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[Best Syndication News] Remember the old slogan "You are what you eat", well what you eat can help prevent heart disease. It really gets down to eating fruits and vegetables with low fat meat and whole grains.

The Mediterranean diet has been found to be a very heart healthy diet with an abundance of whole grains, beans, olive oil and vegetables with smaller servings of meat. Red meat is eaten in moderation, like only one time a week if that. The Mediterranean diet has more fish in it than it does hamburgers and french fries.

Whole grains are better for us and nutritionist often suggest that you try to substitute whole wheat pasta versus white pasta. If you buy whole wheat bread check to see if they use whole grain. Breakfast cereal you can watch for whole grain cereals, but watch out for cereals that add a lot of sugar. The bran that is found on the outside of rice, has been shown to lower bad cholesterol levels. So eat brown rice instead of white rice.

Lower your salt intake. This is an important element in preventing high blood pressure and in turn help make your heart work better for a longer time. High blood pressures is known to increase your risk for stroke. Even if you don't have high blood pressure you might want to be careful how much salt you eat in your diet to prevent it from going up years later. Cook with lots of spices that don't have sodium as an ingredient. You can use chili powder, garlic, onions, and celery to bring flavor without the sodium. If you aren't a chef you can purchase spice mixes such as Mrs. Dash which are spice based salt substitutes.

Eating legumes or beans are good for your heart because they are high in fiber and they are a low fat protein source. High fiber diets have been shown to help reduce blood pressure. High fiber diets also help to control blood sugar levels. Eating a diet throughout the day that is high in fiber will make you feel fuller all day and can help make it easier to eat less calories, while at the same time you feel full. This often leads a person to an easy way to lose weight. The Mayo Clinic suggest eating low calorie density foods to lose weight. Most low calorie dense foods are full of fiber too!

Extra virgin olive oil is healthier to cook with but in moderation of course. Any fat has 9 calories per gram which is considerably more calorie dense than eating carbohydrates or protein which are only 4 calories per gram. So even though olive oil is a monounsaturated fat and is promoted as being good for your heart, too much can make you gain weight, and excess body weight is not healthy. If you are heavier, your heart has to work harder to pump the blood through your body.

There are other foods that promote heart health, or studies that have suggested that eating these foods would be good for your heart. However eating a healthy diet is so important and not to be overlooked just because a few foods are picked out from the whole bunch.

Here are some of the foods that might be heart healthy foods:

Green tea and black tea have antioxidants that might help protect your heart.

Dark chocolate in moderation is good for you, but not too much, The chocolate is loaded with sugar and sometimes saturated fat. So keep it down to only the size of one Hershey Kiss portion of dark chocolate a day. Better yet have the unprocessed cocoa powder without the sugar in your morning cup of coffee with a little bit of non fat milk. That way you can stay away from the sugar and saturated fat.

Nuts have healthy fats and are good for the heart. Eating nuts have nutrition packed in them. Different nuts have different levels of fat. The macadamia nut for instance is one of the nuts that contain the most amount of fat. The brazil nut has selenium packed in it and only one nut will supply you with a days worth of the nutritent. Sunflower seeds are full of magnesium. But be careful to get unsalted nuts. You can usually find the unsalted nuts in the baking aisles at your local grocery store or at you health food stores.

Try to eat more colorful vegetables on a regular basis. You will find that foods all have different nutrient values and if you don't eat a variety of foods you are very likely missing out on nutrition. There are researchers that believe that there are nutrients in food that they are not yet aware of and by not eating the whole food you might be missing out on vital nutrition. So taking pills that cover your vitamin intake might not be the best route to go.

Grill or bake instead of frying your meat or your side dishes and deserts. Every time you add fat to the mix you add calories, and this promotes weight gain. In addition to the onslaught of eating too many calories and fat, comes an abnormal blood lipid, you know, high cholesterol and high triglycerides that can further cause heart disease and heart problems that you just don't want. Clogged arteries happens when bad cholesterol accumulates in the arteries and prevents blood from getting through this is not a good thing and often there are no visible symptoms that would tell you that you have high LDL cholesterol or triglycerides. So you should always get a checkup at your doctors for your blood pressure as well as your cholesterol to make sure you are doing well.

For more information about diet and nutrition you can visit the American Heart Association Diet and Nutrition Website

By: Nicole Wilson