Foods for the heart and blood vessels

Products for the heart and blood vessels are foods that are useful for the work of not only the heart, but also the brain, liver, kidneys and the whole body. After all, it was known a long time ago that a person consists of what he eats, so eating was a ritual for the whole family, which was observed for generations. Each cell of the human body for daily normal functioning requires energy, which is synthesized from the products entering our gastrointestinal tract. The heart - as the main organ that provides trophism of all organs and systems, is no exception. Cardiomyocyte is a structural unit of the heart muscle, which requires energy for normal operation. Vessels are the path along which the exchange and circulation of nutrients occurs, so the state of the vascular bed plays no less an important role than the work of the heart. Given these facts, we must remember that for good health and normal functioning of our body, as well as the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, it is necessary to monitor the diet daily.

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Heart-healthy foods

Proper nutrition is the key to human health. It is important not only to eat healthy foods, but also to cook them correctly, store them correctly, distribute the volume and quantity of food correctly, and create your own individual diet. A nutritionist deals with all these nuances, but no doctor can know your body better than you do, so you can easily create your own diet, knowing the basic features and rules.

Heart-healthy foods promote normal functioning of the heart muscle, which contracts, pushing blood into the vascular bed, and thus provides “life” for every cell in our body.

The list of such products is not special, these are the products that we can consume every day, slightly violating the technology of storage or preparation, so their benefits are lost.

1. The heart needs building material, the main source of which is protein. Protein is found in many products, but there are those groups that contain it in the maximum amount and in an accessible and useful form. For example: it is found in meat, both fried and boiled, but during the frying process, a huge number of carcinogens and other harmful substances are formed, so boiled meat will bring more benefit to both the heart and the liver. Red fish is a very useful product containing protein for the heart. In addition to useful amino acids, it contains omega-3 fatty acids - substances that reduce the level of triglycerides in the blood, and thus prevents heart rhythm disturbances, prevents the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. Another source of protein useful for the heart are legumes: chickpeas (garbanzo beans), lentils, green peas, beans. These plant products have a high content of it in a pure, unbound form, which contributes to the easy absorption of essential amino acids. Meat is also a "treasure" of protein, if you take into account the issue of its proper preparation. In addition to protein, meat contains iron, which is necessary for the normal function of red blood cells. It should be remembered that in order to preserve the maximum benefit of these products for the heart, they must be stored correctly. Meat cannot be frozen, it is better to buy fresh chilled. It is better to eat fish raw, semi-dried, not salted, or steam the fish. Legumes need to be well boiled until soft, but so that they do not boil over, then all the useful substances, including protein, do not disintegrate.
2. Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for the cell. For the cardiovascular muscle to work, a sufficient daily amount of carbohydrates is necessary, which not only provide energy, but are also extremely beneficial for the heart. Such products include complex carbohydrates: cereals (oatmeal, buckwheat, rice), whole grain bread, potatoes. Daily consumption of these products will provide the body with energy for 4-5 hours. This is due to the fact that these carbohydrates are slowly broken down and there is no feeling of hunger for a long time. Therefore, such healthy products must be combined with protein, then the heart will receive the necessary useful material for work.

Sweets, buns, candies - all these are light carbohydrates with a huge calorie content, which causes obesity, which primarily has a negative effect on the work of the heart.

3. Fats are an essential material for the myocardium, as they are a structural element of the cell membrane. The membrane of the heart cell consists of two lipid layers that ensure the connection of the cell with others and normal metabolism. This lipid layer is made up of polyunsaturated fatty acids. But if saturated fatty acids prevail in the body, there is a risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, since they have an atherogenic effect - they initiate the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. Therefore, you cannot consume light fats: margarine, lard, butter, fatty pork, that is, fats of animal origin. Vegetable fats are good for the heart - vegetable olive oil, which in fresh form, for example, as a salad dressing, has a lot of unsaturated fatty acids. Nuts are a "storehouse" of useful fats for the myocardium.
4. Microelements and electrolytes – ensure normal connections between heart cells, muscle conductivity, excitation and rest potentials. On both sides of the heart cell there are microelements – sodium, potassium, chlorine. They are necessary for normal excitability of the heart muscle and good conductivity of the nerve impulse. These microelements are found in such products as buckwheat, spinach, dried apricots (sources of potassium), sorrel, greens.
5. I would also like to highlight fruits and vegetables as the main source of dietary fiber, which removes all toxic and harmful substances from the body. It is necessary to highlight such vegetables as broccoli, beets, avocado, and among fruits - pomegranate, kiwi, grapefruit, apples, berries. Daily consumption of vegetables and fruits should be at least 200 grams per day, which has been proven to reduce the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases.

