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Heart Healthy Recipes

Submitted by Nick on March 4, 2011

Heart Healthy Recipes

Heart disease comes in many forms and today is one the big lifestyle disease killers. While there are medical ways to stop and cure heart diseases, you can do so with an improvement in your lifestyle. You can alter your lifestyle by bringing in some exercise and eating well.
Heart healthy recipes can be easy to make and stick to. Heart healthy recipes make heart healthy meals with low cholesterol recipes.

Heart healthy foods are many and you can make a list and paste it on your kitchen so that you have a ready reckoner.

Some of the foods you can eat are sweet potatoes, carrots, broccoli and sautéed greens, pumpkin, squash, low fat protein like chicken and turkey, onions and garlic, whole wheat, oatmeal, shredded wheat, fat free milk and low fat cottage cheese, fresh fruits, with skin wherever skins are edible, olive oil instead of other oils or butters, honey instead of sugar, walnuts and almonds and avocado. Fish like salmon and sardines, tuna and mackerel are oily fish and very good for the heart. They provide the very beneficial omega-3 fatty acids.

When you pick oils to use in cooking choose natural oils like olive and safflower rather than peanut or butter. You should also pick foods that are rich in natural fats like avocados and different nuts and seeds. Legumes are also good as heart friendly food.

Some of the foods that people prone to heart disease should avoid are red meats, hydrogenated fats, pies, cakes, packaged foods, deep fried goods, and all ‘white goods’ like pasta, white sugar and white grains. It is important to also control the fat eaten as which fats you consume in your generic eating can decide whether or not you get heart disease. It is also important to reduce your salt content.

That is usually because excess salt can lead to hypertension, which is also a side effect of heart disease.

Uncontrolled diabetes leads to glucose intolerance and eventually leads to a buildup of cholesterol as well. A buildup of cholesterol can lead to heart disease. Cholesterol can be controlled by fat and salt you consume. Saturated fats increase the bad cholesterol. Saturated fat in animal products like meat fat, lamb, beef, chicken skin, and even full dairy cream all are bad for people with heart disease. Saturated fat even forms when monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats are hydrogenated. Transfat, another really bad fat, is formed when these fats are hydrogenated. Both these fats increase the bad cholesterol and it is very important that you avoid them if you are avoiding heart unfriendly food.

If you smoke or drink, you should try and stop those habits as these habits. These habits can accelerate the deterioration. Exercise is also an important part of a healthy heart lifestyle. You have to make sure you get at least 30-45 minutes of exercise daily. It can be something as simple as a brisk walk to swimming or jogging round the block. You can even just climb the stairs in your office building for 30 minutes.