How To Look After Your Heart This Valentine's Day
by Niamh Lonergan | 9th Feb 2022
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner; are you feeling the love?! Our gift to you this Valentine’s is some useful tips on how to keep your heart healthy and happy!
Choose your fats wisely
We all need some fats in our diet. In fact, it’s essential for good heart health. However, certain fats should be limited such as Saturated fats (found in red meat, butter, cream and biscuits) and Trans fats (found in fast food, processed food) as these can cause an increase in LDL cholesterol which is bad for your heart. Polyunsaturated fats (nuts, seeds, rapeseed oils) and Monounsaturated fats (Avocado, olive oil) are a better option. Our Raw Energy Nut Bar and our Chickpea cookie are perfect snacks for a healthy heart!
When cooking with oil, use only very small amounts and choose olive oil or rapeseed oil instead of butter or coconut oil. Making changes to your cooking methods can also make a difference in the nutritional value of your meal. Why not steam, bake, grill and boil instead of frying, deep frying or roasting!
Reduce salt
Eating less salt doesn’t mean that our food has to be bland- try to flavour foods with spices, herbs, garlic and onion instead of salt! The guidelines for salt intake for adults is no more than 6gs of salt a day, 3gs for a child. If you’ve high blood pressure you really need to keep under this number as it can exacerbate it or even worse lead to Coronary Heart Disease. Reduce the salt at the dinner table and limit processed foods which typically use salt as a flavouring and preservative.
Eat 2 portions of fish a week
One of which should be oily (e.g. salmon). Oily Fish is loaded with heart healthy Poly-unsaturated omega 3, so eat up! Have you checked out our range of pescatarian meals yet? If you don't eat fish, don't worry, there are some other plant-based sources of omega 3's such as walnuts, chia seeds and flaxseeds.
Maintain a healthy weight
Being overweight negatively affects your cholesterol levels, so speak to one of our Nutritionists if you need some help with weight management.
Make fibre your friend this Valentines!
Eating fibre rich foods such as wholegrains, fruit, vegetables and pulses help lower heart disease risk. Soluble fibre decreases LDL (the bad cholesterol ) in the blood.
Soya
Once regarded as just for those avoiding meat, soy has grown in popularity recently for it’s health boosting properties. Recent research has suggested that eating just 15 grams of soya a day (equivalent to a glass of soya milk and a handful of edamame beans or a portion of tofu) can boost heart health. Did you know, we've recently launched a range of soy-containing meals including our Sweet Chilli Tofu Rice Bowl, Tofu Veggie Noodles and Tofu Scramble!
Eat your Oats
Oats are such a great addition to a heart healthy diet, due to containing a type of soluble fibre called ‘Beta- Glucan’, which has been shown to lower cholesterol, and in turn, lowers your chances of developing heart problems. Porridge for breakfast is a simple way of adding more Beta - Glucan to your diet.
How are you spending Valentine's Day this year? Whether its with a partner, family or friends why not have a romantic night in and get some of our delicious Gourmet Fuel meals delivered- a romantic and heart-healthy meal for your special someone!