What Foods Are Bad For Your Heart?

One of the biggest ways to keep your heart healthy is to watch what you eat and to make sure you are fueling your body with heart-healthy foods. We’ve grown accustomed to certain foods, and not all of them are good.

Foods To Avoid

There are some foods that are just bad for your heart and you really shouldn’t eat. Whether you’ve had heart problems before or just want to make healthier choices, avoid these foods.

Fast Food Burgers

Fast food restaurants tend to use lower-quality ingredients and unhealthy cooking methods. They tend to be loaded with saturated fats and that combination with carbohydrates is not good for the heart.

Processed And Cured Meats

Cured meats, like bacon and sausage, are high in saturated fats. Even low-fat options are still loaded with sodium which is bad for the heart because it can raise blood pressure.

Fried Foods

This includes french fries, chicken and deep-fried snacks cooked in a conventional frying method. They are loaded with trans fats, which raises bad cholesterol and lowers good cholesterol. If you cook at home using the right kinds of oil, you can cut out some of the unhealthy fats.

Candy

Diets high in sugar contribute to obesity, inflammation, high cholesterol and diabetes all of which are risk factors for heart disease. Soft drinks and sugar-sweetened juices are an equal threat and are sometimes consumed more than candy. They contain a lot of sugar which is not good for a heart-healthy diet.

Sugary Cereals

Somes cereals are loaded with sugar. Combined with the carbohydrates they contain and it can produce inflammation causing blood sugar to go up and down making people crave more sugar throughout the day.

Baked Goods

Including cookies and pastries, especially ones commercially produced, they are loaded with sugar and usually made with saturated or trans fats.

Margarine

Often touted as being healthier, this actually contains trans fats. Only ones that are soft, spreadable and don’t contain any partially hydrogenated oils should be used.

What Foods Should Heart Patients Avoid?

People with heart issues need to be more mindful about what they are eating. In addition to the foods listed above, heart patients should avoid these kinds of foods as well.

High Salt Foods

This isn’t just table salt, but also canned foods, frozen dinners, even condiments like ketchup, mayonnaise and soy sauce.

Certain Proteins

There are some proteins that should be avoided including:

• Spareribs
• Organ meats
• Bacon
• Hot dogs or sausages
• Fatty or marbled meats
• Full-fat dairy products
• Fried or breaded meats

Unhealthy Fats

There are some healthy fats that can be consumed, but heart patients really need to limit:

• Butter
• Gravy
• Cream sauce
• Non-dairy creamers

What 3 Foods Cardiologists Say To Avoid?

Cardiologists recognize the impact certain foods have on the heart and they see what damage the wrong foods can do. They say these foods cause heart disease and should be avoided:



Processed Meats 

Including bacon and sausage. As we mentioned before, they are loaded with salt, saturated fats and added ingredients like nitrates. They have also been linked to cancer.

Processed And Packaged Snacks

Full of simple carbs, salt and sugar. A trifecta of bad items for the heart.

Desserts

They