Kale. It’s the kind of thing that tastes like you’d rather stay unhealthy. Urgh! And if you think foods like kale or sprouts do taste good. Well, then you might want to try other foods. They’re far more delicious. Finding enjoyment from your food is crucial to forming the right kind of nutritional habits that will help you last a lot longer on this earth. Front of and center of this is your heart health. Without it, you’re nothing. You can’t train. You can’t fight disease. And you cannot live a single day without its help. This creates a natural marriage between finding the foods you like to eat and those that will also help your heart. Compromise is the name of the game for making this happen so keep reading to figure out the best strategy for your longevity game plan.
The long game
Heart healthy foods aren’t that hard to come by, they’ve probably been drilled down your throat at some stage or another by those who love you. However, a paper in the journal Cardiovascular Research wanted to know how to keep your heart and taste buds engaged too. They created a meta-analysis of studies on the topic to figure this out. The results? Well, your food accounts for as much as 50% of your risk of getting cardiovascular related death.
It’s simple. Eat sh*t and die. What about the other half of the equation? Well, that was down to genetics, smoking and exercise levels. While you can’t control your genetics, you can control what you put in your mouth. The researchers discovered that for optimum health you should eat more plant-based foods and avoid refined cereals and starchy foods. None of this is particularly revolutionary. It’s all stock standard advice that’s been around for decades. However, they did offer some surprising recommendations.
Chewing up some joy
To eat in the healthiest way possible, it’s wise to employ a little give and take. The researchers suggested that you shouldn’t just take something out of your diet, especially if you enjoy it. Instead, you should look for substitutions that are healthier, yet still give you some pleasure. If you want to eat to live longer you need to find happiness from your diet which you can do by educating yourself about what’s good and what’s bad. This means you need to look for alternatives to the little elements in your diet.
It’s small tweaks that help you improve your food habits incrementally. Little by little you can make positive changes until one day you look at everything you’re eating and you’re loving every bite while being healthier for it. That’s the nutritional sweet spot you should be aiming for every day.
