Z - Test - Nutrition, Movement and Rest Tips for a Healthier, Stronger Heart

Introduction

Whatever your age, taking steps to care for your heart is key to good health and wellbeing. Doing so can also help lower your risk of developing certain conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease.

Up to 80% of cardiovascular events are caused by lifestyle factors, with the two most important being exercise and nutrition.

Get these on track, and you’re well on your way to a stronger and robust heart, which keeps you healthier for longer.Thankfully, the heart is a relatively responsive organ, with improvements in function seen quickly with positive lifestyle changes, at whatever age you start! It’s never too late to start making changes to improve your lifestyle.With the help of Dr Boon Lim, cardiologist and electrophysiologist at Welbeck Heart Health, we’re taking a look at some of the things you can do every day to help keep your heart healthy and strong.

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Eat a balanced, nutritious diet

A well-balanced diet plays a key role in supporting heart health. Fuelling your body with nutritious whole foods can help reduce inflammation in the blood vessels, help you maintain a healthy weight, and support the overall function of your cardiovascular system.The food choices you make each day have a direct impact on blood pressure, cholesterol levels and even heart rhythm. By packing key nutrients into your meals and making mindful, but simple food swaps, you can take care of your cardiovascular health and avoid illness. Here are a few things to focus on:

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Get your recommended daily fibre intake

Fibre is a type of carbohydrate that your body can’t digest. It plays an essential role in heart health, primarily helping to lower both LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and blood pressure. Eating plenty of fibre can also help you reach and maintain a healthy weight, which is key to good heart health. To increase your intake, add more high-fibre foods into your diet, such as whole grains (like oats, brown rice and wholemeal bread), legumes (beans, lentils and chickpeas), fruits (apples, berries and pears) and vegetables (broccoli, carrots and leafy greens). Making simple swaps like choosing wholegrain alternatives over white bread or pasta, or adding a handful of beans to soups and salads, is also a great way to sneak more fibre into your favourite dishes.“In general, we should be aiming for at least 30 grams of fibre a day”, says Dr Lim. “For example, a cooked cup of broccoli provides 5 grams of fibre and an apple with skin provides 4g of fibre. Mixing and matching fibre intake is a great way to expand the variety of fruits, vegetables and wholegrains you consume, which will ultimately help regulate sugar and cholesterol metabolism.”

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The more colours and variety, the happier your microbiome!

“Consuming more vegetables in general, or switching to a mainly plant-based diet, is excellent for your health, including your heart”, Dr Lim explains. “In an intricate dance between your gut microbiome (think of these as healthy gut bacteria which help keep your digestion in tip-top condition) and your heart, consuming a healthy diet of fibre enhanced by multicoloured, and multiple types of vegetables, fruits and nuts are a perfect way to prime your gut to support your heart health. Keeping your microbiome happy and healthy leads to better liver health, better heart and brain health, and overall improves your cardiovascular risk profile, reducing your risk of a heart attack or stroke.”

A caution about smoothies

On smoothies, Dr Lim explains, “Those that claim to contain ‘one of your 5 a day' are often highly concentrated forms of fruit sugars, which can have detrimental effects on sugar metabolism. Consider swapping that glass of orange juice for an orange. For the same weight, a glass of orange juice is going to contain twice as much sugar, which absorbs into the bloodstream quickly (causing a glucose spike) and a quarter of the fibre available in a fresh whole orange. Furthermore, it’s much easier to drink more fruit juice (i.e. gulping down 2 glasses of juice) thus doubling the dose of rapidly-absorbed sugar - which will eventually lead to sugar spikes (and potentially sugar crashes after) which start the reactive hunger that tends to occur 3 to 4 hours after your meal.”

Know your good fats from your bad fats

Fat has long been misunderstood, but not all fat-containing foods are harmful to your heart. Healthy fats, such as unsaturated fats, can help increase HDL (“good”) cholesterol and reduce LDL (“bad”) cholesterol when used in place of saturated or trans fats.Good sources of healthy fats include avocados, nuts, seeds, oily fish (like salmon, sardines and mackerel), and olive oil. Eating small portions of these fats every day can help keep your heart ticking over like a well-oiled machine.“Avoiding ingredients like partially hydrogenated oils, and looking for cold-pressed oils (olive, avocado, flax), or adding in healthy fat boosters such as chia, flaxseeds or almond butter to your bowl of yoghurt are sure steps to consuming healthy oils routinely”, Dr Lim suggests.

Cut down on salt

Too much sodium (salt) in your diet can raise your blood pressure, which is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. “Eating too much salt can cause hypertension, which often has no discernible symptoms, but remains one of the most deadly risk factors. Cutting back on salt is one of the simplest ways to reduce your blood pressure. Even small reductions make a huge difference”, Dr Lim explains. Most sodium in our diet comes from processed and packaged foods, rather than the salt shaker, so try to cook more meals at home when possible and choose fresh ingredients. You can also use more herbs and spices to flavour food instead of adding salt during cooking or before eating.If you need to eat convenience foods now and again, make sure to check labels for sodium content - there are usually low-salt versions available. Swapping salty snacks for unsalted alternatives can also make a world of difference.

When NOT to cut down on salt - if you have low blood pressure!

There is a group of patients, typically those younger than 30, who are predisposed to low blood pressure (hypotension) and who may be susceptible to fainting or dizziness, which can be made worse by standing upright, says Dr Lim. “If you suffer from dizziness and other symptoms related to diagnosed low blood pressure, then you may have vasovagal syncope, a medical term meaning fainting. To reduce your susceptibility to developing syncope, we would typically advise patients drink more fluids (2.5-3L a day) and to also up their salt intake to help increase their blood pressure. We suggest up to 2 teaspoons of salt, ideally the coarse-ground type, as a seasoning, rather than salty processed foods.”

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Stay on the peripheries of supermarkets

Sharing his top food shopping tip, Dr Lim explains, “The freshest of ingredients tend to be in the peripheries of supermarket aisles. In most supermarkets, making a left turn at the entrance takes you to the vegetable section, and heading to the back of the supermarket takes you to the fresh fish and meat counters - avoid the colourful aisles smack in the middle if you can, and read food labels. It’s a good idea to limit your intake of food which have incomprehensible labels, or ready meals which are typically salted more heavily than needed.”