As a heart patient or a caretaker of a heart patient, it is challenging to develop a perfect diet plan for the body. For such patients who have a lot of restrictions when it comes to eating, there must be some unique recipes. Dishes that can help them get the same experience of cuisines like a normal person. However, this is challenging when you don’t know which ingredient can work in favor of high cholesterol. To help you get started in your kitchen, we have a list of heart-healthy snack recipes compiled below.
Heart-Healthy Snack Recipes
Strawberry Yogurt with Dark Chocolate
This healthy yogurt snack is the perfect recipe for summer. It has the right portion of all the components needed in a balanced diet. The yogurt used in this must be low fat. Instead of sugar, it is more feasible to use honey because a heart patient his weight must remain in control in addition to the cholesterol.
Ingredients
- 1 cup of strawberries
- ½ cup of low-fat Greek Yogurt
- ½ tablespoon of honey
- A small bar of dark chocolate
Method
- Divide the strawberries equally, put half of them aside for garnishing and make three cuts to get a perfectly even and plump crunch in each bite.
- To the other half of the strawberries, add half a cup of low-fat Greek yogurt and half to one tablespoon of honey. Mash all the ingredients for a smooth paste.
- Now, take it out in a small serving bowl, garnish it with sliced strawberries, and grate the dark chocolate bar according to your liking or how much the nutritionist allows.
Grapefruit Green Smoothie
A good smoothie can liven up your mood by a thousand times. We have a similar green smoothie recipe for you. It is one of the best heart-healthy snack mix recipes. Although there are some green smoothies that people gulp in a single sip to avoid their disgusting taste, but this one is a winner. The only green smoothie which you will thoroughly enjoy. As you read the ingredients below, you will find how different vegetables and grapefruit make a perfect combination. You will love this quick, sweet, and tangy smoothie which will refresh your mind.
Ingredients
- 1 Grapefruit
- 1 sweet apple
- 2 cups of frozen spinach (it will be great if you have fresh spinach brought in the dame day.)
- 1 sliced banana (best to be frozen)
- Ice
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk you can use simple water or orange juice to make it less thick)
- 1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger
Method
- Take a Grapefruit and peel it. Remove all the seeds and mash them by hand or cut them into small pieces so that it crushes easily in the blender.
- Then, take a sweet apple, peel off the skin, and remove the core and seeds.
- Now add all the ingredients listed above in the blender with grapefruit and apple. Mix it until the blend is creamy in texture. Add water or orange juice if the smoothie is too thick. Now add ice cubes and crush them again.
Avocado Tropical Salad
This is the perfect summer salad. In addition to lowering heart disease risk, it can work as a dish to reduce body weight to gain a healthy body. This recipe is great because avocados are a natural source of potassium and can help reduce LDL cholesterol and boost HDL cholesterol, which is good for the body. At the same time, cherry tomatoes are abundant in vitamins. In addition to this, the garlic in the salad can help you reduce cholesterol by 10-15% a day. This recipe is a quick and easy way to eat a balanced diet and is perfect for vegetarians and vegans alike. It requires no special kitchen equipment and just a chopping board and a knife can get you a perfect evening snack.
To ensure this heart-healthy snack mix recipe turns out as intended, it is essential to ensure the quality of the vegetables and fruits used.
Ingredients
- 5 tbsp. of lime juice
- 2 tbsp. of fresh jalapenos
- 1 ½ tbsp. of soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon of black pepper
- 1 tbsp. of honey
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cups sugar snap peas
- ½ a fresh pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut in half lengthwise
- 1 carrot, peeled and cut into 1.5-inch matchsticks
- 1 cucumber, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
- 2 cups of cabbage
- 1 cup of cherry tomatoes
- Three3 avocados, peeled, pitted, and diced
Method
- Cut fresh jalapenos, peel and cut fresh pineapple lengthwise and one carrot into small 1.5-inch sticks. Thinly slice a cucumber (it is up to you to peel off the skin or not). Take the avocados and peel them, then dice them. You can slice cherry tomatoes in halves or just put them as it is. Trim the sugar snap peas and shred a cabbage in another bowl
- After doing the cutting and peeling, let’s start mixing. Mix all the ingredients from the above step in a salad bowl.
- Add lime juice, soy sauce, honey, extra virgin olive oil, and minced garlic cloves to the bowl in specified ratios.
- In the end, add salt if the doctor recommends otherwise, a pinch of it only with some black pepper. Mix all of it carefully so that the avocado isn’t mashed.
Our Final Thoughts
These heart-healthy spring snack mix recipes can add colors to your boring doctor-regulated diet. It is essential to keep a healthy diet if you are a heart patient and keep your cholesterol in check.
