating them also protects your heart because they enable you, along with onions and garlic, to make your food taste good without adding too much salt.

Summary:

You can easily eat and drink as much as you are hungry for of these good for your heart and health foods and drinks and leave no room at all for the bad for you things on the first list!