Are you tired of being pestered with advice on how to maintain a healthy heart? It's known that saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, sugar, and salt are all factors that can improve our cardiovascular health. What? Yes, let's look together at these four tips for not having a healthy heart!
1. Fibre? No, Thanks.
The new Canadian guide suggests that nearly a quarter of our plate should be composed of whole grains, but why? Ah, fibres... they can be soluble, they can be insoluble, in any case what we know is that they trap our dietary cholesterol and prevent it from being absorbed. Why is cholesterol an ally in our objective? Let's say we've trained our liver for a long time and it's no longer very capable of adjusting to our dietary intake, we then know we have succeeded. Our dietary cholesterol will finally accumulate in our arteries. A great plan for making our heart work harder.
2. Avoid Fruits and Vegetables
The discourse is getting old: eat your fruits and vegetables, we're told. What's the point? They are rich in fibre, vitamin C and beta-carotene. These antioxidant vitamins prevent the accumulation of cholesterol plaques in our arteries. Okay, we do have to eat some... why not in a syrup rich in sugar and as un-fresh as possible? Fruit gummy candies, that counts too, right?
3. Eat Ultra-Processed Foods as Often as Possible!
Sugar, fat, salt, ultra-processing, less fibre, proteins, vitamins and minerals! We must devote a large part of our diet to these foods. After all, in 2015 we were ranked second in the world with 48% of our diet coming from these precious ultra-processed foods. Need some inspiration? Frozen pizzas, commercial biscuits, crackers, candies, fizzy drinks, cakes, chips, deli meats... In short, foods easily found almost anywhere in the grocery store. Not only do they taste great, but they are directly related to an increase in fats circulating in our arteries, making our heart work very hard. Brilliant!
4. Forget About Plant Proteins: Eat as Much Red Meat as Possible!
Forget about Meatless Mondays and opt for a 7-day red meat marathon. Unless your plant-based product is ultra-processed, then it's okay, otherwise it can't compete with the level of saturated fats found in red meat. No need to remind you of the role of saturated fats: they demand a lot from our heart.
Hopefully, you can understand this hint of irony. :)
