If You’re Receiving Home Health Care, Try These Nutrition Tips
If you’re concerned about your heart health, have a heart cond
ition, or you’re just curious about how to prevent heart disease, it may be time to consider adding heart-healthy foods to your plate.
Foods, drinks, snacks, and even desserts with heart-healthy ingredients can help maintain your cardiovascular health as you learn to manage your heart disease.
A heart-healthy diet consists of foods that:
- Lower “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and improve “good” cholesterol (HDL), so that plaque doesn’t build up in your arteries.
- Lower blood pressure to reduce stress on your arteries.
- Reduce inflammation and stabilize blood sugar levels to limit stress and damage to your heart.
- Help with weight management, which has been clinically proven to reduce heart disease.
Keep reading to find out what your healthcare team may recommend during home health care to ensure your diet is good for your heart.
Heart-Healthy Foods
Certain foods can help lower “bad” cholesterol, blood pressure, or inflammation, or they are low in calories to help you maintain a healthy weight.
- Add leafy greens, such as kale, spinach, and swiss chard to your plate to support healthy blood pressure.
- Try berries this spring, including blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, which contain inflammation-fighting antioxidants.
- Incorporate whole grains into your diet, such as brown rice, oats, and whole-wheat bread, which control cholesterol, help you feel full, and help maintain stable blood sugar levels.
- Enjoy fatty fish, like salmon and sardines. These fish help reduce inflammation and are shown to support overall cardiovascular health.
- Have an avocado on your salad, sandwich, or in slices to reduce “bad” cholesterol and promote “good” cholesterol.
- Enjoy a serving of any colorful vegetable, including carrots, peppers, or tomatoes. “Eating the rainbow” helps you include inflammation-reducing antioxidants in your diet.
- Eat beans for protein., They’re also packed with fiber to fill you up and manage your cholesterol and blood pressure.
- Grab a handful of nuts and seeds for a snack, which, like avocado, contain heart-friendly fats.
- Ensuring that your meals are low in sodium is also important for your heart health. Instead of salt, try using herbs, seasonings, onions, garlic, and lemon to add more flavor to your dishes.
Combining Heart-Healthy Foods For a Full Meal (Including Dessert!)
Many of the foods we’ve mentioned go great together for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, to help support your cardiovascular health.
Here are some ideas for full meals or desserts that are good for your heart:
- Breakfast: Try berries on your whole-grain cereal, or whole-grain toast with avocado.
- Lunch: A grilled salmon patty on a whole-grain bun with lettuce and tomato is a perfect sandwich for the heart.
- Dinner: Try fish tacos with sautéed spinach and diced yellow bell peppers on whole-grain tortillas.
- Snack: Make a smoothie with antioxidant-rich berries; slice up veggies to serve with a low-fat, yogurt-based ranch dip; or make your own trail mix with heart-healthy nuts and seeds.
- Dessert: Make chia seed pudding or a cobbler with oats and berries, substituting butter for a heart-healthy oil, such as olive or avocado oil.
A Recipe For Success: Home Healthcare Services and a Heart-Healthy Diet
Your diet is a critical part of staying healthy, especially when combined with healthcare services. If you’re healing from a stroke or heart attack, you’ve had heart surgery, or you’ve been diagnosed with a cardiovascular disease, your doctor may recommend a heart-healthy diet and home health care while you recover or learn to manage your new diagnosis.
What Are Home Healthcare Services? Who Qualifies?
If your doctor has recommended home health care, you may find that your skilled healthcare professionals recommend heart-healthy foods and recipes to help you feel as well as possible.
To qualify for home healthcare services, you must meet two requirements:
- You require healthcare services from a nurse, physical therapist, occupational therapist, or speech therapist.
- You are homebound, which means you have an illness, medical condition, or injury that prevents you from leaving your home without the assistance of another person or a supportive device, like a wheelchair or walker. You also qualify as home bound if your doctor does not recommend that you leave your home because of your condition.
Services begin with skilled observation and an assessment of your condition, along with regular visits to provide nursing and therapies according to your care plan.
Use What You’ve Learned About Heart-Healthy Foods During Home Healthcare Services
Joining your heart-healthy diet with home healthcare services is a powerful way to take care of your heart after experiencing a heart-related incident, cardiovascular surgery, or a medication change.
One of home health care’s primary goals is to provide education about your healthcare needs, so you can also take care of yourself independently. Combining smart lifestyle choices and home health care can help you take better care of your heart.
