Eat a Balanced Diet for Heart Health: New American Heart Association Dietary Guidelines
2/18/2022
Good news: The American Heart Association’s new dietary guidelines focus more on your overall eating habits rather than a list of no-no’s.
Eating the right nutrients supports not only your general well-being, but also your heart health, over your lifetime. Research shows 14% to 28% lower cardiovascular disease mortality among American adults with high-quality eating habits.
Filling your plate with whole, unprocessed foods is key – reach for fruits and vegetables; fish and other seafood; low or non-fat dairy; nuts and seeds; lean meat and poultry. Minimize salt and added sugars, especially those often found in processed foods. Too much salt can raise blood pressure and too much sugar can lead to excess weight.
Dr. Shadi Idris, M.D., a fellowship-trained cardiologist with Northwest Healthcare’s Northwest Cardiology, appreciates the commonsense balance in the new AHA guidelines.
“Maintaining a healthy weight through a balanced diet and healthy exercise has a big impact on your heart health,” he said. “A dessert or packaged food is fine – as long as it’s an occasional treat, not a regular habit.”
Beginning with our mother’s diet before we’re even born, the food and drink we consume throughout our lives affects our health over time. If you are a parent, give your children a strong foundation by helping them develop healthy eating habits early on to avoid lifelong struggles with obesity and cardiovascular problems.
No matter your time of life, focus on making every calorie bring you value. It’s important to adjust how much you eat depending on how physically active you are (reduce portions and calories if you fall on the “less active” side of the spectrum).
Happily, you may not need to drastically overhaul your entire diet all at once: Small, simple changes can add up. Eat a piece of fresh fruit instead of drinking packaged, processed juice with added sugars. Buy bread or pasta made with whole, rather than refined, grains – and try eating a smaller amount as well as adding an extra vegetable to your plate. If you eat crackers, choose low-salt versions made from nuts, rice or whole grains.
Dr. Idris emphasized that a poor diet increases your odds of cardiovascular disease and hurts your overall health.
“Think of each mealtime as an opportunity to improve the way you feel,” he said. “Make it a habit to reach for nutritious food whether at home or dining out.”
To find a cardiologist or learn more about healthy choices for your heart, visit nwalliedphysicians.com/cardiology or call (520) 545-0953.
Source:
Lichtenstein AH, Appel LJ, Vadiveloo M, Hu FB, Kris-Etherton PM, Rebholz CM, Sacks FM, Thorndike AN, Van Horn L, Wylie-Rosett J; on behalf of the American Heart Association Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health; Council on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology; Council on Cardiovascular Radiology and Intervention; Council on Clinical Cardiology; and Stroke Council. 2021 Dietary guidance to improve cardiovascular health: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2021;144:e472–e487. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000001031
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