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Products for the heart and blood vessels
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Products for the heart and blood vessels are food that is useful for the work not only of the heart, but also of the brain, liver, kidneys and the whole body. After all, it was known a long time ago that a man consists of what he eats, so eating was a ritual for the whole family, which was followed after 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 the trophic of all organs and systems, is no exception. Cardiomyocyte is the structural unit of the heart muscle, which requires energy for normal operation. Vessels are the way in which the exchange and circulation of nutrients takes place, therefore the state of the vascular bed plays no less important role than the work of the heart. Given these facts, we must remember that for good health and the normal functioning of our body, as well as the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, we need to monitor the diet every day.
Products useful to the heart
Proper nutrition is a guarantee of human health. It is important not only to eat healthy foods, but also to properly prepare them, properly store, correctly distribute the volume and quantity of food and make up your individual diet. These nuances are practiced by a dietician, but any doctor can not recognize your body better than yourself, so you can easily make up your diet, knowing the basic features and rules.
Products useful to the heart contribute to the normal functioning of the heart muscle, which, contracting, pushes blood into the vascular bed, and thus provides a "life" for every cell in our body.
The list of such products is not something special, these are the products that we can use every day, slightly violating the technology of storing or preparing them, so their benefits are lost.
- For the heart, a building material is needed, the main source of which is protein. The 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, the same as fried, and boiled, but during the frying of meat, a huge amount of carcinogens and other harmful substances is formed, so boiled meat will bring more benefits to the heart and liver. For the heart, a very useful product containing protein is the fish of red varieties. In addition to useful amino acids, it also 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 (lamb chick peas), lentils, green peas, beans. These herbal products have a high content of it in a pure unrelated form, which facilitates easy assimilation of essential amino acids. Meat is also a "treasure" of protein, if we take into account the question of its proper preparation. In meat, in addition to protein contains iron, which is necessary for the normal function of red blood cells. It should be remembered that in order to maintain the maximum benefit of these products for the heart, it is necessary to properly store them. Meat can not be frozen, it is better to buy fresh chilled. Fish is better to eat raw, semi-salted, not salted, or boil fish for a couple. Legumes need to boil well until soft, but so that they do not boil, then all the useful substances, including protein, do not disintegrate.
- Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for the cell. For the operation of the cardiovascular muscle, a sufficient daily amount of carbons is needed, which not only provide energy, but also are most useful for the heart. These products include complex carbohydrates: cereals (oatmeal, buckwheat, rice), whole wheat 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 carbons are slowly broken down and for a long time there is no feeling of hunger. Therefore, such useful products must be combined with protein, then the heart will receive the necessary useful material for work.
Sweets, biscuits, sweets - all these are light carbons with a huge amount of calories, from which comes obesity, which primarily affects the work of the heart.
- Fats - an indispensable material for the myocardium, because it is a structural element of the cell membrane. The heart cell shell consists of two lipid balls, which provide the cell's connection to others and a normal metabolism. This lipid balloon is composed of polyunsaturated fatty acids. But if the body is dominated by saturated fatty acids - there is a risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, because they have an atherogenic effect - initiate the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. Therefore, you can not consume light fats: margarine, lard, butter, fat pork, that is, fats of animal origin. Useful for the heart are vegetable fats - 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.
- Microelements and electrolytes - provide normal connections between the heart cells, muscle conduction, excitation and rest potential. On both sides of the heart cell are trace elements - 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 products such as buckwheat, spinach, dried apricots (sources of potassium), sorrel, greens.
- I would also like to separately 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 allocate such vegetables as broccoli, beets, avocados, and among fruits - pomegranate, kiwi, grapefruit, apples, berries. Daily consumption of fruits and vegetables should be at least 200 grams per day, which is proven to reduce the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
Products rich in potassium and magnesium for the heart
Potassium is a microelement, the main concentration of which is concentrated inside the cell, and its sodium antagonist is located outside. Thus, the electrolyte balance and the normal functioning of the cardiac cell are maintained. If there is a lack of potassium in the body, then the excitability of the myocardium and the conduction of the heart muscle worsen. This manifests itself in the form of prolongation of the QT interval, expansion and deformation of the ventricular complex, bradycardia. These changes lead to a decrease in the shock volume of the heart, which in turn contributes to the hypoxia of body cells. Due to the lack of potassium, peripheral cells also suffer, because instead of potassium, the place inside the cell is occupied by sodium, which drags water and causes hyperhydration. Against this background, tissue hypoxia aggravates these changes and acidosis occurs, which causes the heart to work faster, but this can not happen.
