A cardiac diet also known as a heart healthy diet
is a diet focus on reducing sodium, fat and cholesterol intake. The diet concentrates on reducing "foods containing saturated fats and trans fats" and substituting them with "mono and polyunsaturated fats". The diet advocates increasing intake of "complex carbohydrates, soluble fiber and omega 3 fatty acids" and is recommended for people with
cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumati ...
or people looking for a healthier diet.
The diet limits the intake of meat, dairy products, egg products, certain desserts and caffeine.
The cardiac diet emphasizes a fruit and vegetable based diet. Foods such as
spinach
Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to Central Asia, Central and Western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common vegetable consumed eit ...
,
cauliflower
Cauliflower is one of several vegetables cultivated from the species '' Brassica oleracea'' in the genus '' Brassica'', which is in the Brassicaceae (or mustard) family. Cauliflower usually grows with one main stem that carries a large, rou ...
,
broccoli
Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the Brassicaceae, cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large Pseudanthium, flowering head, plant stem, stalk and small associated leafy gre ...
,
tomato
The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...
es,
bok choy
Bok choy (American English, Canadian English, and Australian English), pak choi (British English, South African English, and Caribbean English) or pok choi is a type of Chinese cabbage ('' Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''chinensis'') cultivated as a le ...
,
arugula
Rocket, eruca, or arugula (''Eruca sativa'') is an edible annual plant in the family Brassicaceae used as a leaf vegetable for its fresh, tart, bitter, and peppery flavor. Its other common names include salad rocket and garden rocketFlora of NW ...
,
bell pepper
The bell pepper (also known as sweet pepper, paprika, pepper, capsicum or, in some parts of the US midwest, mango) is the fruit of plants in the Grossum Group of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in diff ...
s, and
carrot
The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in colour, though heirloom variants including purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild ...
s are recommended. Fiber is also recommended, foods such as oats, beans, ground flaxseed and berries are advised.
A healthy cardiac diet "allows for an estimated 25–30% of total calories from fat" mostly from mono and polyunsaturated fats.
Since 2006, the
American Heart Association
The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate Heart, cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability ...
have been "substantially more stringent on saturated fat intake". Besides the diet recommended by the American Heart Association, a
Mediterranean diet
The Mediterranean diet is a concept first proposed in 1975 by the American biologist Ancel Keys and chemist Margaret Keys. The diet took inspiration from the eating habits and traditional food typical of Crete, much of the rest of Greece, and s ...
or
ovo-lacto vegetarianism
Lacto-ovo vegetarianism or ovo-lacto vegetarianism is a type of vegetarianism which forbids animal flesh but allows the consumption of animal products such as dairy and eggs. Unlike pescetarianism, it does not include fish or other seafood. ...
are also viable.
Commercial cardiac diets are also available for pets such as cats and dogs with cardiovascular health issues.
See also
*
List of diets
An individual's Diet (nutrition), diet is the sum of food and drink that one habitually consumes. Dieting is the practice of attempting to achieve or maintain a certain weight through diet. People's dietary choices are often affected by a variet ...
References
{{Diets
Diets