TOP 6 Foods for Your TICKER [SURPRISING!]
You know the mantra for maintaining good heart health: eat right and exercise.
But what exactly does it mean to “eat right?”
It depends on who you ask (and who paid for the research…).
One way of the best ways to find out the answer to that question is to look at the diets of the people with the lowest rates of heart disease.
Researchers did just that… and identified the top SIX foods linked to better heart health. And there’s one on the list that’s sure to surprise you.
Research recently published in the European Heart Journal combined the results of six studies from 1999 to 2019, including data from more than 240,000 people in 80 countries.
The researchers created healthy diet scores based on meta-analyses of food frequency questionnaires.
The scores rated how healthy someone’s overall diet was and also revealed SPECIFIC foods associated with fewer cardiac events such as heart attack, stroke, or heart-related deaths.
The following six categories were found to PROTECT against heart disease.
- Fruit (2-3 one-cup servings per day)
Fruit contains vitamins and antioxidants that help preserve heart health and reduce systemic inflammation.
Plus, the fiber found in fruit binds to and removes cholesterol from your body, promoting healthy lipid levels.
- Vegetables (2-3 one-cup servings per day)
Vegetables provide nutrients like vitamins, minerals, and fiber that help maintain healthy heart rhythms, healthy potassium levels, and healthy blood pressure.
- Legumes (3-4 half-cup servings per week)
Legumes provide many of the same benefits as fruits and vegetables, with the added bonus of protein.
Protein gives you energy and supports healthy muscles and tissues, providing the framework for heart-healthy activities.
- Nuts (1 one-ounce serving per day)
Nuts do what the first three foods do, with the added benefit of healthy fats, which regulate heart rhythms, reduce inflammation, and promote healthy lipid levels.
- Fish (2-3 one-ounce servings per week)
Fish is a fantastic source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are tied to a lower risk of heart-related problems.
These essential fatty acids support healthy blood pressure, boost blood vessel elasticity, help manage lipid levels, and maintain normal heart rhythms.
- Full-fat Diary (2 one-cup servings per day of milk or yogurt)
None of these are surprising to me, but seeing dairy on that list will make MANY folks do a double-take.
After all, the medical community maintained for years that full-fat dairy was terrible for your heart because of its saturated fat content.
(For MORE on the truth about saturated fat, check out my earlier report HERE.)
But in recent years, researchers have begrudgingly admitted that full-fat dairy “isn’t as bad for you” as they thought.
Talk about an understatement.
In reality, folks who eat the MOST full-fat dairy tend to have the LEAST risk of heart disease.
This list highlights that good heart health (and good health in general) isn’t about following a fad diet. It’s about living a natural LIFESTYLE.
And there’s nothing more natural than eating food that nature provides!
P.S. Heart-related deaths TRIPLED! [Here’s WHY]
SOURCE:
“Diet, cardiovascular disease, and mortality in 80 countries,” European Heart Journal, Volume 44, Issue 28, 21 July 2023, Pages 2560–2579, doi. org/ 10.1093/eurheartj/ehad269
