Guide to Implementing a Heart Healthy Diet

Are you gaining weight? Does this make you worry about your cholesterol level? Do you feel like you need to do something about your eating habits particularly your cholesterol diet?

Good idea. Unhealthy cholesterol levels do not exhibit symptoms until complications like serious heart disease, which can result in heart attacks, occur. Medication has shown to be effective in lowering cholesterol, but a lifestyle and dietary change works best as a first step before medication is considered. Drugs alone may not work as well to lower cholesterol levels as when incorporated with increased physical activity and a healthy diet.

Though fat is a major source of energy in the body; it is not the only source. Too much fat in your diet can increase blood cholesterol levels, resulting in a heart attack. However, fat content is not a good gauge of a food’s cholesterol content. Liver and other organ meats may be low in fat but have high cholesterol content.

Here are some potential approaches to changing your diet to be more heart healthy.

• Use fiber-rich foods, such as whole grains, as your primary source of carbohydrates. This should go hand in hand with an increase intake of fresh fruits and vegetables such as berries, oranges, apples, pears, grapes, bell peppers, broccoli, kale, cauliflower, tomatoes, dark leafy greens celery, squash and eggplant among others.
• Stay away from saturated fats, which are mostly found in animal foods such as meat, poultry and dairy products. Opt for unsaturated fats instead, especially omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Good sources of these would be the vegetable and fish oils.
• Get your protein from soy protein, poultry, and fish instead of meat.
• To enhance your healthy eating, you may need to make other major lifestyle changes, such as weight control, exercise, and quitting smoking.

Adoption of a healthy cholesterol diet may take three to six months to show any change in cholesterol level. Some patients though, have seen results in about four weeks. While a low cholesterol diet is a good way to start a lifestyle change towards a healthier heart, keep in mind that proper exercise is as vital. Inactivity is believed to be one of the four primary causes of coronary heart disease. (The others are smoking, unhealthy cholesterol levels, and high blood pressure). While a healthy diet is a great first step, it is not the only step on the way to a healthy heart.

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