So begin to occur irreversible changes in the heart. And all this only because of a shortage of a small electrolyte - potassium. That's why it's so important to eat foods rich in potassium daily, because this is a pledge of good cardiac activity. Products rich in potassium are especially useful for people who already have cardiovascular diseases, as well as in the treatment of certain medications that excrete this electrolyte. These drugs include some diuretic hydrochlorothiazide, dichlorothiazide, some antibiotics. Therefore, apart from the pharmacological correction of potassium, it is important to carry out and correct the diet. But, as is known, prevention is the best way to treat heart disease, therefore it is necessary for every healthy person in the daily diet to have a meal rich in potassium. These products include:
- potato, with a shell baked in the oven or cooked in a shell;
- dried fruits - dried apricots, raisins, figs, prunes;
- nuts - almonds or pine nuts;
- beetroot, pumpkin, green peas, greens (dill, spinach);
- berries - gooseberries, apricots, red currants;
- pomegranate and pomegranate juice.
These are the main products that are rich in this electrolyte, but also a lot of this microelement is contained in other fruits, which need to eat at least 200 grams a day.
Magnesium is an electrolyte that provides the impulse to carry on the nerve cells, and for the cardiac muscle provides the function of the excitability of the cardiomyocyte. Normally, there is a balance between magnesium and calcium, and the processes of excitability are replaced by relaxation processes. In this case, calcium through the slow channels enters the interior of the cell and there is a muscle contraction, and then magnesium provides relaxation of the heart muscle by replacing calcium. When magnesium is not enough, the process of heart relaxation does not proceed properly, which can lead to excessive contraction and rhythm disturbance in the form of extrasystole, paroxysmal tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, or ventricles. Therefore, it is very important to have a meal rich in magnesium in the diet, which is beneficial for the heart. These products include:
- dairy products - cottage cheese, milk, sour cream;
- meat of red varieties - beef, lamb, pork;
- beans (beans, peas, soybeans);
- cereals - millet, buckwheat porridge, oatmeal with bran;
- fruit - apricot, dried apricots, peach, bananas, strawberries;
- nuts and sesame seeds.
Daily consumption of foods rich in potassium and magnesium is necessary not only for the heart, but for other body tissues. The use of such foods in the diet significantly reduces the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases and their complications.
Products for the heart with arrhythmia
Arrhythmia is a violation of the heart rhythm, which is accompanied by clinical symptoms or asymptomatic changes in the electrocardiogram. Clinical manifestations of heart rhythm disturbances are manifested, as a rule, with organic pathology of the myocardium (mitral stenosis) or vessels (atherosclerosis). Sometimes the arrhythmia can be symptomatic, that is, secondary, with the pathology of other organs - the pathology of the thyroid gland, adrenal gland tumors. Symptomatic arrhythmia can be in adolescents, due to age-related changes in the heart and is physiological. Sometimes the arrhythmia can be in the absence of these reasons, then it is necessary to think about the lack of electrolytes and trace elements - potassium and magnesium, which are the main regulators of the cardiomyocyte work.
Therefore, non-pharmacological methods of arrhythmia correction are recommended, if there is no organic pathology or the changes can be physiological.
Products for the heart with arrhythmia are products that can compensate for the missing electrolytes. These products include:
- beans - soybeans, green peas, white beans;
- cereals - buckwheat, oatmeal with bran, millet;
- greens - broccoli, green salad, spinach, parsley, rucola;
- vegetables - inshell, beetroot, avocado, cucumber;
- fruit and berries - plums, peaches, apricots, pomegranate, orange, strawberry, blackberry;
- dried fruits - figs, prunes, dates, raisins;
- nuts.
7 best products for the heart
A wide selection of products on the shelves of the supermarket in ready form and semi-finished products make us think less about our daily diet, because it is easier to buy ready-made food than to waste time preparing it. But this does not make us think about the quality and benefits of the food that was prepared by someone other than yourself. After all, food should not only be from the right foods.
People with heart rhythm disturbances are also recommended to consume meat and fish, as a source of protein, flaxseed and olive oil, as a source of unsaturated fatty acids for the heart cell membrane.
