Meals & Nutrition

A healthy diet is one of the most important ways you can reduce your risk of developing heart disease.

It is always important to remember that it’s not just whether one particular food group is ‘bad’ or not but to look at your eating as a whole and ensure you eat a well-balanced diet with plenty of plant-based foods. It is essential to include a lot of vegetables, whole grains and fruits as well as some fish and seafood and protein such as lentils beans and tofu.

Some key components of a heart healthy diet include:

Avoiding saturated fats: These are found mainly in animal products. Eating saturated fats raises the total level of cholesterol in your blood, as well as the level of LDL (bad cholesterol). This contributes to problems with blocked arteries.
Include more healthy fats: Choose foods with high amounts of healthy fats such as avocados, olives, nuts and seeds, and use healthy oils for cooking, for example, olive, canola, sunflower, peanut and soybean oil. These foods can help lower your cholesterol.
Reducing your salt intake: Reducing salt intake reduces the risk of high blood pressure and ensures better cardiovascular health for most people. Flavouring your foods with herbs and spices is a great alternative.
Increasing fruit and vegetable intake: Eat at least two pieces of fruit daily. Vegetables have been shown to be protective against heart disease and certain cancers. Aim for four or five serves per day.
Consuming more fibre: Soluble fibre can help lower cholesterol reabsorption, and assist with blood glucose level control.

Heart Health Club Nutritionist, Chloe Steele regularly shares information on heart healthy diet and nutrition with our Heart Health Club members. Make sure you are signed up so you don’t miss out!

Sign up to our Heart Health Club here

Introducing Chloe Steele, Heart Health Club Nutritionist

With an MSc in Nutrition from the University of Middlesex in the UK, Chloe’s specialist interests include cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, weight management and family nutrition.

Chloe has published her research in scientific journals, and written numerous articles for magazines, not-for-profit organisations and nutritional governing councils around the world. We are so excited to be sharing her work with our Heart Health Club members.