Certain unhealthy foods cause vascular calcification, which in turn impairs blood flow in the blood vessels and can lead to a heart attack. Therefore, avoid the following foods that promote vascular deposits.
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What is a heart attack?
A heart attack is one of the most common heart diseases and is life-threatening due to the risk of an acute occlusion of a coronary artery. If the blood flow in the coronary arteries cannot be restored quickly enough, the heart muscle cells die after a few hours. Heart attacks are one of the most common causes of death.
A heart attack is usually caused by arteriosclerosis . This is hardening of the arteries, which is caused by deposits and which narrow the blood vessels. In the advanced stage of arteriosclerosis, the vessels increasingly lose their elasticity, leading to circulatory disorders . The most common triggers of hardening of the arteries are saturated fats, which are found in many foods. Furthermore, a lack of exercise, alcohol and nicotine cause our arteries to calcify.
Increased heart attack risk: You should avoid these foods
Basically, you should avoid foods that are rich in saturated fatty acids. These increase your blood fat levels, which in turn means an increase in your “bad” LDL cholesterol levels. Cholesterol can accumulate in the vessel walls, causing so-called plaque to form. This includes processed foods and animal products. The German Society for Nutrition (DGE) therefore recommends covering no more than seven to ten percent of the total daily energy intake with saturated fatty acids.
The following foods should therefore only be removed from your diet in moderation or ideally completely. This includes:
sausage and meat
Fatty, processed meats such as sausage raise your LDL cholesterol levels and are therefore best avoided altogether and only consumed in small amounts. In addition, there are tons of salt and preservatives in sausage. According to an American study by Harvard University, daily meat consumption increases mortality by around 13 percent. The enjoyment of sausage, ham or cold cuts even increases by 20 percent. If you find it difficult to give up meat, you should switch to lean meats such as turkey breast. Vegetarian and healthy alternatives such as cottage cheese, avocado or hummus are also delicious.
High-fat dairy products
The latte in the morning, a decent cheese sandwich for breakfast or the cream in the pasta sauce – if you are not vegan , you consume a high proportion of saturated fatty acids. And this takes revenge through deposits and blockages in the blood vessels. But even with dairy products, the dose makes the poison. Opt for low-fat products and enjoy them in moderation. For example, try plant-based alternatives such as oat or soy milk instead of cow’s milk, or use hard cheeses instead of greasy Gouda.
But not only animal, saturated fatty acids are considered a risk factor for circulatory disorders. The following foods also damage your heart and can increase the risk of a heart attack:
Zucker
The more sugar we eat, the higher the risk of heart attack. However, the white poison is not only found in sugared drinks or chocolate, but also “hides” in numerous finished products such as salad dressings or fruit juices. Excess sugar is converted and stored as fat. A high sugar consumption therefore makes our heart fat. The so-called pericardial fatty tissue is an enormous risk factor for all kinds of heart diseases. In addition, the accumulated fat is also stored in the abdomen, where it releases messenger substances, which in turn are harmful to health. These increase our blood pressure and trigger inflammation.
To consume as little sugar as possible, rely on fresh and unprocessed foods, drink water instead of sweet sodas and use healthier alternatives such as nuts instead of sweets.
wheat flour
Whether pasta, bread or cake – there is wheat flour in many foods, which is anything but healthy. Because white flour products have a very high proportion of carbohydrates and therefore hardly any fiber. As a result, the starch is quickly broken down into sugar in the small intestine, which enters the blood and causes our blood sugar level to rise. The high concentration of blood sugar in turn damages our vessels, as deposits form. Wheat flour also promotes obesity, which is another risk factor for coronary heart disease.
