Lower Your Risk of Heart Disease Naturally

An anti-inflammatory diet is the key to lowering your risk of heart disease naturally, and this means, eating as far as possible, natural foods and avoiding processed, manufactured, and junk foods. Our modern diet is less healthy in many ways than that of our ancient ancestors. Our modern diet, for example, contains in general, way too much refined vegetable oil, and we should try to avoid this.

Refined vegetable oils encourage atherosclerosis and hence heart disease, as does trans-fat, which is used by food manufacturers in so many convenience and packaged foods. Saturated fats in meats, dairy products, and eggs, can contain arachidonic acid which is essential in small amounts, but may provoke inflammation in excess so it's all about balance.

High sugar diets are also associated with inflammation, obesity, and diabetes. All directly linked to increased cardiovascular risk.

The basic principles of an anti-inflammatory diet are:

To eat mainly fresh, natural food and minimise consumption of processed, manufactured, and convenience foods.

To eat plenty of fresh vegetables, including some vegetables like carrots eaten raw and some fruit.

To aim for a variety of different foodstuffs.

There are however, foods that are positively anti-inflammatory and beneficial to health, as follows:

Omega-3 fatty acids – omega-3s are very powerful inflammation fighting compounds found in oily fish like salmon, tuna, and mackerel, and also in plant sources such as flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, olive oil, and grape seed oil.

Vegetables - especially dark green, leafy vegetables, are rich in phytochemicals and antioxidants that fight inflammation. Brightly coloured vegetables contain valuable flavonoids.

Fruits - contain many important anti-inflammatory compounds such as quercetin, found in apples and red onions, plus a range of anti-oxidants. Many berries like strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, are especially rich in anti-oxidants.

Mediterranean diet – It has long been recognised that the Mediterranean peoples enjoy good general health and longevity, and this may well be linked, not just to the sunshine, but to a healthy diet. They consume a good deal of fish, fresh fruit and vegetables of all sorts, and olive oil. Some nuts, like almonds, are high in vitamin E content, and this is an important antioxidant. Almonds also seem to help reduce cholesterol levels.

Fibre – aids digestion, nutrient absorption, and is also beneficial in reducing inflammation. Another important element in a natural diet containing fruit and vegetables, is the beneficial fibre content.

Cholesterol lowering foods – There are certain foods that are know to help lower cholesterol levels and so are beneficial to heart health when included as part of a balanced diet. Eg. Oats, apples and garlic.

In order to reduce inflammatory processes in our body which contribute to ageing and disease, we should strive for a diet as natural as possible, since we are probably not yet fully adapted through evolution to cope with many of the artificial elements that abound in food in developed countries. In terms of our digestive physiology we are still cavemen in essence.

If you’d like to learn how to improve heart health and lower your cholesterol levels naturally through simple dietary and lifestyle changes then book in for a Healthy Heart Strategy Session.

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Lower Your Risk of Heart Disease Naturally