Eat For Your Heart

Feel better, look better, live better.

• whole-grain bread
• whole-grain pasta
• whole-grain flour
• whole-grain (brown) rice
• oatmeal

While chewing on these healthy grains, you'll want to avoid some others. White flour and bread, pies and cakes, doughnuts and biscuits, and muffins and granola bars should all be avoided. Even though some of them may seem healthy, they often have enough sugar or additives to destroy any potential benefit.

Avoid Salt
Your body needs salt to function properly. But if you get too much of the flavoring substance, you will immediately increase your risk for high blood pressure. While high blood pressure by itself isn't necessarily too frightening, it does contribute to your heart disease risk.

Avoid too much salt by not adding salt to your food until you've tasted it, eating less prepackaged food, and choosing low-sodium foods. In addition, you can reduce the amount of salt you eat by trying out different spices and herbs in the place of salt, not using soy sauce or canned soups with your meals, and eating fresh foods whenever possible.

A Side of Exercise.

Want your heart-healthy diet to go the distance? You can't depend only on what you put in your mouth. You'll also need to couple your eating efforts with a healthy dose of exercise. Shoot for at least 30 minutes most days of the week, and your food will be better able to do its heart-protecting duty.

Size It Up
As hard as you try, everything you eat won't be beneficial to your heart. Thankfully you can prevent these foods from doing much damage by watching how much you eat. Instead of eating until you're so full you feel you're going to bust, eat slowly and chew each bite well. Once you feel the first hints of fullness, put down your fork and call it quits. By doing this, you'll avoid eating too much of anything bad and avoid becoming overweight, another risk factor for heart disease.

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