Potassium and Magnesium Rich Foods for the Heart

Potassium is a microelement, the main concentration of which is concentrated inside the cell, and its antagonist sodium is outside. This is how the electrolyte balance and normal functioning of the heart cell are maintained. If there is a lack of potassium in the body, then the excitability of the myocardium and the conductivity of the heart muscle worsen. This manifests itself in the form of an extension of the QT interval, expansion and deformation of the ventricular complex, bradycardia. These changes lead to a decrease in the stroke volume of the heart, which in turn contributes to hypoxia of the body's cells. Due to a lack of potassium, peripheral cells also suffer, because instead of potassium, sodium takes up space inside the cell, which drags water along with it and hyperhydration occurs. Against this background, tissue hypoxia aggravates these changes and acidosis occurs, which makes the heart work faster, but this cannot happen.

This is how irreversible changes in the heart begin to occur. And all this is only due to a deficiency of a small electrolyte - potassium. That is why it is so important to eat foods rich in potassium every day, because this is the key to good cardiac function. Foods rich in potassium are especially useful for people who already have cardiovascular diseases, as well as when treated with certain medications that remove this electrolyte. Such drugs include some diuretics hydrochlorothiazide, dichlorothiazide, and some antibiotics. Therefore, in addition to drug correction of potassium, it is important to also correct the diet. But, as you know, the best way to treat heart disease is prevention, so every healthy person needs to have foods rich in potassium in their daily diet. These products include:

• potatoes, baked in the oven or boiled in the shell;
• dried fruits – dried apricots, raisins, figs, prunes;
• nuts - almonds or pine nuts;
• beets, pumpkin, green peas, greens (dill, spinach);
• berries – gooseberries, dried apricots, red currants;
• pomegranate and pomegranate juice.

These are the main products rich in this electrolyte, but there is also a lot of this microelement in other fruits, which should be eaten daily at least 200 grams.

Magnesium is an electrolyte that ensures the conduction of impulses through nerve cells, and for the heart muscle it ensures the excitability function of the cardiomyocyte. Normally, there is a balance between magnesium and calcium, and excitability processes are replaced by relaxation processes. In this case, calcium enters the cell through slow channels and muscle contraction occurs, and then magnesium ensures relaxation of the heart muscle by replacing calcium. When there is not enough magnesium, the process of relaxation of the heart does not occur properly, which can lead to excessive contraction and rhythm disturbances in the form of extrasystole, paroxysmal tachycardia, atrial or ventricular fibrillation. Therefore, it is very important to have food rich in magnesium in the diet, which is good for the heart. These products include:

• dairy products – cottage cheese, milk, sour cream;
• red meats – beef, lamb, pork;
• legumes (beans, peas, soybeans);
• cereals – millet, buckwheat porridge, oatmeal with bran;
• fruits – apricot, dried apricot, peach, bananas, strawberries;
• nuts and sesame seeds.

Daily consumption of foods rich in potassium and magnesium is necessary not only for the heart, but also for other tissues of the body. The use of such foods in the diet reliably reduces the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases and their complications.

Heart Products for Arrhythmia

Arrhythmia is a disturbance of the heart rhythm, which is accompanied by clinical symptoms or asymptomatic changes on the electrocardiogram. Clinical manifestations of heart rhythm disturbances usually occur in organic pathology of the myocardium (mitral stenosis) or blood vessels (atherosclerosis). Sometimes arrhythmia can be symptomatic, that is, secondary, in pathology of other organs - thyroid pathology, adrenal tumors. Symptomatic arrhythmia can occur in adolescents, caused by age-related changes in the heart and is physiological. Sometimes arrhythmia can occur in the absence of these reasons, then it is necessary to think about the lack of electrolytes and microelements - potassium and magnesium, which are the main regulators of the cardiomyocyte.

Therefore, non-drug methods of arrhythmia correction are recommended if there is no organic pathology or the changes may be physiological.

Heart products for arrhythmia are products that can replenish the heart's missing electrolytes. These products include:

• legumes – soybeans, green peas, white beans;
• cereals – buckwheat, oatmeal with bran, millet;
• greens – broccoli, green salad, spinach, parsley, arugula;

• vegetables – potatoes in their shells, beets, avocado, cucumber;
• fruits and berries – plums, peaches, apricots, pomegranate, orange, strawberry, blackberry;
• dried fruits – figs, prunes, dates, raisins;
• nuts.

