Your heart is one of the most important organs in your body. Learn how to keep it both strong and healthy by including these foods in your diet!
Your heart is an amazing organ. It serves your body by pumping blood continuously through the circulatory system through a complex system of arteries and capillaries. Think of these as the roads, railways, and subways that make deliveries all around the city of your body. This system transports neatly packaged cells and compounds rapidly throughout the body always returning to the heart. Each day this fist-sized powerhouse beats 100,000 times, pumping five or six quarts of blood each minute. That’s roughly 2,000 gallons per day! Your heart health needs to be reliable and strong to transport all that blood, as the tempo and strength of each pump will affect how efficient this system works.
Medicinal Drugs or Diet?
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, taking a life every 36 seconds, despite being an uncommon cause of death at the beginning of the 20th century. By mid-century it had become the most common cause of death, driven mostly by behavioral changes. Today, coronary heart disease is the most common type of heart disease affecting 18.2 million adults age 20 and older.
The chief editor of the American Journal of Cardiology notes that there are only two ways to combat heart disease: to either put those millions of Americans with heart disease on a lifetime of medications or to recommend they all eat a diet centered around whole plant foods. Here at Thistle we feel strongly that the latter, more holistic approach is preferred, and we echo the Greek physician Hippocrates who said, “Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food,” as this attestation has stood the test of time. It’s never too early or too late to start eating healthfully - we’re here to help guide you through what foods will nourish your heart.
Heart Healthy Diet
Primarily Plants - Vegetables, fruits, plant-based proteins, and whole plant foods in general feed a healthy heart. That’s because these foods are loaded with fiber, anti-inflammatory compounds, antioxidants, and phytonutrients like magnesium. Magnesium is important for maintaining a healthy heartbeat and preventing muscle spasms of the heart blood vessels, which can lead to a high blood pressure and a heart attack.
Soluble Fiber - Found in whole plant foods, particularly from whole-grain foods, soluble fiber slows the release of sugar and other compounds from the food into the bloodstream which helps lower triglycerides and cholesterol. Soluble fiber also helps the body eliminate cholesterol and fats more efficiently through the colon. Try to eat plant-based foods, including beans, in their most whole form possible to get the most benefit.
Fabulous Fats - Good fats are naturally occurring in plant foods like flax seeds, walnuts, avocados, tahini and olives and haven’t been damaged by high heat, refining, or over-processing. These ingredients are key components of the heart-healthy diet of the Mediterranean and other Blue Zones around the world where the longest-lived cultures reside. These diets typically incorporate olive oil, avocados, tree nuts, seeds, fish and seafood that provide your body with good fats like omega-3s and monounsaturated fats that reduce inflammation and boost good cholesterol. Fish and seafood will contribute these nutrients as well as plant sources like nuts and seeds.
Purple Power Foods - Berries, red wine, purple grapes, and other plant foods with deep red, purple or blue hues are loaded with heart-happy antioxidant and anti-inflammatory pigments, anthocyanins and related compounds, that fight heart disease and keep your blood vessels flexible and smooth.
Pungent Herbs, Spices, and Tea - Garlic, onions, turmeric, hot peppers, herbs, spices, herbal tea and cacao all decrease inflammation and tone the cardiovascular system. Herbs and spices work in synergy with the other ingredients in your meal, providing even more antioxidant activity together than they would alone.
Low Sodium Foods - Salt provides important electrolytes for homeostasis as levels of electrolytes in your body can become too low or too high when the amount of water in your body changes. Electrolytes like sodium are important because they contribute to balancing the amount of water in the body, the body’s pH level, and moving nutrients into and out of cells. However, excess sodium increases blood pressure in some people. A major culprit of excess sodium are highly processed foods, which typically include several sodium-based compounds for flavor and food preservation. Electrolytes found in whole foods like potassium, for example, that would help balance sodium in the body are now lost from processing, preventing the body reaping the benefits of those minerals. It’s easy to stay under the daily sodium limit when cooking with whole foods and being mindful of added salt — something Thistle abides by in every meal.
Remember that every cell, tissue, organ, and system in the body gets its oxygen and nutrients brought to it through the cardiovascular system. Without a good transport system, we can’t transport our nourishment from food or oxygen where it needs to go.
Arteries are more than pipes through which blood flows — they are dynamic, living organs. An unhealthy diet doesn’t just affect the structure of our arteries, it can also affect their functioning. Therefore, the more we can do to take care of our hearts and keep the ‘roadways’ running smoothly, the better we can prevent, treat, and manage our cardiovascular health.
