9 Heart-Happy Foods You NEED
Most heart health advice is too general to be beneficial.
You know the kind…
Eat lots of fruits, vegetables, and fish; don’t eat fried or sugar-sweetened foods.
It’s a good start, but it’s far more helpful to know specifics.
And thanks to modern research, we know certain key foods can help protect your heart in important ways: like lowering blood pressure and fighting inflammation.
With that in mind, here are 9 specific heart-happy foods that are PROVEN to boost your heart health.
Beets
Beets contain high amounts of nitrates, which are compounds that have been shown to keep your blood vessels dilated. This, in turn, helps prevent high blood pressure.
One study showed that when hypertensive patients drank just one cup of beet juice daily, it significantly lowered their blood pressure!
Broccoli
Eating more cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, Brussel sprouts, and cabbage has been tied to a lower risk of blood vessel disease.
This is likely because these foods are high in flavonoids, carotenoids, and cholesterol-lowering fiber.
Chili peppers
When you bit into a chili pepper, the burning sensation is caused by a compound called capsaicin. This same compound is responsible for numerous health benefits, including fighting inflammation, harmful oxidation, and helping to lower your blood glucose (sugar).
In one large study of 570,000 people, those who ate chili peppers on a regular basis had a 26 percent lower risk of dying from a heart problem, compared to those who rarely ate peppers.
Garbanzo beans
Like other legumes, garbanzo beans are loaded with fiber, which lowers cholesterol and helps stabilize blood sugar levels.
Oatmeal
Oatmeal is one of the few foods that the FDA has permitted to carry a “heart-healthy” claim. That’s because of robust scientific evidence showing that oats lower cholesterol and contribute to gut health.
Olive oil
The cornerstone of the famed Mediterranean diet, olives and olive oil have been shown to boost good HDL cholesterol, and to help prevent diabetes and stroke.
Just last year, a study found that people who started eating a Mediterranean-style diet after having a heart attack experienced better repair of the lining of their arteries.
Another study published last year showed that it can even help you live longer!
Pumpkin seeds
Sometimes studies are done on compounds IN a certain food. But one study published in 2019 found that eating pumpkin seeds can lower your blood pressure.
Similarly, people who ate walnuts every day in addition to reducing their saturated fat intake experienced a decrease in blood pressure.
Salmon
Studies show that eating salmon and other fatty fish twice a week helps lower your risk of heart failure, stroke, and coronary artery disease.
This is due in part to its abundance of omega-3 fatty acids. Another compound in salmon, called trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAPO), has been shown to reduce hypertension-related symptoms.
P.S. When it comes to food and your heart, it’s not always clear which ones are good and which ones aren’t. Click here to learn the TRUTH about these veggies and your heart health… you’ll probably be surprised.
