According to the British Heart Foundation, more than 7 million people are living with heart and circulatory diseases in the UK, and with an ageing and growing population, that number could rise. A straightforward solution to help lower the risk of heart problems is eating the right foods, and in this guide, Claudia Le Feuvre reveals the five that should be atop the list.

The British Heart Foundation estimates that more than half of Brits are likely to get a heart or circulatory condition in their lifetime. It is vital to eat healthily as around a quarter of all deaths in the UK are linked to heart and circulatory diseases, equating to 160,000 deaths each year, or 460 each day.

Claudia Le Feuvre, a nutritionist for Goldster (a digital platform for healthy living and ageing), has compiled a list of foods to eat to keep your heart in optimum condition. Diet is key in preventing heart disease and heart attacks. If you are educated about your diet and how you can help your heart, ageing healthily becomes so much easier.

Healthy eating and lowering cholesterol should be straightforward and relatively inexpensive with these accessible tips.

Dark chocolate
Dark chocolate is brilliant because it contains flavonoids that may help with blood pressure and can help to reduce inflammation as well – much heart disease is considered inflammatory now. Look for levels of over 85% cocoa in your dark chocolate, which will mean low sugar and low dairy content.

Oats
Oats are rich in beta-glucans and soluble fibre, which can lower cholesterol. A good way of getting oats into your diet is to eat porridge for breakfast. You can use dairy or plant milk and add all kinds of lovely extras such as fresh fruit, flax seeds, spices and other nuts and seeds to make it even more delicious. If you are gluten-free, be sure to buy gluten-free oats.

Beans
Beans are a great source of fibre to help lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Even the humble tin of baked beans counts (if you opt for the ones which are reduced in sugar and salt), and you can sprinkle some dried oregano or turmeric on them to turbocharge the nutrient status.

Greens (kale, broccoli and spinach)
They will boost your heart health by increasing your antioxidants. Are you getting your seven portions of fruit and veg a day?

Nuts (also avocadoes and oily fish)
These contain heart-healthy fats and are rich in Omega-3 and vitamin E to increase the good cholesterol HDL and lower the bad cholesterol LDL. As mentioned earlier, you can grate into your morning porridge and/or make your own trail mix, crush up walnuts and put them on top of salmon, and they’re also a handy snack to have at hand if you feel peckish. If you can’t have nuts, avocados and oily fish are a must.

About About Claudia Le Feuvre
Claudia has 14 years of clinical experience helping clients with a wide range of health concerns and works at a private medical clinic. She teaches Eating Psychology to 4th year students at The British College of Nutrition & Health and The Nutritional Healing Foundation.

An experienced public speaker, Claudia is passionate about making nutrition fun and inspiring. She has supported hundreds of people on their weight loss journeys and transformed their relationship with food.

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