If there are heart-friendly food, there are also foods that contribute to your heart’s destruction. Skip these 5 foods to help ensure your heart’s health.

  1. Processed Meat Processed meats contain high amount of trans fats, which can clog up your arteries. It also contains sodium nitrate as a preservative. Sodium nitrates, when digested, becomes very carcinogenic. Even if a can of processed meat says “low fat” or “low sodium,” it is still best to check the nutrition label to see how much sodium there is. Just remember to multiply it by the serving size. Keep in mind that the average person is only meant to consume 1500mg of sodium a day.
  2. Sugary beverages Study shows that people who drink many sugary beverages have greater risk in developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease than those who don’t. The negative effects of the high glycemic load from these sugary beverages on blood sugar, cholesterol, and factors of inflammation probably also contribute to the higher risk of heart disease. 
  3. Artificial Sweeteners Chemical sugar substitutes like aspartame, sucralose, or saccharin have negative effects on the body. In fact, swapping sugars for artificial sweeteners can increase the likelihood of heart failures, heart attack, etc. Studies have shown that regular intake of artificial sweeteners, like aspartame, are linked to pulmonary hypertension and high blood pressure.
  4. Fast Food Fast food often contains preservatives, high amounts of salt, sugar and MSG. All these ingredients are contributors of obesity. As the weight from eating fast food occasionally increases, along with the widening of the waist and hip circumference, the risk of heart disease also increases. Aspartame has also been found to be a vasoconstrictor.
  5. Deep Fried Food (using RBD oils) RBD, which stands for refined, bleached and deodorized, is a process to make oils survive long periods of time in stores or at home without spoiling. Deep fried foods in RBD oils like fried chicken and fries, are bad for heart health. In fact, prolonged frying in a high heat environment can cause carcinogens, like acrylamide, to occur in food. Furthermore, some people tend to reuse oil to cut back on costs. This act of reusing oils causes the chemical composition of the oil to become carcinogenic.