6 Essential Food Groups For A Healthy Heart

Don Colbert, MD March 10, 2017

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. According the data collected by the Center for Disease Control, heart disease accounts for over 600,000 U.S. deaths annually. That is 1 in every 4 deaths!

Heart attack, stroke, and diabetes are all considered “lifestyle diseases,” which means they are largely preventable. What you eat, how often you exercise, and how you manage stress all play an important role in preventing and managing heart disease.

In fact, a new study out of Tufts University estimates that over half of the deaths caused by cardiometabolic diseases are directly related to diet. This includes both the consumption of harmful food and the lack of consumption of helpful foods.

Renata Micha, the study’s lead author, explains that “Americans are not eating enough fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, whole grains vegetable oils or fish. Americans are overeating salt, processed meats and sugary-sweetened beverages.”

Of all these factors, the researchers found that excess sodium consumption had the greatest correlation to premature death.

The extremity of American sodium consumption is largely due to the prevalence of refined salt in processed food. There are many studies that show that excess salt can increase blood pressure and stress the cardiovascular system.

The study identified 6 food groups that are beneficial to heart health and 4 food groups that are detrimental. The researchers recommend us all to…

Eat more:

Fruits: 3 average-sized fruits daily
Vegetables: 2 cups cooked or 4 cups raw vegetables daily
Nuts/seeds: 5 1-ounce servings per week — about 20 nuts per serving
Whole grains: 2 ½ daily servings
Polyunsaturated fats, found in many vegetable oils: 11 percent of daily calories
Seafood: about 8 ounces weekly

Eat less:

Red meat: 1 serving weekly — 1 medium steak or the equivalent
Processed meat: None recommended
Sugary drinks: None recommended
Salt: 2,000 milligrams daily — just under a teaspoon.

In a recent interview Micha said that the findings present tremendous dietary policy implications. “Instead of spending billions and billions of dollars on simply treating disease, we have an opportunity to focus on preventing disease…Preventing deaths through promoting healthy eating habits is the most timely and urgent priority of our time, from a health perspective.”
This information empowers us to take responsibility for our own health. With a bit of awareness and effort, we can take steps towards dramatically reducing our chances of cardiometabolic disease.
References

http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2608221
https://www.yahoo.com/news/bacon-soda-too-few-nuts-tied-big-portion-170115771.html
https://www.choosemyplate.gov/dietary-guidelines
https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm
http://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2017/03/07/deadly-diets-study-tufts

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Don Colbert, MD

Don Colbert, MD, has been board-certified in family practice and in anti-aging and integrative medicine for more than 25 years. He is the medical director of the Divine Health Wellness Center, where he has treated more than 50,000 patients, and a New York Times bestselling author of books including The Seven Pillars of Health, What Would Jesus Eat?, Deadly Emotions and Keto Zone Diet, with more than ten million books sold. He hosts Dr. Colbert's Broadcast with his wife Mary and son Kyle, where faith meets functional medicine. He and Mary live in Orlando, Florida and Dallas, Texas.

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