Diabetes and Heart Disease Diet: Tips on the Best Diet for Heart Disease and Diabetes
Following a diabetes and heart disease diet is an important part of living a healthy lifestyle – today information will let you in on some tips for the best diet for heart disease and diabetes.
Learn more about the link between diabetes and heart health by clicking here.
Taking care of your diabetes also can mean that you are taking care of your heart health and vice versa. Taking care of your body through your eating habits is one of the most important parts of staying healthy longer. Having diabetes creates a much higher risk of other health complications such as heart attack or stroke because high blood sugar damages nerves and blood vessels in the body. When nerves and blood vessels are damaged because of high blood sugar, the body struggles to perform their normal duties and can develop things like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease. Cardiac diabetic diet can be found through simple changes as well as big changes, making sure your diet is well balanced helps not only your heart but also blood sugar levels.
Best Diet for Heart Disease and Diabetes
The Mediterranean diet has been shown to have promising results as one of the best diet for heart disease and diabetes options. The Mediterranean diet is filled with fish, healthy oils, vegetables and legumes. Other important foods you should find or include in your diabetes and heart disease diet are:
- Oatmeal – oatmeal is high in fiber
- Legumes like beans, lentils and split peas – these types of legumes are high in fiber which is good for your heart and your blood sugar.
- Fish, specifically fatty, oily fish – fatty fish can include fish such as salmon, sardines and tuna. They are great for your cardiac diabetic diet because they are high in omega- 3 fatty acids that help reduce inflammation in the body ultimately helping your diabetes and your heart
- Flaxseed – this is a mixture of many good things. It’s a seed that is high in fiber, and an omega 3 fatty acid. (Before adding large amounts of flaxseed to your diet, in the case that you don’t like fish, you should speak to your doctor to make sure that it doesn’t have any complications with the medications that you take)
- Nuts– nuts are great for any type of diet but especially a diabetes and heart disease diet. They are full of protein and good fatty acids. You can snack on walnuts, almonds or macadamia nuts but make sure not to over eat them because they do pack a lot of calories.
- Berries – berries are great for those who need something sweet. Berries such as blueberries and strawberries are good for your health and your eating habits. Try adding some berries to your diet as desert and see if you’re still left craving other things.
- Oils – make sure you are choosing the right types of oils to cook with such as olive oil, vegetable oil and canola oil. They are a good source of healthy fats and the type of fat that they contain can help cholesterol.
General dietary measures can include the following tips for eating to help both your heart and your diabetes. You should be doing this if not daily but during the week:
- Limit processed foods!
- Cut out deli sandwiches, baked goods, soda and anything with a lot of added sugar
- Choose fish over poultry when you’re eating out or at one
- Eat a few nuts between meals for your snack
- Eat some beans or other types of legumes throughout the week
- Eat as much fruits and vegetables as possible during the day
- Choose whole grains when it comes to bread choices, cereal choices and pasta
- Reduce the intake of red meat to 1 – 2 meals weekly
- Choose low fat or fat free dairy products
As mentioned above with the Flaxseed, if you are thinking about making major changes to your diet or weekly eating habits, make sure to speak to your doctor before doing so to ensure that you are making the right choices for you!