Your heart is one of the most important organs in your body. Learn how to keep it both strong and healthy by including these foods in your diet!
Your heart is an amazing organ. It serves your body by pumping blood continuously through the circulatory system through a complex system of arteries and capillaries. Think of these as the roads, railways, and subways that make deliveries all around the city of your body. This system transports neatly packaged cells and compounds rapidly throughout the body always returning to the heart. Each day this fist-sized powerhouse beats 100,000 times, pumping five or six quarts of blood each minute. That’s roughly 2,000 gallons per day! Your heart health needs to be reliable and strong to transport all that blood, as the tempo and strength of each pump will affect how efficient this system works.
Medicinal Drugs or Diet?
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, taking a life every 36 seconds, despite being an uncommon cause of death at the beginning of the 20th century. By mid-century it had become the most common cause of death, driven mostly by behavioral changes. Today, coronary heart disease is the most common type of heart disease affecting 18.2 million adults age 20 and older.
The chief editor of the American Journal of Cardiology notes that there are only two ways to combat heart disease: to either put those millions of Americans with heart disease on a lifetime of medications or to recommend they all eat a diet centered around whole plant foods. Here at Thistle we feel strongly that the latter, more holistic approach is preferred, and we echo the Greek physician Hippocrates who said, “Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food,” as this attestation has stood the test of time. It’s never too early or too late to start eating healthfully - we’re here to help guide you through what foods will nourish your heart.
Heart Healthy Diet
Primarily Plants - Vegetables, fruits, plant-based proteins, and whole plant foods in general feed a healthy heart. That’s because these foods are loaded with fiber, anti-inflammatory compounds, antioxidants, and phytonutrients like magnesium. Magnesium is important for maintaining a healthy heartbeat and preventing muscle spasms of the heart blood vessels, which can lead to a high blood pressure and a heart attack.
Soluble Fiber - Found in whole plant foods, particularly from whole-grain foods, soluble fiber slows the release of sugar and other compounds from the food into the bloodstream which helps lower triglycerides and cholesterol. Soluble fiber also helps the body eliminate cholesterol and fats more efficiently through the colon. Try to eat plant-based foods, including beans, in their most whole form possible to get the most benefit.
Fabulous Fats - Good fats are naturally occurring in plant foods like flax seeds, walnuts, avocados, tahini and olives and haven’t been damaged by high heat, refining, or over-processing. These ingredients are key components of the heart-healthy diet of the Mediterranean and other Blue Zones around the world where the longest-lived cultures reside. These diets typically incorporate olive oil, avocados, tree nuts, seeds, fish and seafood that provide your body with good fats like omega-3s and monounsaturated fats that reduce inflammation and boost good cholesterol. Fish and seafood will contribute these nutrients as well as plant sources like nuts and seeds.
Purple Power Foods - Berries, red wine, purple grapes, and other plant foods with deep red, purple or blue hues are loaded with heart-happy antioxidant and anti-inflammatory pigments, anthocyanins and related compounds, that fight heart disease and keep your blood vessels flexible and smooth.
Pungent Herbs, Spices, and Tea - Garlic, onions, turmeric, hot peppers, herbs, spices, herbal tea and cacao all decrease inflammation and tone the cardiovascular system. Herbs and spices work in synergy with the other ingredients in your meal, providing even more antioxidant activity together than they would alone.
Low Sodium Foods - Salt provides important electrolytes for homeostasis as levels of electrolytes in your body can become too low or too high when the amount of water in your body changes. Electrolytes like sodium are important because they contribute to balancing the amount of water in the body, the body’s pH level, and moving nutrients into and out of cells. However, excess sodium increases blood pressure in some people. A major culprit of excess sodium are highly processed foods, which typically include several sodium-based compounds for flavor and food preservation. Electrolytes found in whole foods like potassium, for example, that would help balance sodium in the body are now lost from processing, preventing the body reaping the benefits of those minerals. It’s easy to stay under the daily sodium limit when cooking with whole foods and being mindful of added salt — something Thistle abides by in every meal.
Remember that every cell, tissue, organ, and system in the body gets its oxygen and nutrients brought to it through the cardiovascular system. Without a good transport system, we can’t transport our nourishment from food or oxygen where it needs to go.
Arteries are more than pipes through which blood flows — they are dynamic, living organs. An unhealthy diet doesn’t just affect the structure of our arteries, it can also affect their functioning. Therefore, the more we can do to take care of our hearts and keep the ‘roadways’ running smoothly, the better we can prevent, treat, and manage our cardiovascular health.