It is necessary to exclude the excess of liquid and salt, as well as extractive substances, which excites the vagus nerve and intensifies arrhythmia.
But it must be properly prepared. Therefore, there is a need to distinguish a group of products, which first of all you should pay attention to when choosing a dinner, so that they are not only tasty, but also useful.
- red fish, mainly salmon - it is the main natural source of omega-3 fatty acids, which promote the work of the heart cell, the normal function of automatism, reduce the number of atherosclerotic plaques.
You can make salad from salmon, or eat a sandwich for breakfast, which will be a wonderful and healthy meal for your heart and blood vessels.
- Avocado - the benefits of this fruit for the heart is the second most frequent polyunsaturated fatty acids. The avocado stabilizes the membrane of the myocardium cell, improves the pulse conductivity along the heart, prevents the development of blockades.
Avocados can be combined with cucumber, and seasoning with olive oil, it can be an excellent salad to buckwheat porridge.
- nuts - have many nutrients, including vegetable fats, which are so necessary for blood vessels.
Daily consumption as a snack, or as a salad dressing, normalizes the level of triglycerides in the blood and prevents the development of coronary heart disease.
- garnet - a well-known fruit for a long time, like the one that affects hemopoiesis and improves the trophism of peripheral tissues. It expands the coronary vessels, which promotes better blood supply to the heart and prevents ischemia and necrosis of the heart muscle, that is, angina and myocardial infarction.
It is recommended to eat half a pomegranate at least three times a week as a dessert or to drink fresh natural pomegranate juice.
- dried apricots - as a source of potassium and magnesium contributes to the stabilization of cell ions and the normal operation of pumps, which reduces arrhythmias and prolongs the activity of the heart with organic lesions due to compensation.
Dried apricots are an excellent snack, or it can be combined with a fruit salad from any fruit.
- white meat - an indispensable product for the work of the whole body, and the heart in particular. This is a natural source of protein and essential amino acids, which take part in the work of cellular enzymes. Also white meat is a stimulant of reparative processes in the body and provides immune protection in case of infectious damage of any etiology.
Recipes from meat there is a huge amount, but they need to be cooked correctly - it is better to boil or bake.
- buckwheat - a source of complex carbons and iron. For infants, buckwheat is the main product that provides normal activity of the heart due to the regeneration of shaped elements. It reduces the risk of atherosclerosis and promotes normal metabolism while preventing obesity.
Buckwheat can be an excellent garnish to any vegetable or meat dish.
Using these 7 products in your diet - you will make a significant contribution to the health of your heart.
Products harmful to the heart
Every day we eat foods that are very harmful to the main organ - our heart, and we often do not suspect it. When preparing our diet, we must be careful not to allow harmful substances to enter our body with food, because every day and so we get many carcinogens from the external environment.
Products harmful to the heart - these are the products that lead to the deposition of atherosclerotic plaques on the vessels, to narrowing of the vessels and deterioration of the coronary blood flow, as well as to functional disorders of the heart rhythm.
Such products include:
- products rich in cholesterol are yolk of eggs, liver, kidneys, lungs, mayonnaise and other trans fats;
- animal fats - margarine, butter, lard, fatty meat and fried in oil products;
- canned food, herring, sprats;
- bakery products from wheat flour - buns, cakes, cakes, biscuits;
- light carbons - sweets, marshmallows, sweets, milk chocolate, sweet bars;
These are the main groups of products, limiting which, you immediately feel light and lose weight, simply eliminating them from the diet.
No less important is the process of cooking. Fried products in sunflower oil form a lot of toxic substances for the heart and blood vessels, so you need to cook meat or bake it better in foil, then more nutrients are stored there. Food with less salt prevents the development of hypertension, and as a consequence - reduces the risk of heart damage.
Alcohol is one of the products that increases the risk of death from diseases of the cardiovascular system, which is associated with its negative effect on blood pressure and metabolism in the myocardium. Therefore, alcohol must be completely excluded from the lifestyle.
Products for the heart and blood vessels are those products that must be present in every person's daily diet. After all, you can prevent the development of heart disease in a very simple and affordable way, and it's easier than then to treat complications. Such a correct diet will betray your health not only to your heart, but also to the liver, stomach, lungs and the whole body.