4 Foods to Eat for a Healthy Heart

One of our top-rated plant-based recipes is this slow cooker hearty vegetable and bean soup.

You probably spend hours and hours each year sweating at the gym in your quest to tone your muscles and trim your physique. Even with all of that hard work, you may be neglecting the most important muscle of all. Your heart!

A healthy heart is responsible for delivering oxygen to the rest of your body and removing waste products. Every other organ depends on your heart in order to function. A healthy heart can also prevent and repair cell damage and will keep heart disease at bay. This is why it is so important to treat your heart right. Be sure to exercise regularly and to eat a wide range of heart-healthy “whole foods” to keep your heart happy and strong.

Here are 4 of the top foods to eat for heart health:

Salmon

Salmon is one of the best heart-healthy foods around because it is loaded with essential Omega-3 fatty acids, which contain nutrients to help build your immune system. Omega-3s also help reduce the risk of a heart attack by reducing blood pressure, protecting arteries, and working as an anti-inflammatory. Salmon tastes pretty good, too! Try this Honey-Dijon Glazed Salmon with a Hint of Lemon, and we think you’ll agree.

Beans

Diets that include beans may help reduce the risk of heart disease and can even prevent certain types of cancers. Beans are naturally low in total fat and contain no saturated fat or cholesterol. Both your heart and your taste buds will love these beany recipes: Quinoa with Black Beans, Slow Cooker Beans and Rice, or Slow Cooker Hearty Vegetable and Bean Soup.

Nuts

Nuts offer a ton of heart-healthy benefits. They can help lower cholesterol, help avoid blood clots, and improve the lining of your arteries. In addition, they contain unsaturated fats, Omega-3s, fiber, and Vitamin E– all heart-healthy substances. These Cinnamon Honey Nuts taste incredible.

Steel-Cut Oatmeal

Oatmeal offers up a nutritious dose of important B-vitamins to help protect against blood clots and hardening of the arteries. It’s also high in iron to assist your heart in transporting oxygen to your muscles. Oatmeal is versatile, too! Add fruit and nuts to yours for an added nutritional punch. Hot Chocolate Steel-Cut OatmealOvernight Pumpkin Pie Steel Cut Oats: No Sugar Added, and Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Oatmeal.

To learn more about B-vitamins, click here.

 

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Kym Votruba

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