According to the American Heart Association, the latest keyword for a heart-healthy diet is “balance.” Compared to the intake of specific foods and nutrients, a balanced diet is more important.
Dallas, TX (Merxwire) – With the imbalance of modern people’s diet, irregular life and rest, smoking, and drinking, cardiovascular diseases have become younger. Including Sudden cardiac death, Arteriosclerosis, Aortic stenosis, Aortic dissection, etc., which occurred earlier and earlier. In addition to adjusting your work and rest, it is also important to choose a beneficial diet for the cardiovascular system.
The American Heart Association published the latest cardiovascular healthy diet guidelines in the AHA journal Circulation on November 2, emphasizing that diet is closely related to the morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular diseases, and a healthy diet pattern It is more important than specific food or nutrient intake, so the latest keyword for a heart-healthy diet is “balance.”
The American Heart Association lists 10 dietary patterns that are good for heart health, including:
1. Achieve a healthy weight and maintain it.
2. Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables.
3. Choosing whole grains rather than refined grain products
4. Choose healthy protein sources (legumes and nuts); eat fish and seafood regularly; use skim and low-fat dairy products instead of full-fat dairy products; choose lean cuts instead of processed meats.
5. Use liquid vegetable oils instead of tropical oils (coconut oil, palm oil, and palm kernel oil) and animal fats (lard and butter) or partially hydrogenated fats.
6. Choosing minimally processed rather than ultra-processed foods.
7. Minimize food and beverages with added sugar
8. Choose foods with little or no salt.
9. Limit alcohol and don’t consume it.
10. Wherever you are, follow the guidelines.
“If we increase our intake of one thing in our diets, we tend to decrease our intake of something else,” said Alice H. Lichtenstein, who led the writing committee for the American Heart Association scientific statement. “And both the increase in one dietary component and decrease in another dietary component can have independent effects. What’s really important is the balance of everything together that has the biggest impact on cardiovascular health.”
The dietary guidelines encourage people to consume various foods instead of focusing on a single food. Under the premise of considering frequency and quantity, people can customize it according to their own preferences and lifestyle. Lichtenstein said that no matter what food you choose to eat, it is only part of heart health. “it’s not all of one thing and none of another. It’s the balance among your choices in terms of diet and, ultimately, lifestyle.”
On the other hand, in these dietary patterns, no reference for calorie intake is provided. This is because everyone has different needs. For example, human beings need different energy at each stage of growth. Lichtenstein said, “If you are physically active, you have a little more flexibility in terms of what you eat.”