Hi, I’m Lisa. I’m a registered dietitian nutritionist with Tahoe Forest Hospital, and I also support the cardiac rehab program. I want to talk to you about heart disease today.
The American Heart Association recently came out with a prediction that by 2050 over 60% of Americans will be dealing with heart disease in some form. When we talk about heart disease or having a heart attack, most people think of foods that they need to restrict or cut out of their diet. There are some foods that increase their risk for heart disease, but I really like to turn the table and think about what are some healthy foods we can add into our diet.
Fiber is the number one nutrient that I encourage people to increase in their diet. Statistics show that most Americans don’t reach the recommended amount of 25 grams a day. We specifically want soluble fiber. That’s kind of that stickiness that happens if you let a bowl of oatmeal sit too long.
I have some easy, quick tips for you to increase fiber in your diet. The first one would be to include more chia seeds. This is kind of an unusual food, but it packs a big punch. For just 2 tablespoons of chia seeds, you get over 8 grams of fiber. So again, we’re increasing fiber without really changing much in our diet. You can throw chia seeds on top of a salad, into smoothies, on your cereal. You can even make some tapioca-like pudding with chia seeds.
My next tip is to read your food labels. Any product that comes from grains, especially bread, rice, crackers, cereals, things like that, I really want to make sure you have at least 3 grams of fiber per serving. You can glance at the nutrition facts label, and dietary fiber is always found on there.
My next tip is to include more beans or legumes. A lot of people have a hard time digesting beans. You don’t have to go for the huge cup of bean soup, but you can start by just adding a couple scoops to your salad or as a side dish. A little bit goes a long way with legumes, so start adding them as a side to every meal.
If you want more support in lowering your cholesterol or just improving your heart health, give us a call at Tahoe Forest. We have dietitians that will help individualize recommendations and make it really practical for you.
