Here is an infographic which is useful on how to keep your heart healthy.

The role of the diet in the development of coronary heart disease A healthy, well balanced diet reduces the risk of developing coronary heart disease because it helps:

Maintain a healthy weight
Lower blood cholesterol levels
Keep blood pressure within safe limits
Prevent atherosclerosis

There are many simple changes we can make to our diet to help keep the heart healthy. A heart healthy diet works in a number of ways. For example, it may help reduce cholesterol levels and lower blood pressure. Here are some easy tips that can reduce the risk of heart disease.

Enjoy a variety of fruit and vegetables
Fruit and vegetables are packed with vitamins, minerals and other substances that help protect your heart. They also pack fibre and most are virtually fat free.
Aim to fit in at least five portions of these foods each day. If you find this difficult, try including a glass of pure orange juice each morning and eating fruit or chopped vegetables for snacks.

Feast of fish
The healthy oil found in fish reduces your risk of a heart attack in lots of ways. Eating more fish isn't difficult; it can be easy as having a salmon sandwich or sardines on toast. Try to include the following types of oil-rich fish in your diet once a week (and don't forget the canned versions):

Salmon
Herring
Sardines
Mackerel
Pilchards
Trout
Kippers
Tuna (fresh tuna only)

Focus on Fats
While all types of fats are high in calories, some fats can also raise cholesterol levels. The main culprit is saturated fats, and it's found in fatty meat, dairy foods, cakes, pastries and palm oil. Easy ways to reduce your intake of this unhealthy fat include:

Make the change to reduced-fat dairy products, e.g semi skimmed milk
Use soft spreads made from vegetable oil, such as rapeseed or olive oil, rather than choosing butter, and use sparingly
Trim the fat from meat and the skin from chicken
Limit your intake of fast fried food, meat products like sausages, pies and streaky bacon
Go for snacks which are low in saturated fat such as fruit, bread, nuts, seeds, low fat yogurt, vegetables and cereals.

General tips for a healthy heart

Go for a Mediterranean-style diet, with lots of vegetables and fruits along with fish and small amounts of lean meat.
Include some wholegrain foods in your daily diet, for example, wholegrain cereals, bread, rice and pasta
Watch out for trans fats, which can also raise your cholesterol levels, found in processed foods e,g hard margarine, pastry, cakes and biscuits
Skip the salt
Keep your alcohol intake within sensible limits
Stay weight wise
Aim to be active everyday
Avoid smoking

	Created by Megan McDonald almost 10 years ago

Note on Coronary heart disease, created by Megan McDonald on 07/02/2015.