Heart diseases are becoming more common in India as there is a rapid increase in the annual number of heart patients every year. According to reports 25-28% of deaths happen in India annually that is increasing by 0.2 % each year. Also, a large percentage of this growth constitute females between the age group of 50-65 years showcasing the health concerns for women starting from a young age.
Heart disease constitute various health problems that can range from being has minor as a blood pressure and as serious as a heart surgery. This mainly occurs due to a number of lifestyle habits that are wrong and needs to be corrected soon as to maintain a balance between healthy lifestyle and heart health.
With these passing years, people are getting more involved in adapting to a new healthy lifestyle change that is popular yet effective throughout the country and the entire globe. Popularizing various plant-based diets, eliminating animal food and protein sources are just some examples of a holistic approach towards a healthy lifestyle.
Importance of Incorporating superfoods in your diet
Superfoods are any food items that have a concentrated form of a specific nutrition and also help provide our body with adequate energy and protein content that replenishes lost nutrients in the body.
Superfoods are crucial, especially in the time we live in as normal diet is not enough for our body to gain its energy and strength back that is not possible to fulfil solely with the help of a set diet plan. It is very rare to find a type of diet and meal pattern that ensures all kinds of nutrients delivered and also help with tackling the deficiency issue in our body.
Superfoods do not have any side effects as they are proper food sources and not used as a supplement source that is artificially extracted and so, incorporating these superfoods in between our diets provide a balanced yet complete nutrition.
-Provide balanced nutrition: Superfoods like nuts, seeds and millets provide a packed nutritional base for our main meals. When taken in moderation and measured quantities superfoods like these ensure that the body is provided adequate energy throughout the day.
-Replenish nutrients: With a heart disease our immunity gets weak and becomes deficient of various vitamins and minerals and helps boost immunity, digestion and improve gut microbiome that helps our body fight back infections and protect it from foreign invaders.
-Provide energy: Superfoods mainly consist of nuts, seeds and food items that are good sources of energy and maintain optimum energy levels throughout the day. As we all are aware of how important energy levels are in our body and how they can affect our body functions, various body processes, and balancing out all the fatigue caused the entire day.
-Healthy fat: Fats are essential in our body for various reasons. There has always been a myth about the consumption of fat in our daily diet, but to exact fat in itself isn't bad, we can actually gain a lot from consuming fat but in the right form. And superfoods are known to be packed with good fats that are needed by the body.
-Fibre content: Another crucial point as to why we need superfoods can be the degrading amounts of fibre we consume in our daily diet. Fibre content has always been an important key in the management of a proper digestion or metabolic system. So, as to provide adequate fibre intake that we lack in our daily meals is then fulfilled by the superfoods we consume.
6 major Superfoods that help with heart health,
1. Fenugreek seeds-
- Fenugreek seeds more commonly known as Meethi seeds in India are a power packed superfood option that are fibre rich.
- It not only manages blood sugar level in our body and also help to maintain after a certain age.
- Fenugreek seeds help with hormonal disbalance and also help produce enough milk after pregnancy during lactation.
- It is extremely helpful in heart conditions and diseases as it is completely organic, full of fibre and antioxidants that help lower bad cholesterol levels.
- It also helps maintain a suitable body weight and improve the overall body health and is often seen in patients dealing with a heart disease.
2. Fox nuts-
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- Fox nuts or Makhana is another very popular nut used in various forms and flavours that is low on sodium that helps to maintain blood pressure.
- It also is a good source of potassium and magnesium that not only help with bone density and repair but also enhance immune system.
- Fox nuts are the only type of nuts that are low in fats and high in other nutrients making it easier to consume by the heart patients.
- When taken regularly Fox nuts are said to eliminate stored fats from the blood vessels and remove them out from the body.
- They are also a good source of fibre and protein that are essential nutrients required by the body of a heart patient.
3. Leafy vegetables-
- Any seasonal produce that is grown organically is healthy for your heart as it is full of rich nutrients, vitamins and minerals.
- Leafy vegetables are one of those food sources that are important for a heart patient to consume on a daily basis.
- The nutrients present in the green vegetables are not only healthy but also help with various possible methods to eliminate fat from the body
- It also ensures that there is no further damage happening near the heart area and all damages get repaired with the help of these nutrients.
- Leafy greens are also a great source of fibre that help with blood pressure, cholesterol, digestion and gut heath and also boost immunity.
4. Eggs-
- Eggs being an animal source can have various infection causing bacteria in them when not cooked properly and affect our health.
- But enough research we know that eggs are healthy to consume in a heart health diet as they provide good amount of protein.
- Eggs having the most bioavailability gets absorbed in the body really fast and are also good source of omega-3 fatty acids
- Eggs are recommended only to be taken during the breakfast period and that too without the yolk part.
- As egg yolk is high in trans-fat and saturated fats that are cause increase in bad cholesterol levels, but egg whites are good sources of protein and other essential vitamins.
5. Gooseberry-
- Gooseberry is a lesser-known berry of India that is high in vitamin C and fibre content and can provide with adequate protein as well.
- It also helps with increasing the amounts of vitamins and minerals in the body enabling the breakdown of stored fat in the blood vessels.
- Gooseberry protects from various types of body damages and help to protect and heal it in no time.
- This property of gooseberry helps with the maintenance of a healthy and good heart and is easy to consume.
- Gooseberry also beats the production of bad cholesterol and help lower the fat disposition in the blood vessels of our arteries and veins.
6. Millets-
- Millets are a power packed example of rich nutrient- dense source with high fibre and protein present in them.
- Millets like Barley, whole wheat and ragi are some great examples of millets that are way better to use than your regular flour.
- Unlike any other flour, these millets are 10x more nutritious, have more taste to them and are equally fibrous and glutenous in nature.
- Millets reduce the risk of atherosclerosis and other heart disease as it washes out all the stored fat on the body.
- They are also great with dealing with a lot of gastrointestinal problems and help feed and manage gut bacteria to maintain our overall health.
Conclusion:
Heart health is extremely important nowadays, especially with the kind of lifestyle people are living. In this blog you would get to know the nutritional significance of diet in maintaining the heart's health.
FAQs
Q. How does millets help in a heart healthy diet?
A- Millets are known to have complex fibre content in them that are not found in any other food source that helps our metabolism boast and protect our gut health by providing nutrition to gut bacteria and boosting immunity to fight back infection and eliminate excess fat deposition in the body.