Living with heart disease is not simple; it is something that many people manage to do. For a woman with heart disease, having the right diet is a big deal. Besides other healthy habits, eating right can help slow or partially reserve the narrowing of a woman’s heart arteries. It can also help prevent further complications. If you have a woman with heart disease, you can help her adopt a diet that eliminates LDL or bad cholesterol, lowers blood sugar, helps with weight loss, and lowers blood pressure. If your loved one has heart disease, you want to seek an Upper East Side women’s heart health specialist for diagnosis and treatment. Again, you want to focus on these foods to help with her heart health:
Serve more fruits, vegetables, whole grains
Adding heart-saving foods to a woman’s diet is just as crucial as cutting back on others. You want to consider plant-based foods as they are rich in fiber and nutrients. Also, these foods tend to taste great in a salad or as a side dish. You can even have them as an entrée. When preparing these foods, ensure that you are not using a lot of fat or cheese.
Choose fat calories wisely
You may want to avoid your loved one having too much saturated fats. Limit these fats that are found in animal products. Also, avoid artificial trans fats by checking the ingredients of the foods you buy. Look for partially hydrogenated oils on the list of ingredients and avoid those with such ingredients.
When using added fats for cooking or baking, ensuring you choose oils high in monounsaturated fats like peanut oil and olive oil. You can also consider oils high in polyunsaturated fats like sunflower oil, corn, oil, and soybean oil.
Limit cholesterol
You will find cholesterol in foods such as red meat as well as a high-fat dairy product. These foods can contribute to elevated blood cholesterol levels, particularly in people who are considered high-risk individuals. So you want to reduce the amount of cholesterol your loved one takes.
Select the right kind of carbs
When preparing food for your loved one with heart disease, you want to include foods such as oatmeal, brown rice, sweet potatoes, and quinoa. These foods add the amount of fiber needed for healthy digestion. They also help control blood sugar in the body. Make sure that you avoid sugary foods in her diet.
Let her eat regularly
Allow her to eat regularly as it helps control blood sugar in people who have heart disease. It also helps efficiently burn fat. Besides, eating regularly, the right foods helps regulate cholesterol levels.
Keep the salt low
You have probably heard that too much salt is bad for your health. It can increase blood pressure, so you want to consider using spices, herbs, and condiments to help flavor foods.
These are some of the diet changes you want your loved ones to adopt if they suffer from heart disease. Always ensure you seek medical help from a cardiologist.