Nutrition is the heart of a healthy lifestyle, especially when it comes to the health of your heart. A low carb diet is associated with weight loss and significantly benefits your cardiovascular well-being, and following a low carb diet for just four weeks may reduce predictors for heart disease risk factors. Keep reading for more ways a low carb diet can improve your heart health.
Why A Low Carb Diet is Good for Your Heart
Here are six ways eating low carb can give your heart a boost.
- Manage blood sugar. Low carb diets may help maintain stable blood sugar levels, which is key for heart health, as high blood sugar can damage arteries.
- Reduce blood pressure. Cutting back on high-glycemic carbs may help lower blood pressure, a significant risk factor for heart disease.
- Improve cholesterol levels. A well-constructed low carb diet can improve HDL (good) cholesterol levels and reduce triglycerides, both beneficial for heart health. Studies show that a low carb diet helps support healthy triglyceride and cholesterol levels more effectively than a low-fat diet.
- Lose weight. Low carb diets may help with weight loss, and carrying less weight means less stress on your heart.
- Decrease inflammation. Chronic inflammation is linked to heart disease, and a low-carb diet may decrease inflammation markers in the body.
- Improve diet quality. Many of the foods you eat on a low carb diet—fish, poultry, nuts and seeds, high-fiber vegetables and low-glycemic berries—all have the potential to enhance heart health.
Heart-Smart Low Carb Foods
By eliminating added sugar and focusing on heart-smart carbs like fiber-rich vegetables, you are eliminating those high-glycemic carbs that put you at risk for heart disease. Certain fats are also good for your heart and are an important part of a low carb lifestyle. These fats include:
Monounsaturated fats: Found in nuts, avocados and olive and canola oil.
Polyunsaturated fats: Found in fish, sunflower seeds, soybeans, and flaxseeds as well as cottonseed, corn, and safflower oils.
Saturated fat: Some saturated fat is acceptable on a well-constructed low carb diet. Choose from high-quality sources if possible, such as organic coconut oil, eggs from pasture-raised chicken, grass-fed beef and fatty, cold-water fish like salmon and dairy products from grass-fed cows. Eat at least two servings a week (3.5 ounces) of fatty cold-water fish like salmon, halibut, and tuna, which are also rich in omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3s may decrease triglyceride levels, slow the rate of atherosclerotic plaque and lower blood pressure.
A low carb diet complements the American Heart Association’s suggestions for a heart-healthy diet, which, along with heart-smart carbs and fat, include:
- A wide variety of fruits and vegetables
- Whole grains
- Healthy sources of protein (mostly plants such as legumes and nuts; fish and seafood; dairy and lean and unprocessed meat and poultry)
- Minimize intake of added sugars
