Doctors Reveal Best Heart-Healthy Foods to Add to Your Diet

The number of people suffering from cardiovascular diseases in the world is steadily increasing. One of the causative factors is unbalanced nutrition. What are the best nutrients for the heart and blood vessels?

Dr. Anna Biryukova, a cardiovascular disease specialist, told Gazeta.Ru that balanced nutrition means following a diet in which the proportion of some foods is reduced, while the body gets all the nutrients, vitamins, mineral elements and dietary fiber it needs.

According to her, vegetable oils can be consumed daily: olive, corn, sunflower and soybean oil to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. These oils contain a large amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are essential for maintaining the health of the walls of blood vessels and the heart.

In addition, she said, it is recommended to eat a lot of fish because it is an important source of fish oil, and it is also rich in unsaturated fatty acids and protein. The most beneficial of them are fatty fish - herring, mackerel and salmon. Therefore, fish should be eaten 1-2 per week, to prevent the risks associated with development of atherosclerosis.

She points out that it is also necessary for the body to obtain the necessary amount of animal protein - meat and poultry, and vegetable protein - lentils, chickpeas and peas. The body must also obtain a sufficient amount of dietary fiber, which acts like a brush in the intestines and removes excess fat from the body, in addition to being necessary for the intestinal microbiome. Dietary fiber is found in whole grain bread, vegetables, fruits and grains.

According to her, fruits and vegetables, in addition to dietary fiber, contain vitamins and mineral elements, so it is recommended to eat 5 servings of them per day, or about 500 grams.

Source: Gazeta.Ru - https://r.rtarabic.com/wcja - Publication date: 04/11/2023