10 Incredibly Heart-Healthy Foods to Get Rid of Heart Disease Naturally

Millions of people around the world are suffering from heart disease. In fact, it’s the number 1 cause of death in the United States. Also, known as cardiovascular disease this condition affects your heart in numerous ways such as:

• How your heart muscle contracts.
• The circulation of blood flows in and out of your heart.
• The speed of your heart – how fast or slow your heart beats.

What Causes Heart Disease

Heart disease develops when one or more of the coronary arteries narrow and causes less blood flow to the heart. With less blood being pumped to it your heart becomes stressed because it has to work harder than normal.

Eventually, plaque will begin to build up around the walls of your arteries and completely block blood flow to part of your heart, which causes a portion of your heart muscle to die. When this happens a heart attack or stroke is usually the outcome.

Some of the factors that can cause harm to your coronary arteries and lead to heart diseases include:

• High blood pressure
• Smoking
• Diabetes
• High cholesterol
• Blood vessel inflammation
• Types of Heart Disease

Types of Heart Disease

Many people don’t know that heart disease actually involves numerous other health conditions that affect the heart. Some of the most common types of heart disease include:

Heart Attack

This form of heart disease occurs whenever a part of your heart isn’t receiving any circulation of blood due to a blood clot.

Stroke

A stroke occurs when a blood clot forms and prevents a blood vessel from feeding your brain.

Arrhythmia

This form of heart disease causes your heart to beat irregularly and stops it from being able to pump sufficient amounts of blood.

Heart Valve Issues

Whenever your heart valves aren’t being opened enough to let blood flow through it’s called Stenosis. Whenever your heart isn’t closing the way it should it’s called Mitral Valve Prolapse.

Congenital Heart Disease

This form of heart disease usually affects people born with a heart malformation such as abnormal heart valves or holes in the heart muscle.

Symptoms of Heart Disease

There are many symptoms that may be a warning sign that you have a heart problem. However, the most common symptom of heart disease is angina.

Angina is sometimes simply referred to as chest pain, which causes various feelings or sensations in your chest such as burning, squeezing, aching, and heaviness.

Other symptoms of heart disease include:

• Rapid Heartbeat
• Nausea
• Excessive Sweating
• Vertigo and Dizziness
• Irregular breathing
• Swelling in your legs
• Erectile dysfunction

10 Heart-Healthy Foods to Get Rid of Heart Disease Naturally

Even though there are various medications available these days to treat heart disease, eating certain foods can be just as effective (or even more effective in some cases). Eating these natural blood thinners below will also help reduce your chances of getting heart disease if you feel you’re at risk.

Fruits

All the fruits in the berry family, including

• strawberries
• cranberries
• blueberries
• oranges
• tangerines
• cherries
• raisins
• prunes
• pineapples
• tomatoes

These fruits are significant natural blood thinners.

Avocado

Eating avocados regularly can help treat and prevent heart disease by reducing bad cholesterol low-density lipoproteins.

You’ll get an adequate amount of both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats when you eat more avocados. These are the unsaturated (GOOD) that people with heart disease are recommended to eat more of instead of saturated fatty acids.

Avocados are also high in potassium so eating them can help you maintain healthy blood pressure levels, which will help with stroke and other forms of heart disease.

The vitamin E in avocados acts as an antioxidant that protects your heart by lowering cholesterol oxidation. Cholesterol oxidation can cause heart attacks and strokes by building up around your arteries and blocking blood circulation.

Flaxseeds

Flaxseeds are one of the best heart disease reversing foods around. The main way this food helps reverse heart disease naturally is by stopping the hardening and narrowing of arteries so that more blood can be pumped freely to the heart muscle.

The high amount of omega 3 fatty acid in flaxseeds can help with heart disease by reducing blood pressure and cholesterol.

Flaxseeds also contain a high amount of fiber that helps you feel full longer so that you don’t overeat and experience unnecessary weight gain that can contribute to the effects of heart disease.

The best way to eat flaxseeds is to ground it with a grinder or buy it already ground and add it to your favorite cereal.

Nuts

When it comes to eating healthy for your heart nuts are one of the best foods to eat. One of the main reasons why nuts can help those suffering from heart disease is because of the unsaturated fats it contains. Unsaturated fats like monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats both help reduce cholesterol levels.

Nuts are rich in the same omega-3 fatty acids that salmon is loaded with. Eating nuts regularly will provide your heart with the omega-3s it needs to prevent heart attacks and other forms of heart disease.

It’s well known that people who are considered obese are much more likely to experience heart problems. The fiber content in nuts will help reduce your risk of becoming obese or overweight by keeping you full longer.

The vitamin E naturally found in most nuts will help fight against heart disease by preventing plaque to form in your arteries and narrowing them.

