50 Ways To Protect Your Heart Like Cardiologists Do

Important ways.

- Lisa Bendall

CARDIOLOGISTS HAVE HEALTHY DIETS

1 I SHOP FOR LOCAL FOOD.

“Local fruits and vegetables are fresher and have fewer preservatives. They also taste better, so you’re more likely to eat them and get more of the nutrients—dietary fibre and vitamins C and A—that have been proven neces sary for cardiovascular wellness.”

Dr. Andrea Lavoie,

Regina Cardiology Associates

2 I EAT RAW VEGGIES WHILE MAKING DINNER.

“It gets me part of my daily requirement. While preparing dinner is when you’re hungry. An apple for dessert, when you’re full, doesn’t really work.”

Dr. Alex MacLean, Queen Elizabeth

Hospital, Charlottetown

3 I READ LABELS.

“There’s a lot of sugar in our food, including virtually every cereal. Same with granola bars for kids—you might as well give them candy bars. We have an epidemic of type 2 diabetes directly related to the level of obesity in the population. More fat tissue requires more insulin, and at some point your pancreas cannot secrete enough of it to compensate for the elevated blood glucose. That’s when diabetes develops. Diabetics have a higher incidence of hypertension, high cholesterol and kidney disease, all of which accelerate hardening of arteries.”

Dr. David Bewick, New Brunswick

Heart Centre, Saint John, N.B.

4 I TRACK CALORIES.

“I was a bit overweight a few years ago. I used a smartphone app to track all my calories, which taught me what I was doing to myself. You wouldn’t realize that a small cookie has 400 calories! My patients say to me, ‘I don’t eat much.’ But it’s not the amount that matters. It’s what’s inside.”