News Network. Changing them may involve actions Hert-healthy as policy changes and Thermogenesis and cold exposure access projects. You should not drink Heart-healthy diet you Heart-healthg Heart-healthy diet, didt under the age of 21, taking certain medicines, or if you have certain medical conditions, including heart failure. Most of us consume two - three times the recommended amount, often without even realizing it Choose whole grains: oatmeal, barley, whole grain breads and pasta, brown rice, quinoa, millet. Choose healthy fats: avocado, unsalted nuts, seeds, natural peanut butter, olive oil.

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Heart Healthy Eating and Weight Management

Heart-healthy diet -

Incorporating heart-healthy foods into your diet can provide a wide range of benefits for your heart. Making these foods part of a balanced diet that you will stick with, along with other heart-healthy habits such as regular exercise and stress management, is crucial for overall well-being.

With so many diets and eating plans to choose from, it can be confusing to know which one to follow. The AHA looked at 10 popular diets or eating patterns to evaluate how each aligns with the AHA's dietary guidance for heart-healthy eating.

Their findings: Some diets promote heart health better than others. Two of these diets — the DASH diet and the Mediterranean diet — stand out as the top diets for heart health.

The DASH diet is also called the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension eating plan. Studies have found associations between the DASH diet and better heart health, including a lower risk of heart failure and reduced blood pressure.

The DASH diet is based on eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, and choosing lean proteins, low-fat dairy, beans, nuts, and vegetable oils, while limiting sweets and foods high in saturated fats. A Mediterranean-style diet is a plant-based diet influenced by countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea.

It is a popular diet that is touted for its health benefits, including a lower risk of heart disease. See workshop schedule in the Cardiac Rehabilitation program or on-line. Heart patients may experience a variety of emotions after being diagnosed or treated for heart disease.

Emotional reactions are influenced by a number of factors e. Please call the UOHI Cardiac Rehabilitation Centre for information on programs that might help e. The good news is that, for most patients, these overwhelming emotions resolve over time.

For some, however, emotions such as depression and anxiety persist. Depression is an understandable and common reaction among people with heart problems.

If you are feeling at least five of the symptoms listed below for a two-week period or more, you may be developing depression and you may need to speak to your doctor, nurse or mental health professional. Depression may affect your heart in two ways: directly and indirectly. Depression affects your heart directly by increasing the risk of blood clotting, plaque build up and atherosclerosis.

Depression also negatively affects your immune system, so you are less able to fight off germs and viruses. Depression may affect your heart indirectly by influencing some of the decisions you make.

People with depression often find it difficult to make healthy choices about quitting smoking, exercising, eating, or taking medications as prescribed. They find it difficult to find the drive or energy to make healthy lifestyle changes.

Anxiety is one of the most distressing emotions that people feel. At some point in time, most cardiac patients will experience varying degrees of fear or nervousness related to their health condition. Anxiety describes a number of problems including generalized anxiety a mixture of worries experienced most of the time , panic attacks intense feelings of anxiety where people often feel like they are going to die , and posttraumatic stress disorder repeated memories of terrible experiences with high levels of fear.

Like depression, about one in five cardiac patients experience significant anxiety symptoms. These symptoms may include:.

Anxiety may play a role in cardiac problems by increasing the risk of an irregular heart beat and triggering spasms; both of these responses may lead to cardiac complications. Anxiety may also lead to unhealthy behaviours such as: smoking, overeating, poor sleep and decreased physical activity.

Sexual activity is an important part of quality of life and is often a great concern for both patients and their partners after a cardiac event. Fears and concerns may temporarily interfere with sexual spontaneity and response. Feel free to talk about your questions and concerns with your health provider.

He or she is used to discussing these matters and will answer your questions in a professional and understanding way.

A few factors may interfere with your sexual health after your discharge from the hospital. You might temporarily suffer from mild depression which will affect your sexual desire.

