5 Heart Healthy Meals

5 MEALS THAT IMPROVE YOUR HEART HEALTH

Exercising is great for improving your heart health, but it’s just a part of it. Eating well is the most important choice you can make to prevent heart disease. While burgers, fries, and pizza are all delicious, they’re probably not doing anything to extend or improve your life. Anything you can do to incorporate healthy foods into your diet will help.

Be sure to try to eat some of the following every day:

• Heart healthy fats (such as avocado, nuts, and olive oil)
• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Lean meats and proteins (like beans, chicken, etc.)
• Whole grains
• Plenty of plain water

Make sure to avoid:

• Packaged foods
• High sodium
• Frozen, prepared meals
• Simple carbohydrates (such as chips, white bread, etc.)
• Sugary foods, including soda
• Anything that contains trans-fat or “partially hydrogenated” oil

Here are some heart-friendly recipes that you can incorporate into meals:

Turkey Chili
Try this 30 minute turkey chili recipe. Instead of topping it with Fritos or cheese, common toppings, try some of the following:

• Diced tomato
• Avocado
• Salsa
• Greek yogurt
• Chives

Grilled Shrimp, Avocado and Mango Lettuce Wraps
This very popular dish in Vietnam is very healthy for your heart! Dip in a peanut sauce for an extra treat.

Vegetable Lasagna
Instead of using sausage and beef, try making a vegetable lasagna. Feel free to substitute any of the vegetables with others, like carrots or different kinds of mushrooms. In this delicious meal, meat is entirely optional.

White Bean Burgers
Kick out thetraditional beef burgers and start looking for some other options to use as patties. This delicious and filling white bean burgeris wonderful when topped with fresh veggies like avocado, lettuce, onion, and tomato!

Avocado-Chimichurri Steak with Grilled Asparagus
You don’t have to avoid ALL red meat but choosing lean cuts will cut down on your saturated fat intake tremendously. This impressive meal also features many green vegetables!