According to Cardiologists
These tasty picks can help keep your ticker in tip-top shape.
While lifestyle changes like reducing your salt intake or watching less TV have been studied and proven to support heart health, the foods you include in your diet play a major role in lowering your risk for heart-related illness. That’s why we gathered the best foods for heart health so you can stock up stat.
Best foods for heart health
Wild salmon
Broiled, grilled, or baked, this tasty, fleshy fish is rich in omega-3 fatty acids that improve the metabolic markers for heart disease. It also has rich levels of selenium, an antioxidant that studies have shown boosts cardiovascular protection.
Sardines
These spiny little creatures are also loaded with omega-3s in the form of fish oil, which increases “good” cholesterol levels and reduces the risk of sudden heart attacks in people who have experienced previous attacks, according to the Mayo Clinic. Stick to fresh ones to avoid the canned variety’s high salt content.
Liver
Liver contains fats that are good for the heart, said William Davis, M.D., a Wisconsin-based preventive cardiologist and author of Wheat Belly. “That’s the way humans are scripted,” he said. “Primitive humans ate the entire animal. Livers contain a lot of fats and that’s healthy.”
Walnuts
This nut is chock-full of omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, Vitamin E, and folate, all of which promote healthy hearts. It’s also high in polyunsaturated fats. Eat them unsalted for your best heart-healthy meal.
Almonds
Like walnuts, crunchy, meaty almonds are big in omega-3s and provide an alternative to folks who may not like the bitter bite of fleshy walnuts.
