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Heart Health – Top Eating Tips to Keep Your Heart Healthy
Today one of the leading causes of death in both men and women happens to be heart disease. This means that you should be doing everything possible to keep your heart in great shape. Good health definitely depends on your diet and eating the right foods for nutrients, like vitamins, fiber, fat, protein, and more. Sometimes it can be difficult to know how you should be eating to keep your heart healthy. Here is a look at some of the top eating tips you need to start implementing into your life for better heart health.
Tip #1 – Avoid Bad Fats
One of the first eating tips for heart health happens to be avoiding bad fats in your diet. While some fats, such as the Omega 3s found in olive oil, are healthy, other fats can be detrimental to your health. Saturated and trans fats are both fats that you should be avoiding. While a small amount may be okay, it’s important to lower your intake of these fats to keep your heart healthy.
Tip #2 – Eat Smaller Portions
Another important tip to remember as you work to eat for heart health is to eat smaller portions. It’s easy to eat larger portions than you need, racking up more calories and fat than you are aware of. Learn about proper portion sizes and stick to them. Consider using smaller plates at home when you eat to limit your portion size. You should also keep portion size in mind when you eat out at restaurants. One great option is to have half your meal boxed before you even begin eating to ensure you don’t eat too much.
Tip #3 – Go with Lean Meats
Going with lean meats in your diet is yet another great tip for eating to improve heart health. Leaner meats are healthier for your heart. Start looking for lean cuts of meat when you do your grocery shopping. Chicken without skin and turkey are both great options. Lean cuts of pork like the tenderloin make great options, as do lean cuts of beef. You also need to remember that the correct portion of meat is about the size of a deck of cards, so keep this in mind to avoid overeating when you have meat.
Tip #4 – Drink Water Before Eating
You’ll also want to try to drink water before eating and throughout the day. The best rule of thumb is to ensure you get at least 64 ounces of water every day. Water is important for keeping your body functioning the way it should. Drinking water before you eat can also help you to eat less at a meal, since it fills you up.
Tip #5 – Get More Fruits and Veggies
Last, getting more fruits and veggies is another important diet tip to remember when you are eating for better heart health. Studies show that most people don’t get enough fruits and veggies in their diet today. Start shopping in the produce section of the grocery stores and purchase fresh fruits and veggies. Some great fruits to purchase include grapes, oranges, apples, bananas, and more. Go with veggies like carrots, spinach, tomatoes, green peppers, and other veggies you find in the produce department. Remember that canned and frozen fruits and veggies offer another way to add more of these foods to your diet as well.