Poor eating is a major cause of cardiovascular disease, according to the 2019 study A Clinician's Guide to Healthy Eating for CVD Prevention.
Cutting out unhealthy foods is essential to staying healthy. Avoid these heart-damaging foods to keep your heart healthy.
Cured and processed meats Due to their high saturated fat content, processed and cured meats like cold cuts, bacon, and hot dogs are heart-damaging.
Barbara George, MD, head of the Center for Cardiovascular Health Medicine at NYU Winthrop Hospital on Long Island, links plaque, artery stiffening, and saturated fats.
"Saturated fats raise your ‘bad’ cholesterol, or LDL, as compared to ‘good’ cholesterol, or HDL," adds.
Grain refinement The medical director of NYU Women's Heart Program, Nieca Goldberg, MD, says processed meals are bad for your heart.
Dr. Goldberg says processed foods spike sugar and insulin. "And then the levels sharply decrease, leaving you more hungry, and then you eat more."