7 Best Foods for Your Heart

The wide range of products on supermarket shelves in ready-made form and semi-finished products make us think less about our daily diet, because it is easier to buy ready-made food than to spend time on its preparation. But this does not make us think about the quality and usefulness of the food that was prepared by someone other than you. After all, food should not only be made from the right products.

People with heart rhythm disorders are also recommended to include meat and fish in their diet as a source of protein, and flaxseed and olive oil as a source of unsaturated fatty acids for the heart cell membrane.

It is necessary to exclude excess fluid and salt, as well as extractive substances, which excite the vagus nerve and increase arrhythmia.

But it must be cooked properly. Therefore, it is necessary to highlight a group of products that should be paid attention to first of all when choosing lunch, so that they are not only tasty, but also healthy.

1. red fish, mainly salmon - it is the main natural source of omega-3 fatty acids, which promote the work of the heart cell, normal function of automatism, and reduce the number of atherosclerotic plaques.

You can make a salmon salad or eat a sandwich for breakfast, which will be a wonderful and healthy food for your heart and blood vessels.

2. avocado – the benefits of this fruit for the heart are second in terms of the amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Avocado stabilizes the myocardial cell membrane, improves impulse conduction through the heart, and prevents the development of blockades.

Avocado can be combined with cucumber, and seasoned with olive oil, it can be a great salad for buckwheat porridge.

3. Nuts – contain many nutrients, including vegetable fats, which are so necessary for blood vessels.

Daily consumption as a snack or as a salad decoration normalizes the level of triglycerides in the blood and prevents the development of coronary heart disease.

4. Pomegranate is a long-known fruit that affects hematopoiesis and improves trophism of peripheral tissues. It dilates coronary vessels, which contributes to better blood supply to the heart itself and prevents ischemia and necrosis of the heart muscle, that is, angina pectoris and myocardial infarction.

It is recommended to eat half a pomegranate at least three times a week as a dessert or drink fresh natural pomegranate juice.

5. dried apricots - as a source of potassium and magnesium, they help stabilize cell ions and normal pump function, which reduces arrhythmia and prolongs cardiac activity in organic lesions due to compensation.

Dried apricots are a great snack or can be combined with a fruit salad of any fruit.

6. White meat is an essential product for the functioning of the entire body, and the heart in particular. It is a natural source of protein and essential amino acids, which take part in the work of cellular enzymes. White meat is also a stimulator of reparative processes in the body and provides immune protection in case of infectious lesions of any etiology.

There are a huge number of meat recipes, but they need to be cooked correctly - it is better to boil or bake them.

7. Buckwheat is a source of complex carbohydrates and iron. For infants, buckwheat is the main product that ensures normal heart function due to the regeneration of formed elements. It reduces the risk of atherosclerosis and promotes normal metabolism, preventing obesity.

Buckwheat can be an excellent side dish for any vegetable or meat dish.

By adding these 7 foods to your diet, you will make a significant contribution to the health of your heart.

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Foods that are bad for your heart

Every day we eat products that are very harmful to the most important organ - our heart, and we often do not suspect it. When making up our diet, we must be careful and not allow harmful substances to enter our body with food, because every day we receive a lot of carcinogens from the external environment.

Products harmful to the heart are those products that lead to the deposition of atherosclerotic plaques on blood vessels, to the narrowing of blood vessels and the deterioration of coronary blood flow, as well as to functional disturbances of the heart rhythm.

Such products include:

• foods rich in cholesterol are egg yolks, liver, kidneys, lungs, mayonnaise and other trans fats;
• animal fats – margarine, butter, lard, fatty meats and fried foods;
• canned food, herring, sprats;
• bakery products made from wheat flour – buns, cakes, pastries, cookies;
• light carbohydrates – sweets, marshmallows, candies, milk chocolate, sweet bars;

These are the main food groups, by limiting which you will immediately feel lighter and lose weight, simply by excluding them from your diet.

The cooking process is no less important. Fried foods in sunflower oil form many toxic substances for the heart and blood vessels, so it is necessary to boil meat or, better yet, bake it in foil, then more useful substances are preserved there. Food with less salt prevents the development of hypertension, and as a result, the risk of heart disease decreases.

Alcohol is one of the products that increases the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases, which is associated with its negative impact on blood pressure and myocardial metabolism. Therefore, alcohol should be completely eliminated from the lifestyle.

Products for the heart and blood vessels are those products that should be present in the daily diet of every person. After all, it is possible to prevent the development of heart diseases in a very simple and accessible way, and it is easier than to treat complications later. Such a correct diet will give health not only to your heart, but also to your liver, stomach, lungs and the whole body.