Eating nuts will also help improve your heart health by supplying your body with l-arginine, which prevents blood clots from forming and blocking blood flow to your heart.

The best nuts to eat for your heart are walnuts, cashews, hazelnuts, pecans, peanuts, pistachios. Try to eat them unsalted if you can.

Salmon

Eating salmon doesn’t just taste good, this fish can also improve your heart health if you eat it regularly. The main reason why salmon is so good for your heart is because of the high levels of omega-3 fatty acids it contains.

There are numerous studies that confirm that omega 3 fatty acids in salmon can decrease the chances of you getting a heart attack and other forms of heart diseases. Eating just two servings can decrease your chances of getting a stroke.

The omega-3 fatty acids in salmon also help fight heart disease by preventing and treating the hardening of the arteries by stopping the development of blood clots and plaque. Eating more salmon can also help improve your heart health by treating diabetes (a common cause of heart disease).

Diabetes usually causes you to have high amounts of triglyceride and low levels of HDL. The omega 3 fatty acids in salmon help people suffering from diabetes by reducing triglycerides and increasing HDL levels.

Mackerel

Mackerel is just like salmon in that it’s a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids. The omega 3 fatty acids in mackerel help prevent and reverse heart disease by helping you maintain a good lipid profile, maintain healthy blood pressure, and reduce your risk of developing atherosclerosis (hardening and narrowing of the arteries that block blood flow).

Mackerel is also a good source of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids that will help reduce the development of arrhythmia, stroke, heart attacks, and even diabetes (contributing factors to heart diseases).

The potassium content in mackerel will also help you maintain healthy blood pressure levels, which will also contribute to good heart health.

Spinach

Spinach is one of the best foods for the fight against heart disease because of the vitamin C, beta-carotene, and other beneficial nutrients it contains. It helps promote heart health by inhibiting cholesterol oxidation in the blood vessel walls.

Spinach is also rich in a B-vitamin called folate which reduces levels of the amino acid called homocysteine that contributes to the development of stroke, heart disease, and other types of heart diseases.

Adding spinach to your daily diet will also help improve your heart health by reducing your blood pressure thanks to the high levels of magnesium and potassium it contains.

The great thing about spinach is that you can add it to your daily diet easily by eating by itself, adding it to your favorite salad, adding it to your sandwich, or even making a smoothie out of it.

Broccoli

This popular green vegetable is usually the side dish to a nice steak dinner. However, eating broccoli regularly can help reverse various heart diseases like heart attacks and strokes.

One of these health properties in broccoli that helps improve heart health is called sulforaphane. Sulforaphane helps prevent the build of plaque in the arteries so that blood can flow easily to the heart.

The best way to eat broccoli and get the most heart health benefits is to eat it raw or steam it. Steamed or raw broccoli is more beneficial because it will keep more of its beneficial properties for the heart than if it were fully cooked.

Green Tea

According to Dr. Axe,  the health benefits of green tea have long been used as a home remedy for various health problems. However, the powerful health properties of green tea can actually help with treating and reducing the risk of heart disease.

The flavonoids in green tea known as catechins are the main health property that helps improve heart health. The main catechin in green tea that helps treat heart disease is known as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).

The ECGC in green tea helps by increasing your metabolism so you can maintain a healthy weight and prevent the build-up of plaque in the arteries.

Other ways green tea helps with heart disease include reducing high cholesterol, inhibiting LDL oxidation, and improving cells in your blood vessels.

To get the most benefit from green tea you should drink at least 7 cups of it daily. Make sure you go with green tea made from unfermented leaves because green tea made from fermented leaves tends to have lower amounts of flavonoids and higher amounts of caffeine.

White Tea

White tea contains a high amount of catechins because it is made from fresh and young leaves of the Camellia plant.

This tea just like green tea has been proven to help reduce the risk of various types of heart diseases. The flavonoids such as catechin in white tea help improve heart health by reducing blood pressure, inhibiting LDL oxidation, and improving endothelial function.

Red Grapes

Just like some of the other foods listed here red grapes are rich in flavonoids which provide a number of benefits for your heart. Eating red grapes regularly will help fight off heart disease by preventing the development of blood clots, lowering your LDL levels, and helping you maintain healthy blood pressure levels.

The polyphenols in red grapes like anthocyanins also help improve your heart health by inhibiting the development of atherosclerosis (the build-up of plaque in the artery walls that can lead to a stroke or heart attack).

Since polyphenols are what give grapes their dark color you should go for dark red or purple grapes to get the maximum heart health benefits. Other than consuming red grapes you can also consume red wine or 100% grape juice to get the polyphenols needed to help fight off heart disease.