17.9 million people die of heart disease every year, worldwide, which makes heart disease the number one cause of death. Moreover, ⅓ of these deaths were under the people of 70 age. That means you cannot blame just your age for heart diseases, but also your weight and lifestyle choices.
That is why improving your lifestyle can improve your heart’s health and prevents the already present heart disease from becoming lethal.
A 12-inch pizza might be your favorite snack to tickle your taste buds, but it can also raise your cholesterol levels and blood pressure. Therefore, being a heart patient, you need to take care of your diet and consume only the best-suited snacks for heart patients.
Let us go through some of the best-suited snacks for heart patients:
Which are the best-suited snacks for heart patients?
Most of the heart diseases are a result of raised cholesterol and high levels of sugar which block the vessels supplying the blood to the heart. A reduced supply of the blood to the heart leads to the deficiency of oxygen in the heart’s cells that ultimately result in lethal heart diseases.
This brings us to the point that you should avoid having snacks that can raise your cholesterol and blood sugar levels. It includes avoiding snacks that are rich in trans-fats, sugars and refined flour, such as fatty cuts of beef, and high-fat cheese.
However, you can binge on the snacks that offer polyunsaturated fats, omega-3-fatty acids, fiber, vitamin E and antioxidants should be your go-to snacks. Omega-3-fatty acids lower the cholesterol levels, keeping your heart healthy. Similarly, having a diet enriched with antioxidants fights inflammation and prevents blood clots, to ensure smooth blood flow.
List of Easy To Make Snacks For Heart Patients
- Dried Fruits
Dry fruits can never go wrong when it comes to finding snacks for heart patients. Raisins, almonds, dates, apricots, hazelnuts, and cranberries are some of the dry fruits that you can have to improve your heart health. They are rich in unsaturated fatty acids, vitamin E, magnesium and potassium. While unsaturated fatty acids help to lower the cholesterol levels, magnesium and calcium provide salts to maintain your blood pressure.
Also Read: Tips for a Healthy Indian Diet after Angioplasty
- Dark Chocolate Trio
This snack for heart patients is specifically for chocolate lovers. The trio consists of a blend of banana and dark chocolate, topped with walnuts to provide an add-on of crunch. The dark chocolate trio contains potassium, fiber, antioxidants and unsaturated fats. It, therefore, can not only help you maintain your blood pressure but reduce the free-radicals, allowing smoother blood flow towards the heart.
Also Read: 10 Healthy and Easy Snacks for Kids
- Bajra Roti
Roti is a staple food in the Indian subcontinent, but adding a twist of bajra can make roti the best snack for heart patients. Bajra is rich in magnesium, zinc and, phosphorous. The balance of these elements is essential for maintaining the structural integrity of the heart cells.
- Yogurt Sandwiches
We aren’t talking about usual refined-bread sandwiches here, but the whole-wheat bread sandwiches. Unlike refined-bread, whole-wheat does not raise your sugar levels, helping you to satisfy your cravings and the heart to stay healthy.
Moreover, it is also essential to fill the sandwiches with thick curd, fresh vegetables, black pepper, a pinch of salt and not something that has trans-fat in it.
- Baked Samosa
We would recommend you avoiding fried samosa, but belonging to an Asian region and not craving for samosa is not possible. That’s why we have got you covered!
Use the whole wheat for baked samosa, fill them with chickpea, and a potato slice. While whole-wheat provides you with the fiber keeping you full, potatoes & peas reduce the amount of cholesterol in the blood to allow the heart to stay healthy.
- Hummus topped with fresh carrots
Hummus is made from the blend of sesame seeds, olive oil, garlic, chickpeas and lemon juice. You can add black pepper for the taste as well. Hummus-toped with carrot is an easy-to-have snack for heart patients. It is rich in nutrients, providing magnesium, manganese, antioxidants and unsaturated fats that help reduce inflammation, blood sugar levels and cholesterol.
- Blue Berry Crisp
Though it is advisable to avoid sugary snacks for heart patients, it doesn’t mean they should cut the sugar entirely. You can alternatively go for natural sugar sources. It includes fruits and honey.
That’s why we have blueberry crisp as the seventh snack for heart patients on our list. Blueberry crisp is simply a blend of blueberries, brown sugar, frozen yogurt, oats, honey & cinnamon. It is up to you, to either blend it and for bake it. It won’t lose the taste.
- Fresh Fruit Salad
Name one condition which would not allow you to have salads. With the right ingredients, salads are always recommended regardless of you having a heart disease. A mix of apple, few strawberries, grapefruit, melons & honey can make another perfect sweet snack for heart patients. These fruits, along with honey, offer fiber, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, potassium, & antioxidants that keep the inflammation at bay.
- Mashed Avocado
One avocado consists of 29 grams of unsaturated fats, which makes avocado the best snack for heart patients. Avocados are rich in vitamin C and combining it with Greek yogurt and flax seeds making it a heart-healthy snack.
Like avocados, flaxseeds are rich in omega-3-fatty acids that make them an essential snack for heart patients when used with the right ingredients.
- Barley & Moong Dal Khichidhi
While khichdi is not new for the Indian subcontinent, the western population might find it unique. However, Khichidhi is nothing but overboiled rice, cooked with green gram & barley.
Barley consists of beta-glucan fiber that lowers cholesterol ( the bad one) to keep the blood flowing toward the heart. Whereas, a green gram is vital for lowering blood pressure, making khichdi a light snack for heart patients.
