A comprehensive cardiovascular disease diet should have a few different goals. These would include keeping cholesterol and triglyceride levels low, minimize the consumption of foods which damage the interior lining of our arteries, and adding foods or food products that may be able to reverse any damage to heart and arteries which may already exist.
Certainly a tall order, but one that is both achievable and well worth doing, that is if avoiding heart and artery disease is your goal.
Reducing the amount of cholesterol, triglycerides, and other blood fats is the first step in our quest to do just that and will benefit you in three different ways. First, by keeping our cardiovascular disease diet low in cholesterol we will be reducing the chances of arterial plaque deposits forming. Second, by keeping blood fat (lipid) levels low we will reduce the speed at which current deposits are advancing. And third, keeping cholesterol levels low will reduce the chances of damage to the interior lining of the arteries which promotes the formation of arterial plaque.
In order to achieve this we will need to reduce saturated fat consumption to 7 percent of calories or about 16 grams a day, virtually eliminate all triglycerides, and hold cholesterol down to less than 30 percent of calories. The cholesterol numbers may vary slightly with healthy adults keeping cholesterol under 30 percent but those who are in a high risk category, have high levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol, or those who are taking cholesterol lowering medications holding cholesterol consumption down to around 20 percent of calories.
When you do use fats in your cardiovascular disease diet choosing monosaturated fats such as canola and olive oil should be standard procedure. Polyunsaturated fats found in abundance in nuts, seeds, certain grains, and cold water fatty fish are also good substitutions for foods and oils high in saturated fat. Let's look at few examples.
Heart healthy fats to chose: olive oil, canola oil, and margarines that are free from trans fats containing plant stanols and sterols. A couple of name brand buttery spread that meet this criteria are the name brands Promise and Benecol.
Artery clogging high saturated fat foods to avoid: fatty cuts of red meat, processed meats, organ meats, duck, goose, poultry skin, butter, lard, gravy, cream sauce, bacon fat, non dairy creamers, hydrogenated margarine and shortening, coconut oil, cottonseed oil, and cocoa butter found in chocolate.
Cardiovascular Disease Diet - Reversing Arterial Damage
Turing back the clock on arterial damage is no easy task. We now know that cholesterol can damage our arteries and are doing everything possible reduce its consumption. But there is another potentially more dangerous culprit according to recent studies, that of homocysteine.
These are hostile amino acids released into the bloodstream triggered by consuming protein rich foods. When released homocysteines chew up cells in the lining of the arteries. They may also increase the risk of blood clots and produce debris that blocks the arteries.
But not to worry, there is a easy solution for neutralizing these blood baddies. The solution is to consume adequate amounts of folic acid, vitamins B6, and B12 along with any high protein meal. Food to add to our cardiovascular disease diet that are high in B vitamins are fish, skim milk, beans, whole grains, mustard/turnip greens, tomatoes, and kale.
Another possibility on turning back the clock is consuming fish high in omega three fatty acids (salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring) at least 2 times a week. There is evidence to suggest that this simple cardiovascular disease diet change will reduce inflammation in the arteries, reduce existing arterial plaque, and heal the scuffs and nicks in the arterial channel.
One last possibility to help restore artery health is to consume foods high in the antioxidant resveratrol. This antioxidant is found in the skin of dark colored grapes and grape juice.
In summary, a cardiovascular disease diet consists of eating less red meat, more fruits and vegetables, and adding foods that are high in the B vitamins, 3 fatty acids, and resveratrol. Certainly, there is a lot more to learn and this article should be your starting point rather than your ending point. Nevertheless, you are now well on your way to putting together a cardiovascular disease diet plan that will produce both short and long term benefits.
Rob D. Hawkins is an enthusiastic consumer advocate for the use of natural health and natural living with over 10 years experience in the field. To learn more about high cholesterol and triglycerides, along with safe and effective natural remedies for improving cardiovascular health purchaseremedies.com/Cholesterol.html Click Here
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