What is a Cardiac Diet?

Podcast Transcript

Announcer:

Welcome to Love Your Heart, brought to you by Cleveland Clinic's Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute. These podcasts will help you learn more about your heart, thoracic and vascular systems, ways to stay healthy and information about diseases and treatment options. Enjoy.

Julia Zumpano, RD, LD:

Hello, my name is Julia Zumpano. I'm a registered dietician at the Cleveland Clinic. I work in the Department of Preventive Cardiology.

Julia Zumpano, RD, LD:

Today, I'm going to talk to you about omega-3 fatty acids and fish. Omega-3 fatty acids are essential fats that are very helpful for heart health. They help reduce inflammation, help reduce the stickiness of the platelets or platelet aggregation, helps to reduce triglycerides and has been shown to help increase levels of HDL, that's our good cholesterol, and decrease blood pressure. So all of this is so helpful for the heart.

Julia Zumpano, RD, LD:

Well, how do you get it? Fish. Specifically, cold water, oily fish. Salmon, tuna, herring, mackerel, sardines. These are the oilier fishes. They are abundant in omega-3 fatty acids and a great way to get this essential fat in your diet.

Julia Zumpano, RD, LD:

Whitefish and shellfish, on the other hand, have a little less, if not any omega-3, but they're still very beneficial from heart health. They're a great source of lean protein, especially when you're using fish to replace red meat.

Julia Zumpano, RD, LD:

How to prepare fish? Keep it simple. Fish doesn't need a lot to prepare. It usually cooks very quickly, anywhere between seven to 12 minutes. You can use any type of dry cooking method, so bake, broiling, roasting, grilling. You can pan fry in a small amount of oil. That does help enhance the flavor of the fish at times and using your favorite herbs and seasonings.

Julia Zumpano, RD, LD:

Don't be afraid to use a variety of different fresh herbs or dried herbs and seasonings. Using different kinds of oils if you are going to do a little bit of oil. Maybe even marinating it in one of your favorite salad dressings can certainly help enhance the flavor.

Julia Zumpano, RD, LD:

Fish pairs well with citrus so using lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit to kind of add some additional juice or flavor to your fish.

Julia Zumpano, RD, LD:

Keep it very simple and enjoy.

Announcer:

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