No Scrubs Notes: HEALTHY EATING FOR CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE

What is Cardiovascular health?
Cardiovascular health refers to the health of the heart and blood vessels (American heart Association, 2017). When we don’t treat our body and our heart right, we can develop conditions that will affect our health in the long run. Because cardiovascular health refers to the heart and blood vessels, we can develop conditions and disease such as strokes, heart failure, heart valve problems, heart arrhythmias, coronary heart disease and many more (American Heart Association, 2017). We must act in our everyday lives from exercise and eating healthy to prevent these conditions and diseases from developing.

How does a healthy diet play a role?
According to CDC (2019) diet is one of the primary risk factors that increase risk of heart disease. Components such as saturated fats, trans fats, and cholesterol are associated with heart disease because it can cause plaque build up in the blood vessels, which makes it harder for blood to flow through arteries. Other contributing factors to heart disease that can be affected by diet include obesity and high blood pressure. Too much salt in your diet can cause increase in blood pressure and foods high in refined sugars, simple carbohydrates, unhealthy fats, and overeating can contribute to obesity. By keeping a healthy diet, you can decrease your chances of getting or worsening cardiovascular disease.

Where do I start?
Healthy eating can be complicated when you don’t have much information on what foods are healthy and what foods aren’t. An article released by the Mayo clinic in 2021 states 8 steps regarding your diet to help prevent heart disease (Mayo Clinic, 2021). The first step includes controlling your portion size (Mayo Clinic, 2021). By using a small bowl/plate is one way we can use to trick our brain in thinking we are full and eating more (Mayo Clinic, 2021) Also, by eating less high sodium/ high calorie foods and reading the labels on foods to see the portion size can help you get a better understanding of the amount you are eating and what you are putting in your body (Mayo Clinic, 2021). The next step is eating more vegetables and fruits (Mayo Clinic, 2021). We all know the importance of incorporating this into our diet but sometimes it may be hard to do so. The Mayo Clinic also states to incorporate select whole grains, limit unhealthy fats, choose low-fat protein sources and reduce your sodium intake daily (Mayo Clinic, 2021)

All of these tasks you can do daily to help create a healthy diet for yourself. As individuals who are busy all the time and look for the cheap and easy option planning out your meals ahead of time and meal prepping is a huge help to staying on your diet and making sure you are staying consistent (Mayo Clinic, 2021). Finally, no one wants to eat healthy all day every day.

We crave sweets or something savory every once in a while. Don’t deprive yourself of those cravings and allow yourself to have an occasional treat.

References
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/in-depth/heart-healthy-diet/art-20047702
https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/consumer-healthcare/what-is-cardiovascular-disease
https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/prevention.htm#:~:text=Be%20sure%20to%20eat%20plenty,can%20help%20prevent%20high%20cholesterol.