Reduce the risk of heart disease with a Mediterranean diet.
The Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet for Lowering Heart Disease Risk
What comes to mind when you think of the Mediterranean? Perhaps a pristine Italian coastline or a dream vacation destination, or how about food? The Mediterranean diet has many health benefits that can lower our risk for heart disease. It's a sobering reality that one in every four deaths in America is a result of heart disease. One of the main risk factors is having high cholesterol. Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance, and when your body makes too much of it, it can build up on the walls of your arteries. This buildup restricts the amount of blood and oxygen carried throughout your body and can result in a stroke, heart attack, or other forms of heart disease.
Key Components of the Traditional Mediterranean Diet
Eating a traditional Mediterranean diet lowers our risk for heart disease. The traditional Mediterranean diet consists of legumes and vegetables, whole grains, fruits, nuts, olive oil instead of butter and other types of fat, small amounts of dairy products, and small amounts of meat. The Mediterranean diet has many health benefits because it contains high amounts of antioxidants, proteins, and fiber, as well as omega-3s.
Incorporating Healthy Fats and Legumes into Your Diet
If you want to shift from avoiding fats entirely to adding healthy fats to your diet that fight bad cholesterol to get the good and saturated fats, here are some steps you can take: add olive oil, nuts, and seeds, as well as avocados, into your diet. You can use olive oil for salad dressings, stir-fry, make desserts, or replace butter by dipping your bread in olive oil. The fats and olive oil are mostly monounsaturated, which help lower cholesterol.
Adding Legumes and Nuts to Your Diet for a Healthier Life
The second tip is to eat more legumes like beans, lentils, and garbanzos, a traditional Mediterranean food like hummus is made from garbanzo beans and oil from whole sesame seeds. Try adding hummus to your next sandwich or using it as a dip for pita bread, carrot sticks, and other vegetables. The third tip is to eat more nuts and seeds like almonds and walnuts. One thing you can try is instead of having a candy dish on a table, fill it with almonds. This way, as you and your family members walk by, you'll pick up a quick and healthy step. There is your tip for the day on how you can live a healthier, longer life.
