Heart Healthy Diet Recommendations of the American Heart Association and the British Heart Foundation

OF COURSE, LIGHT EXERCISE IS GOOD FOR YOUR HEART. BUT, IN MATTERS OF THE HEART, IT’S ULTIMATELY WHAT YOU EAT THAT REALLY COUNTS. THE MAIN THERAPY TO REDUCE THE RISK OF HEART DISEASE IS TO CHANGE ONE’S LIFESTYLE - TO HAVE A BALANCED ‘HEARTHEALTHY DIET’. AND TO SHUN HARMFUL HABITS SUCH AS DRINKING, SMOKING, CONSUMING CAFFEINATED BEVERAGES, ETC.

- Shri K. K. Bajaj

“India is the world capital for heart diseases,” says Dr. Vijay Dikshit, Chief Cardio-Thoracic Surgeon. “Coronary Artery Disease was considered the number one killer in Western countries. But in the last few decades, India has emerged as the world capital for heart diseases. There are more people with heart problems in India than anywhere else in the world.”

Heart diseases: Young people in India are at risk (The Lancet Magazine, USA) New research published in The Lancet, a leading scientific magazine in the USA, predicts that India will bear 60% of the world’s heart disease burden in the next two years. In addition, researchers have determined that compared to people in other developed countries, the average age of patients with heart disease is lower among people from India and that Indians are more likely to have different types of heart disease that lead to worse outcomes.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), sixty percent of the world’s cardiac patients will be Indian by 2010. According to the International Obesity Task Force, a medical NGO that coordinates with the WHO on obesity issues, South Asians have by far, the worst problems when it comes to heart disease.

Prevention is better than cure

Scientists suggest that having a healthy and balanced diet goes a long way in preventing heart disease. Doctors at the University of London, say that including the following six foods in your diet can reduce the risk of heart disease by as much as 88 percent while unclogging the arteries.