Maintaining optimal heart health is something we don’t take too seriously, the diet plays an essential part in this field. The internet is overwhelmed with diets that prioritize trimming the belly fat or slimming the waists in an unhealthy way. But the cardiac diet is something different than other diets.
Why Choosing Cardiac Diet?
Cardiac diet or a heart-healthy diet is low-calorie diet (1000-1200 calories/daily) is based on eating plenty of nutritious foods full of vitamins, minerals, clean protein, monosaturated fats. Just like veggies, fruits, whole grains, fish and lean poultry. It also suggests skipping trans fats, saturated fats, and sodium foods, sugar and limiting junk foods as much as possible. While regular exercise or other activity is necessary to help boost heart health.
People who are overweight and have high cholesterol have greater chances of underlying other medical conditions like as high blood pressure, sleep apnea, cardiovascular diseases, gallbladder disease, etc. Following a cardiac diet can help you lower the blood pressure, lose weight, regulate bad cholesterol and blood sugar levels. It can even boost your energy in the prospect your healthier food choices.
Cardiac Diet – Heart Healthy Plan
With the heart-healthy diet, you will learn techniques to stick to the plan and cook tasty meals so your family can enjoy also. Stock the freezer with healthful foods and meat, for situations when you are in a rush. Because most fruits and vegetables spoil quickly and raw meat may is usable for a couple of days in the fridge.
The goal is to lose more than 7 pounds then between every 3 cycles have 15 days of break. In other words, 15 days diet, 15 days rest, then repeat.
Breakfast
For breakfast, try to selecting unprocessed foods from following food groups: veggies, fruits, protein foods, grains, and dairy. Seek ways to include lean protein, fiber and Omega-3 into your breakfast.
Wholesome Omelet: 2 egg whites and 1 egg with half avocado and vegetables by choice with a few tablespoons half baked (medium-sized) sweet potato
Rich Oatmeal: 100 gr cup gluten-free oats (cooked) with a tablespoon of almond butter, some cinnamon; decorate with chopped walnuts, half banana (sliced).
Scramble Tofu: Tofu with tomato, black beans, spinach, garlic, 1/4 avocado with a slice of whole-wheat bread
Rice Cake Protein-Packed : rice cake (brown rice) with 2 tablespoons almond butter with one banana (sliced).
Lunch
The key to the cardiac diet is to avoid sodium-rich foods and consume as low as possible. Pizza’s, some soups, cured meats, are rich in sodium, so have this in mind and when packing your own. Instead, try following tasty and healthy lunch ideas:
Side Salad and Chicken Sаndwich: baked chicken with whole wheat bread, few slices of avocado 1/3, tomato and lettuce with a side salad of vegetables and black beans with balsamico and olive oil instead of dressing.
Quinoa Bowl: half cup quinoa (or brown rice), half cup black beans, 2 cups of vegetables like broccoli, spinach, broccoli, Brussel sprouts topped with baked chicken(chopped), fish or tofu.
Tuna Salad With Avocado: Combine some tuna with half avocado (mashed) and lettuce with some chopped walnuts, and a slice of tomato and a slice of whole-grain bread.
Bean Soup (Low Sodium): Bean-based soup, Low sodium or chilli covered with some slices of avocado.
Dinner
For dinner, you also need to stick to your cardiac diet. Just choose lean cuts of meat and trim fat before cook. Here are some heart-healthy dinner ideas:
Baked Fish: Bake the fish or chicken/Salomon with one tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and a 2-3 tablespoons of salsa; also cook some veggies like broccoli, spinach and asparagus and whole-grain starch.
Turkey Meatballs: Use 1 pound lean ground turkey, one egg, 2-3 tbsp of oats, little pepper and teaspoon of dried oregano. Use olive oil to drizzle.
Baked Chicken With Feta: Bake some chicken, and when serving add on the side a half-cup butternut squash (baked), some broccoli and half cup quinoa combined together. Sprinkle some feta cheese on the top.
Snacks
Be very careful with your snack choice, skip the salty chips and replace with low-salt snacks full of fiber or protein.
We suggest following snacks:
- One fruit and a hard-boiled egg
- Hummus with one carrot, or peppers, or maybe broccoli
- Whole grain bread (1 slice) with half avocado
- Plain Greek yogurt with one tablespoon almond
Summary
The cardiac diet is flexible so it can be customized per personal preference. The key is to choose heart-healthy foods and maintain healthy lifestyle habits. Avoid alcohol, coffee, get enough sleep, drink more water, workout at least 3 times weekly, or stay active.