Heart health and diet Our Bupa nurses have put together these simple tips to help you eat well and look after your heart.
What you eat can have an impact on the health of your heart. Eating a healthy diet and being physically active can help you to maintain a healthy weight, blood pressure and level of cholesterol. It can also help to reduce your risk of developing diabetes all of which are important for a healthy heart. And it s never too late to start practising healthy habits. A good diet and regular exercise can help look after this important organ even if you already have a heart condition. Here are some of the choices you can make everyday to help keep your heart healthy. A balanced diet It s important to eat a range of healthy foods to make sure you get all of the nutrients your body needs. A heart-healthy diet includes: fruit and vegetables pulses, nuts and wholegrains lean meat, poultry, white fish and oily fish low-fat and low-sugar dairy products or dairy alternatives like soya vegetable-based spreads and oils such as olive oil and rapeseed oil wholemeal and wholegrain starchy foods such as brown bread and pasta It should also be low in saturated fat, salt, sugar and alcohol.
Enjoy a colourful variety of fruit and vegetables Eating enough fruit and vegetables is important for your health. Having a diet high in fruit and vegetables may help to reduce your blood pressure, and lower your risk of heart disease and some types of cancer. Try to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day. Aim to eat different types to make sure you get a variety of vitamins and minerals. One portion is 80 grams that s roughly one handful or: Cut back on salt Eating too much salt can play a role in raising your blood pressure, which increases your risk of developing heart disease. Aim to eat no more than six grams of salt a day that s roughly one teaspoon. Most of the salt we eat has been added to food during processing; examples are soups, sauces and ready meals. You can reduce the levels of salt in your diet by: SALT High 1.5g SALT Low 0.3g limiting salty foods such as crisps, salted nuts, bacon, cheese, ready meals and smoked fish checking the traffic light labels on packaging and choosing food that lists salt as a green category not adding salt to meals or when cooking try adding other herbs and spices to season your food instead or gradually reducing how much salt you add by measuring it out Understand the different fats Fats are an important part of your diet because they provide energy and essential fatty acids and transport vitamins around your body. There are three different types of fat and each of these can have a different effect on your health. Saturated fat Eating too much saturated fat may increase your levels of lowdensity lipoprotein (LDL) bad cholesterol which is harmful for your heart. Saturated fats are found in fatty and processed foods, such as red meat, sausages, dairy products, butter, ghee and lard. They re also found in pastries, cakes, biscuits and coconut oil. Trans fat Eating too much trans fat may be linked with an increased risk of heart disease. Trans fats are found in processed foods such as cakes, biscuits, takeaways, and animal products. Unhealthy fats are found in processed foods, takeaways, cakes and biscuits one apple, orange or pear two satsumas, kiwis or plums three heaped tablespoons of vegetables a dessert-sized bowl of salad Fresh, frozen, tinned and dried varieties, fruit juice, smoothies and pulses all count towards your daily intake of fruit and vegetables. But be sure to limit dried fruit to one heaped tablespoon (30g) and fruit juice and smoothies to one small (150ml) glass per day because these can be high in sugar. Did you know that a single slice of bread can contain 0.5g of salt? Add oily fish to your diet Oily fish is high in omega-3. This is a group of good fats (polyunsaturated fats) that help to keep your heart healthy. Aim to have two portions (140g each) of fish each week, and make one of these oily fish. Unsaturated fat Unsaturated fats are good fats which come from oily fish, plants, nuts and seeds. Eating these types of fats can increase your level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) good cholesterol which is beneficial for your heart health. Unsaturated fats are found in oils like olive, rapeseed and sunflower oils, nuts such as almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts, and in avocados, seeds and oily fish. Try to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day Examples of oily fish include fresh tuna, salmon, trout, mackerel, sardines, kippers, pilchards and herring. But keep an eye on how your fish is prepared. Some fish is smoked, which means it contains high levels of salt, which can increase your blood pressure. Swap saturated and trans fats for unsaturated varieties wherever possible.
Pre-mix Spirits BEER Get enough fibre Eating high-fibre foods may also help to lower your risk of heart disease. For example, it s thought that high-fibre foods like oats may help to reduce your cholesterol levels. You may also find that eating foods high in fibre help you to manage your weight, because they help you to feel fuller for longer. Good sources of fibre include: wholemeal and wholegrain carbohydrates nuts and seeds fruit and vegetables beans and pulses Eat less sugar Eating too much sugar can make you gain weight, which is linked to health problems such as diabetes and heart disease. Adults should aim to eat no more than 30g of free sugars a day that s about seven sugar cubes. Free sugars are sugars that are added to food and drink and include the naturally occurring sugars found in honey, syrups and unsweetened fruit juice. So try cutting down on things like fizzy drinks, sweets, chocolate, cakes, biscuits, ice cream and jam. Limit your alcohol intake Alcohol contains lots of calories and drinking too much can harm your health, for example by raising your blood pressure. Both men and women should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week. It s best to spread these out over the week and have a few alcohol-free days too. On average: one small glass (125ml) of 14% wine = 1.8 units one single (25ml) serving of spirit such as gin or rum = 1 unit one pint of 4% beer = 2.3 units The exact alcohol percentage can vary between drinks, so it s best to check the label to be sure. Do eggs raise cholesterol levels? It was once thought that eating eggs could raise your cholesterol levels and that you should limit how many eggs you eat per week. This is because eggs contain dietary cholesterol. But recent research has found that the amount of saturated fat you eat has a much bigger effect on your blood cholesterol level than the cholesterol that is found in eggs. So it s better to focus on cutting down on the total amount of saturated fat in your diet. You can eat eggs as part of a balanced diet. Sterols and stanols Sterols and stanols, which are found naturally in many plants are now added to some food products, like spreads, yoghurts and drinks. Some studies have shown that eating these foods could help to lower your level of bad cholesterol. But at the moment, there s not enough evidence to know for sure if eating foods with added plant sterols and stanols can reduce your risk of heart disease. If you do decide to eat these products, they need to be eaten every day in the right amount. So check the instructions on the manufacturer s label to make sure you re getting the dosage of sterols and stanols needed to have any effect on your cholesterol level. Food products with added sterols and stanols aren t suitable if you re pregnant or breastfeeding, nor for children under the age of five. They shouldn t replace healthy diet and lifestyle changes. For more information on products with added sterols and stanols, speak to your GP or a dietitian.
Make some simple swaps Sometimes all it takes is a few easy swaps to boost how healthy your meals are. Here are a few simple ideas for healthy swaps. Foods Healthier alternatives Fats such as: butter ghee lard suet hard margarines coconut and palm oil Vegetable spreads and oils such as: olive rapeseed sunflower soya Fatty meat and processed meat products such as: sausages salamis canned meat Remove all visible fat from meat and skin from poultry. Have red meat less often (no more than 500g raw weight per week). Have more poultry and fish. Have meat-free days use beans, pulses or soya mince/ chunks instead. full fat milk and yogurts cream canned coconut milks semi-skimmed or skimmed milk plant-based drinks such as almond, hazelnut, rice or soya alternatives fortified with calcium cakes, desserts and chocolate (especially cream and butter-based) coconut (fresh, dried, desiccated) plain buns such as currant/ hot cross buns, scones or plain biscuits fruit low-fat yogurts or soya alternatives food roasted or fried in butter, lard, other animal fats or coconut oil Use vegetable oil instead. Try other cooking methods without fat (for example, boiling, grilling, steaming).