When it comes to heart health, most often you are advised on what you should not be doing and what you should not be eating. To try a different approach in a positive direction, it would be helpful to know the foods that actually boost heart health and keep blood vessels healthy.

It is not only the foods you are told not to eat that have an impact. But the foods you do eat are equally important for cardiovascular health. Your cardiologist may have told you to avoid saturated fat; this can be confusing as we think in terms of food and not saturated and unsaturated fat. It would be easier to have an idea of which foods need to be replaced with healthier ones. Fats and oils that top the list in heart health include- fish, plant oils, nuts and seeds. These contain unsaturated fats which appear to lower bad cholesterol and heart disease risk.

Breakfast

• Replace white bread with whole wheat bread and use a home -made peanut butter instead of butter or jam
• Garnish your oats with chopped nuts and seeds. Replace sugar laden cereals with whole grain porridges (ragi/ dalia) or plain muesli
• Make healthy smoothies with soy milk instead of full cream milk and add flaxseeds and almonds.
• Avoid egg yellows (as these are rich in cholesterol), instead use egg whites for different recipes adding a few drops of olive oil
• Add flaxseeds to whole wheat atta and make chapathis
• Opt for ragi or rava idlis with finely chopped vegetables. Replace high fat coconut chutney with a healthy mint/ coriander, dal or tomato chutney.

Snacks

Replace unhealthy snacks like chips, samosas, chaat, namkeens and biscuits with any of the following:

• Apple, banana, or celery sticks with home-made peanut butter
• A handful of roasted, unsalted nuts (peanuts, almonds, cashews, walnuts, pistachios)
• A handful of toasted pumpkin seeds
• Plain, low-fat yogurt with nuts, seeds and fruit
• Raw veggies with channa based hummus (made with little olive oil)
• A bowl of cut fruits
• Boiled peas/ channa/ rajmah/ tender soy beans/ sprouts with a bit of olive oil and a dash of lime juice

Lunch and Dinner

• Do not deep fry vegetables or cook them on high heat. Instead roast or stir fry vegetables in a bit of oil
• Include a healthy raw vegetable salad or sprouts salad with your meal. You can garnish your salad with chopped nuts and drizzle a bit of olive oil.
• Have fatty fish instead of red meat twice per week
• Replace the mayonnaise and butter in sandwiches with mint chutney or an olive oil based hummus.
• Have low fat paneer or tofu instead of cheese
• Instead of oily and rich gravies have a bowl of healthy home-made soup. Do not add cream. You can garnish your soup with herbs, pepper, celery, coriander etc.
• Healthy food choices are important, but healthy cooking methods also play an important role. Opt for grilled/ steamed/ pressure cooked/ boiled / baked/ poached/ stir fried kind of recipes. Avoid oily/ deep fried items. Vegetables or pulses though they are healthy can lose their nutritive value if they are deep fried or cooked with large amounts of oil. Have them raw as salads or lightly steamed with minimal oil.
• Choose a combination of oils (cold pressed oils are best) which will provide the essential fatty acids, 2 to 3 tsp. per day is sufficient and can be premeasured for the days cooking. The oils which can be used for combinations are rice bran, sunflower, safflower, canola, corn, groundnut, rice bran, olive and soybean oils. You can also use ‘vegetable oil' which is a blend of these oils. If using combination of oils, you can change them every month. Use cooking spray instead of pouring oils from a bottle while cooking. Avoid mixing any two types of oils. Store each in a different jar to preserve its shelf life.

Eating well for a healthy heart does not have to be complicated. It just involves replacing unhealthy foods with healthier alternatives. Shopping smart and using healthy cooking methods gives you control over what goes into your recipes and your body. Your heart will thank you for it!