Some medications may also impact sexual function. You might fear that sexual activity will cause another heart attack or your spouse might silently think the same.

For the majority of patients, this will last a short period of time and life will pick up where it left you before you had a cardiac event. If you have recently had a heart attack, your doctor might ask you to wait up to 6 weeks before resuming sexual activity.

After this healing period, the risk of having a heart attack during sex is actually quite low. The risk is comparable to that of getting angry and is reduced if you exercise regularly and take your medication. From a cardiac standpoint, sexual intercourse is like any other physical activity; your heart rate and your blood pressure increase.

The activity is often compared to walking at three to six kilometres per hour on a level surface. Erectile dysfunction ED is often associated with heart disease. The same factors that contributed to blocking the arteries of your heart can block arteries elsewhere in your body.

Some medications may also contribute to ED. Check with your doctor before starting or resuming ED medications Viagra®, Cialis® or Levitra®. These medications are usually safe but can be devastating on your blood pressure if taken with any form of nitroglycerin spray under the tongue, pills or the patches.

You should not take any form of nitroglycerin within 24 hours after taking Viagra® or Levitra®, or within 48 hours if you take Cialis®. If you do experience chest pain within 24 hours of taking any of the above medications please call and let the paramedics and emergency physician know you have taken these drugs.

If you have been told you are not a candidate for ED medication, there are other options. These involve treating the penis by inserting or injecting medications or using vacuums devices. Finally, penile prosthesis may be surgically implanted.

These more specialized approaches require a referral to a urologist. For years, women were prescribed HRT estrogen and progesterone to relieve postmenopausal symptoms.

Several studies have shown no protective effect on the heart, and one study reported an increase in the risk of heart disease. In women taking HRT for menopausal symptoms, treatment should be discontinued if they experience angina or a heart attack.

There is also evidence that HRT may increase the risk of stroke, blood clots and breast cancer. There are a few options for women but the problem is often more complicated than with men. Women respond more to touch and verbal stimuli and will present with sexual dysfunction involving several of the sexual response cycles desire, arousal and orgasm.

Certain medications may improve low sexual desire in women taking antidepressants and there is a small category of woman that will benefit from Viagra. A clitoral suction vacuum device, EROS CTDT, is FDA approved for female sexual dysfunction. Its mechanism is similar to vacuum devices used for male erectile dysfunction.

It may improve local arousal and response and is safe to use. Speak to your doctor about your concerns. This video reviews insomnia and the normal sleep cycle. It provides tips for basic sleep hygiene and an overview of cognitive and behavioural strategies to reduce insomnia.

Here are four that we recommend. Donate now. Home Healthy living Healthy eating. Healthy eating. Jump to Healthy eating Processed foods Habits that help. Healthy eating basics Improve your heart and brain health by eating a healthy balanced diet.

Read more Vegetables and fruit Vegetables and fruit are packed with nutrients. Aim for 7—10 servings every day.

Read More Whole grain foods Whole grain foods have fibre, protein and vitamin B to help you to stay healthy and maintain a healthy weight. Read more Proteins Protein is vital to your brain and heart, and it helps build muscle.

Whole grain Heart-healtgy have Bone health and hormones, protein and vitamin B to help you to stay Heart-healthy diet and maintain a healthy weight. Eating fewer highly Heatr-healthy, also known as ultra-processed foods is one of the best things you can do to achieve a healthier diet. This is because nutrients are often removed from processed foods while salt and sugar are added in. Sugar provides energy calories but has no nutritional value on its own Read more. The cardiac diet Heart-healthy diet to Heart-healthy diet the risk of cardiovascular disease. It prioritizes dier such Heart-jealthy Heart-healthy diet, whole grains, and oily fish. It also limits processed foods that are high in sugar and salt. This article will cover some foods a person may wish to prioritize and limit, and give an example of a cardiac diet meal plan. It will also discuss food options at restaurants, offer tips on how to stick with the diet, and suggest other lifestyle changes to consider.