The Heart Healthy Diet
The best diet for heart health is high in fiber, root and green
vegetables, fruit, and fish with less red meat, and canola and olive
oils with less saturated fat like butter. Basically, a heart healthy
diet may require you to change the way that you shop for and prepare
food. Only very strong, healthy women can have dairy products and
a glass of red wine every day.
If you follow the basic Alkaline
Power Diet, you will be well on your way to maintaining the
slightly alkaline state that enables your body to function at its
best. Find out if you tend more towards alkalinity
or acidity.
The Power Alkaline Diet is very similar to the
way our ancestors ateclose to the earth, with more fruits,
berries, nuts, whole grains, and vegetables than red meat, dairy
products, refined sugar, and stimulants. When you think about it,
it is probably what our digestive engineering is designed to manage,
and what the rest of our body needs to support a long and healthy
life.
Moreover, this diet will drive your body toward
an alkaline state, pH from 7.3 to 7.4, which is what you want. Our
body processes and systems work best in an alkaline environment.
The key elements of this diet include:
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Raw, steamed, baked, or roasted vegetables |
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Whole grains rather than white processed flour products |
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Beans and peas |
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Small amounts of raw seeds and nuts |
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3 to 4 ounces each day of fish such as salmon, mackerel, tuna, and trout; or range-fed poultry, or small amounts of eggs. |
Avoid red meats
Red meat converts to sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid in your body,
tipping the acid/alkaline balance into the red zone. This forces
your body to draw on your bones for the alkaline buffering minerals
it needs to rebalance itself. Also, arachidonic acid, a fatty acid
derived primarily from red meat and dairy products, contributes
to blood clotting and clumping, which can lead to stroke and heart
disease. Instead of milk try rice milk and soy milk, and eat beans,
peas, raw seeds and nuts, green leafy vegetables, and canned salmon.
Go for soy
Try to eat 50 g of soy protein a day. Studies show that soy reduces
elevated cholesterol levels 10 percent.
Alcohol: Everything in
moderation
There’s been a lot written about the benefits of drinking a glass
of wine to lower your cholesterol. And there is some evidence that
low to moderate alcohol consumption may reduce the risk of blood
clots in older individuals. But there is also evidence that excess
alcohol intake may contribute to cardiac disease. Alcohol decreases
heart muscle action and electrical conductivity and can, over time,
lead to congestive heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias, and cardiac
enlargement. For optimum health, I recommend drinking no more than
4 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer, or 1 ounce of hard liquor once
or twice a week.
Find the Right Fats
Not all fats are created equal. The type of fats and the level of
antioxidants in your diet help determine how sticky your platelets
are. Saturated fats like butter, and food high in cholesterol, increase
platelet stickiness. But essential
fatty acids (EFAs), which are not produced by the body, relax
and dilate the blood vessels, lower triglyceride levels, and help
prevent blood clots. They also help make prostaglandins.
People with the lowest degree of coronary artery disease have the
highest concentration of omega-3 fatty acids, a form of EFAs found
in mackerel, salmon and halibut, and flaxseeds, pumpkinseeds, walnuts,
soybeans, and green leafy vegetables.
The other side of EFAs are the omega-6 fatty acids,
found in raw seeds and nuts. Your body uses these acids, the most
common of which is linoleic acid, to make series 1 prostaglandins,
like prostaglandin-E, or PGE. This prostaglandin is necessary for
heart health because it relaxes your blood vessels and helps improve
your circulation. It also keeps your platelets from sticking or
clumping together. This, in turn, reduces the likelihood that you
will have a heart attack or stroke.
Flax is the Answer
Flax oil contains high levels of both types of essential fatty acid
and is great for dry skin. Flax oil is mildly estrogenic and can
attach itself to the estrogen receptors inside your cells. If you
are postmenopausal, this can provide a very important extra dietary
source of estrogen for you and it can also relieve some of the symptoms
of estrogen reduction.
Fiber, Fiber, Fiber
I cannot stress enough how important it is to increase fiber in
your diet. Your body uses fiber to bind to fat and then escorts
the fat, or cholesterol, out of your body. Vegetables like broccoli,
whole grains, and legumes are great sources of fiber. Fiber also
makes you feel full and decreases your appetite so you don’t overeat.
Go for garlic and ginger
Garlic and ginger prevent blood clotting, which is very important
in reducing your risk of strokes and heart attacks. They also help
reduce cholesterol levels. For cardiovascular disease prevention,
eat several raw cloves of garlic a day. If you can’t eat raw garlic,
then cook with it, or try a deodorized garlic substituteas
many as six capsules of the herb may be used as a supplement. Take
four capsules of ginger a day, or a teaspoon of ginger in a cup
of boiling water as a tea (steep for 15 minutes) if you don’t use
it as a food flavoring.