How to choose foods for coronary heart sufferers & bull; hello healthy

Coronary heart disease is one of the deadliest types of disease in Indonesia. Even so, you can still undergo coronary heart treatment if you experience it. Apart from undergoing treatment, you also need to start changing your lifestyle, one of which is by adopting a heart-healthy diet. Then, what foods are good for coronary heart sufferers? Check out the following healthy diets for coronary heart sufferers.

How to choose the right food for coronary heart sufferers

If you have coronary heart disease, you should pay more attention to your daily food intake. Here's how to choose foods that you can do:

1. Increase the intake of fruits and vegetables

Fruits and vegetables are two types of foods that are good for coronary heart sufferers. This is because these two foods are the best sources of vitamins and minerals. In fact, they are also low in calories and rich in fiber.

Eating fruits and vegetables can help you reduce calorie levels in your body which may be high due to foods such as meat, cheese, and snacks. That way, you can also keep your weight from going overboard. The reason is, excess body weight or obesity can also cause heart disease, such as coronary heart disease and heart attacks.

In addition, increasing the intake of foods derived from plants such as fruits and vegetables can treat heart disease and prevent heart attacks. Therefore, people with coronary heart disease are strongly encouraged to include fruits and vegetables in their daily diet.

Actually, including fruits and vegetables in the daily diet for coronary heart sufferers is not a difficult matter. The most important thing is to always wash fruits and vegetables first, chop them and divide them according to portions and store them in the refrigerator before eating.

You can also mix it with a variety of other healthy foods. This depends on your taste in eating food. As long as a mixture of other foods is healthy, people with coronary heart disease can feel the benefits of fruits and vegetables to treat their condition.

Also make sure you eat a variety of fruits. If you are having trouble eating fresh fruit and vegetables, you can also eat canned fruit. However, always avoid fruit that has been mixed with syrup because the sugar content in it will be higher.

2. Choose foods made from whole grains

According to the Mayo Clinic, whole wheat is also a good food for coronary heart sufferers. The reason is, wheat is a good source of fiber which is good for the heart and also vitamin E which can help reduce levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) in the body.

The reason is, the accumulation of bad cholesterol (LDL) can clog arteries, one of the causes of coronary heart disease. In fact, this condition can even cause a heart attack.

There are several types of foods made from whole grains and can be given to people with coronary heart disease, such as the following:

Wheat flour
Wheat bread
Whole grain cereals
Red rice
Whole wheat pasta
Oatmeal

In fact, you may need to avoid certain types of wheat for the diet of people with coronary heart disease. Foods that contain wheat and should be avoided for consumption by people with coronary heart disease include:

White bread
Mufin
Corn bread
Donuts
Biscuits
Cake
Egg noodles
Popcorn made with butter
High-fat snacks

3. Get used to consuming foods rich in protein and low in fat

Next, foods that are suitable for coronary heart disease are those that are rich in protein but low in fat. Lean meats, fish, and low-fat dairy are some of the foods that are high in protein. Even so, you still need to be careful in choosing food.

For example, skim milk is better than plain milk, or skinless chicken breast instead of fried chicken breast. You can also choose fish to meet low-fat protein needs.

In fact, if necessary, choose the type of fish that is rich in omega-3 fatty acids because it can help you reduce levels of fats in the blood called triglycerides. Salmon and mackerel are good types of fish that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids.

Grains and nuts are equally good sources of low-fat protein. In fact, these foods are also low in cholesterol, making them a great substitute for meat. Therefore, so that people with coronary heart disease can sort and choose foods that are good for their health conditions, it is better to slowly replace meat or protein sources that are still rich in fat with foods that are low in fat as already mentioned.

That way, fat and cholesterol in the body can be reduced and fiber intake increases.

4. Limit foods high in saturated fat and trans fat

Not only paying attention to the foods that should be eaten, you also need to pay attention to the foods that people with heart disease need to avoid, including coronary heart disease. A good diet for people with coronary heart disease is one that does not contain too much fat, especially saturated fat and trans fat.

This is also an important step to reduce cholesterol levels in the body, so that the risk of experiencing coronary heart disease also decreases. You certainly don't want to wait for coronary heart symptoms to appear first and then adjust your diet. Therefore, preventing heart disease like this is a wise step.

However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't eat foods that contain fat at all. Therefore, make sure that you consume fat as needed. For example, to reduce the saturated fat content in meat consumed, you can choose meat that does not contain fat.

Then, you can also use other foods that are certainly healthier for the heart to replace foods rich in saturated fats. For example, low-fat yogurt for butter substitutes, and sliced fruit or low-sugar fruit jam as a substitute for margarine when making toast.

If you really want to use foods or food ingredients that contain fat, you can use olive oil or canola oil which contains unsaturated fats. Unsaturated fats can actually lower cholesterol levels in the blood if used properly.

5. Reducing the salt content in food

Eating foods that are high in salt or sodium can increase blood pressure. In fact, high blood pressure is a risk factor for coronary heart disease. In fact, high blood pressure or hypertension can cause heart attacks. In short, the recommended diet for people with coronary heart disease is low in sodium.

The ideal salt intake for adults is 2300 milligrams (mg) of sodium per day. Approximately the amount is one teaspoon. However, only adults in healthy condition should consume that much sodium.

In fact, it would be better if the salt intake you consume every day can be lower. The ideal figure for sodium intake is 1500 mg per day.

In addition, reducing the salt content in the food you consume is the right step. However, don't forget that canned or processed foods actually contain a higher sodium or salt content.

Therefore, when preparing a food menu for coronary heart sufferers, it is better if you can make or cook it yourself. That way, you can know with certainty the level of salt intake in food.

Another way you can do to reduce the salt content in food is to choose food seasonings more carefully. The reason is, there are also food ingredients that already contain salt in them.

By sorting and choosing foods that are good for heart health, you can serve healthy food for people with coronary heart disease. This includes an effort to help overcome coronary heart disease in addition to undergoing coronary heart treatment.

In addition to implementing a healthy diet, a good lifestyle for coronary heart sufferers is to increase physical activity by exercising, but make sure you do good exercise for heart disease. In addition, always monitor blood cholesterol levels, blood sugar levels, and blood pressure to avoid various risk factors for coronary heart disease.