5 nutrition tips to show your heart some love

Know your fats

Once upon a time, we used to demonise all fat as unhealthy. But research has revealed that different types actually have different effects within the body.

First, a bit of background on cholesterol. Cholesterol is a fatty substance in our blood that our bodies use to make hormones, bile and vitamin D. It travels around the body packaged up in molecules called lipoproteins. The two main types we need to know about are high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL). HDL cholesterol helps to remove excess cholesterol from the blood, and it may also have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. On the other hand, having too much cholesterol in the blood over time, particularly high levels of LDL cholesterol, can increase the chance of our arteries getting clogged up by fatty plaques. This is when heart disease can progress, and negative cardiac events like stroke and heart attack are more likely to happen.

So, where does fat come into this? The two main types of dietary fat are unsaturated and saturated fat. You might see them referred to as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ respectively, due to their impact on our risk of heart disease. Eating lots of saturated fat in particular has been linked with increased blood cholesterol levels, whereas unsaturated fat can help increase the good HDL cholesterol, which in turn mops up any excess cholesterol, keeping our heart and blood vessels happy.

Therefore, moderating our intake of saturated fat (found in fatty cuts of meat, processed meats, butter, lard, pastries and coconut oil) while increasing the amount of unsaturated fat in your diet can help to reduce your cholesterol levels, particularly the ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Foods high in unsaturated fat include avocado, most vegetable oils, oily fish, nuts and seeds.

Watch your salt

Along with saturated fat, another nutrient we should be keeping an eye on is salt. Dietary salt is made up of sodium and chloride ions. Having some salt in our body is essential as it plays a role in muscle contraction and nerve signalling. Because sodium attracts water, salt is also important for regulating how much water we store in our blood and cells. This is why too much isn’t a good thing!

If we eat lots of salt, we end up absorbing more sodium into our blood. The elevated concentration of sodium attracts water, meaning the volume of water in our bloodstream increases. This greater volume puts more pressure on blood vessels, raising blood pressure. High blood pressure is linked to an increased risk of heart disease. If you’re already living with high blood pressure, eating too much salt could make this worse, and might weaken the effect of any medications you take for your blood pressure.

All adults are recommended to cap their salt intake at 6g per day. To help you achieve this, choose lower-salt versions of very salty ingredients, like soy sauce, stock, gravy granules and condiments, and use herbs and other seasonings in your cooking in place of salt, like black pepper, chilli, vinegar, garlic, ginger, and lemon juice. Foods typically high in salt include ready meals, soup, cheese and prawns.

Up your fibre

Eating fibre can help lower cholesterol to healthy levels. The gel that soluble fibre forms in the gut binds with cholesterol, reducing the amount we re-absorb into the bloodstream. Beta-glucans, found in oats and barley, are particularly known for their cholesterol-lowering properties, so be sure to opt for a filling bowl of porridge in the mornings if you’re looking to follow a cholesterol-friendly diet.

We know eating fibre is also really good for gut health, as the friendly bacteria lining our gut love it! Research has shown certain types of gut bacteria have been linked with blood pressure and cholesterol levels, so ensuring a high intake of fibre from a variety of different sources can help to improve the diversity of our healthy gut bacteria, which in turn could improve markers of heart health.

Don't choose booze

This might not be the most ground-breaking of tips, but if you want to look after your heart, go easy on the alcohol. We know alcohol can raise blood pressure, and this in turn increases the risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke. Heavy drinking in particular can cause damage to the heart muscle, or abnormal heart rhythm.

You might have heard that red wine is ‘good for you’. On the whole, no amount or type of alcohol should be considered ‘good’ for our health, especially if you don’t already drink. Red wine has been thought to be heart-friendly thanks to its high concentrations of resveratrol, an anti-oxidant that might help to protect the lining of blood vessels. This certainly doesn’t mean to say that drinking wine is recommended, or that you should start drinking to improve your heart health. But if you do enjoy an occasional glass of red with a meal with friends, don’t stress too much about cutting it out of your diet altogether.

Use the Traffic Lights feature

If you've noticed in the supermarket, most food products have a simple front of pack traffic light label, to help you make an informed choice about the nutrients in your diet that can become a problem if consumed in excess – including saturated fat and salt. The colour code is based on the quantity of each of these nutrients in the product.

We've incorporated the same guide into the app to give you a quick visual guide to the nutritional content of the foods you're logging in your diary. By tapping the nutrient columns in your food diary and switching to saturated fat and salt, you can keep a closer eye on these nutrients and better protect your heart in the long run. The more green lights you see, the better!

To read more about the traffic light guide, check out this blog: Traffic Light Guide explained