Page 22 - Seniorstoday November 2021 Issue
P. 22
due to increased risk for deficiency due There’s a lot to love about tomatoes.
to the food groups omitted from the diet. Apart from their tangy sweetness, there’s
Plant-based diets are recommended a very good reason why you should
when they follow similar patterns increase your tomato intake. Lycopene,
as described in the DASH and the pigment that gives tomatoes
Mediterranean diets. High intake of their distinct reddish hue, is also an
plant-based diet rich in healthier antioxidant that strengthens cell walls,
plant foods (that is, whole grains, lowers LDL cholesterol, and can help
fruits/vegetables, nuts/legumes, prevent the formation of blood clots.
and olive/canola oil) are associated
with substantially lower CHD risk as 2. Dark Chocolate
compared with plant-based diets that
emphasise less-healthy plant foods
(refined grains, SSBs ( sugar – sweetened
beverages), potatoes/fries, and sweets).
An Emphasis Of Dietary Counselling
Will Go A Long Way
With the current obesity epidemic
contributing to the slowed rate of
improvement in CVD morbidity and
mortality, dietary counseling has become If you love dark chocolate, excellent
increasingly important to improve news is ahead. You should know that the
overall cardiovascular outcomes. There flavanols in every bar can help improve
is no “1-size-fits-all” diet, but with blood pressure and ward off certain
evidence –based nutritional guidance types of heart disease. The flavanols in
and personalized nutritional solutions, dark chocolate stimulate nitric oxide
you will attain and maintain heart production in the body. Nitric oxide
health. causes blood vessels to dilate, or widen,
Let’s look at 21 foods that have been which improves blood flow and lowers
proven over time to promote heart your blood pressure.
health: The even better news is that studies
show that the beneficial effects of
1. Tomatoes dark chocolate on blood pressure
might be more significant in older
people and those with a higher risk of
cardiovascular disease. The key here
is dark chocolate since other overly
sweetened types of chocolate may not
contain the same flavanol levels.
3. Lentils & Legumes
Out of the countless ‘superfoods’ out
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