Certain eating patterns that are known to provide protective nutrients for a healthy heart and brain. Take care of your heart and brain with these nutrition tips.
Both the Mediterranean Diet and DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertention) Diet provide the protective nutrients for your heart and brain. You can make some shifts in your current eating style to improve your brain and heart nutrition with these tips. Small changes are realistic and the benefits add up over time.
Here are the Basics:
Eat more plant-based foods—fruits and vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds.
These foods give you fiber, antioxidants and phytochemicals which are healthy for every body.
Shocking Statistic-Only 10% of Americans get the recommended number of fruits and vegetables according to the CDC.
Adding more fruits and vegetables is a great place to start. (I am working on this myself). Adults should get 1.5-2 cups of fruit a day and 2-3 cups of vegetables a day according to MyPlate. All types of fruits and vegetables are healthy. They can be fresh, frozen, canned, and dried.
TIP: Try filling 1/2 of your plate with fruits and vegetables.
Grains are another plant-based food that deserves a spot on your healthy plate. Whole grains have more fiber and other nutrients so it’s good to aim for half of your grains to be whole grains.
TIP: Add grains to take up 1/4 of your plate.
Nuts and Seeds are healthy fats. Because they are high in calories sprinkle them onto foods rather than have them take up a section of your plate.
Choose lean meats and meat alternatives.
For health, it’s best to go with lean cuts of meat, and avoid processed meats such as hot dogs, sausage, bacon and bologna. Many people with heart disease say they are sick of eating chicken and fish mistakenly thinking that is all that is “allowed”. LEAN cuts of beef and pork can be low in saturated fat too.
TIP: Put your meat portion on the the last 1/4 of your plate.
Using MyPlate as a guide is easy and provides the right balance to get the nutrients you need. From my experience, almost everyone feels better when they follow this advice. Lower-calorie fruits and vegetables, with plenty of fiber and protein is satisfying can be both satisfying and delicious.
Curious about the what fats are best? Here’s a mini-lesson on cholesterol in your blood and what types of fats are best to lower it.
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