The most important cause of death in our society is cardiovascular diseases and their consequences. High blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, being overweight and smoking are the most important risk factors. Both these risk factors and arteriosclerosis can be prevented with a healthy diet.
What is Heart Health?
Our heart, which is the blood pump of our body, has a dense vascular network. If there is a problem that prevents the flow of blood in these vessels, it means that heart health is impaired. It does not only affect the heart vessels, but also the brain, kidney and limb vessels are affected.
Fats are the basic building blocks of our body. Healthy people have fat both in their bloodstream and in the building blocks of their cells. However, if the amount of cholesterol and fat circulating in the blood increases, it can accumulate in the veins. Excess cholesterol accumulates in the vessel wall and eventually clogs the vessel. Whichever organ the blocked vessel feeds, there will be a loss of function in that organ.
What is Benign and Bad Cholesterol?
Several types of cholesterol are measured in blood tests.
Bad cholesterol (LDL) is cholesterol that accumulates in the vessel walls. It increases the risk of heart disease.
Benign cholesterol (HDL) takes cholesterol from tissues, blood and vessel walls and carries it to the liver for excretion. If it is above a certain value, it reduces the risk of heart disease.
How to reduce LDL to prevent atherosclerosis? How to increase HDL?
The easiest way to increase your blood HDL level is to do physical exercise. In addition, quitting smoking, controlling blood sugar if we are diabetic, losing weight, consuming plenty of fiber and low-fat foods will increase the HDL level. With such a dietary habit, LDL cholesterol level will also decrease.
Here are our tips for healthy eating:
You can protect your valuable vascular health by taking a few precautions.
1. Reduce your fat consumption, choose unsaturated monofats, and stay away from foods containing high cholesterol.
As can be seen from the word balance, diet does not mean starving; completely eliminating fatty food consumption from the diet in order to be healthy is not a healthy thing. Fat, which is the basic building block of the body, must be included in the diet. What really matters is the type of fat; healthy nutrition can be achieved by consuming harmless fat. For example, vegetable oils such as olive oil and sunflower oil. It is extremely important to eliminate solid saturated fats such as margarine from the diet.
Cholesterol is found in foods of animal origin (milk, meat, chicken, fish, cheese, etc.). In order to reduce your blood cholesterol, it is necessary to consume them in small amounts.
2. Consume foods rich in fiber, increase fruit consumption
Foods rich in fiber are products containing oats, wheat bran, vegetables and fruits. Consuming fruits with rich antioxidant properties is extremely beneficial for heart health.
3. Reach your ideal weight, exercise regularly
Do 30-45 minutes of physical activity every day, or at least 5 days a week. In this way, your blood cholesterol will decrease and you will feel fitter. Additionally, blood pressure control will become easier and you will lose weight.
4. Quit smoking
Smoking increases blood pressure, facilitates blood clotting, increases cholesterol and increases the risk of cancer.
5. Keep your blood pressure under control
To maintain ideal blood pressure values, consume salt-free and take your medications regularly.
