HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Heart Healthy Snack Foods

Support Forums
>
Heart & Cardiovascular Disease
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 12/18/2010 12:25 AM (GMT 0)
 Hi: As anyone else with a heart condition knows we have to very careful about what we eat. I guess I am looking for foods that come closest to being low fat, low carb, low sodium, low potassium, low vitamin K & low sugar. I miss my carbs so any suggestions are appreciated. If you know of any food that would take the place of the pretzels I ate while watching TV that would be a great help. Just because we have heart conditions doesn't mean we suddenly aren't hungry. I just don’t get excited about watching the game while eating raw vegetables. I don't even think we're even allowed to eat cardboard! Help, Andy   
Posted 12/18/2010 12:58 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Andy,  Great question !

Snacking can be very good for you, and there are many heart-healthy options. The best snacks for your heart are fruits, vegetables, nuts (a great source of the heart-healthy fats that we all need), and non-fat or low-fat dairy products. Here are a few heart-healthy snack suggestions:

  • Low-fat yogurt with fresh berries
  • Low-fat cottage cheese with sliced bananas
  • A small handful of raw or dry-roasted nuts (limit portions to 1/4 to 1/3 cup, because nuts are calorie dense)
  • Homemade trail mix combining nuts, seeds and dried fruit
  • A piece of whole-grain toast with natural peanut butter (ingredients should include only peanuts and salt)
  • An apple or banana with a tablespoon or two of peanut butter

Happy Holidays,

Kitt

Posted 12/18/2010 1:20 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Kitt: I appreciate your help. Any suggestions on snacks the follow the guidlines for the healthy snacks you described, but you can eat in larger quantities when you are really, really hungry. Keep in mind this is to replace the slices of pizza and bag of chips that helped get me here. I am 20 lbs over weight. I admit it. My doc told me the other day that fruit had too many carbs and to watch it. Too bad...as I have really been enjoying fruit. Andy  
Posted 12/25/2010 2:05 PM (GMT 0)
Hi springer -
How about having a healthy meal before the game? Maybe you wouldn't be so hungry and eat the carb-laden snacks.

your doc is right about the carbs. Your liver takes the carbs and turns them into cholesterol. Avoiding eating cholesterol is not the answer; it's avoiding carbs! Eating a little fat will help with the hunger and the weight loss too. Carbs, esopecially bread, are the enemy.

Overdoing fruit can be bad, so look up fruits with fewer sugars. Sugars are carbs too. Fruit juices count also.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply