One of the most important factors of maintaining a healthy heart is maintaining a healthy diet. The food you choose to put into your body on a regular basis plays a crucial role in your cardiovascular health. On one hand, adding antioxidant-rich ingredients to your meals can do wonders for your heart. However, on the other end of things, it’s also integral to limit your intake of certain foods. As it turns out, there are a few popular dinner foods in particular that health experts want you to cut back on to reduce your risk of heart disease.
We spoke to cardiologist Frederick Kuhn and nutritionist Lisa Richards to uncover a few of the worst options out there. According to them, hot dogs and canned soups are two options you should consider leaving off the dinner menu if you want to make your heart health a priority. Read on to learn more about the risks of each.
1. Hot dogs
Whether you like them with all the fixings or just a bit of ketchup, hot dogs are a classic, simple, and tasty meal that many of us enjoy at barbecues and picnics. Unfortunately, though, eating too many of them can have adverse effects on your health. This is especially true when it comes to your heart.
"There’s a reason they are sometimes referred to as 'Death Darts,'" Dr. Kuhn notes, pointing out that "they are highly processed and contain various preservative including sodium phosphate, sodium benzoate, and sodium nitrate which has been linked to cancer in some animal studies."
Hot dogs generally have around 300 calories, packs in 18 grams of fat, and a staggering 810mg of sodium. All of this is reason for concern, but the sodium content alone presents a range of risks, and can be especially detrimental to your cardiovascular health.
"Eating 2 (people rarely eat one at a summer cookout contributes) over 90% of total daily fat recommended for the average male on a 1500 calorie diet and over 2/3 of daily sodium intake," Dr. Kuhn tells us. Overall, it's best to stay away from hot dogs altogether, or at least cut back.
2. Canned soup
Dinner doesn't get much more convenient than a can of soup. Heating up some hearty soup is fast, simple, and cozy. However, it can also be detrimental to your heart, Richards warns.
"Canned soups can potentially be a dangerous dinner option for heart health due to several reasons," she tells us. Just like hot dogs, she notes that many canned soups are loaded with sodium. "Excessive sodium intake can lead to elevated blood pressure, increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular issues," she says. "Canned soups often contain added salt as a preservative or flavor enhancer, contributing to their high sodium content."
Then there's the fact that this canned food also contains a lot of unhealthy fats, including saturated and trans fats. "These fats can raise cholesterol levels and promote the development of plaque in the arteries, increasing the risk of heart disease."
On top of all of this, certain canned soups even contain added sugars and other additives—and we probably don't have to tell you that excessive sugar consumption is associated with a number of health complications. Richards says that these additives "can be detrimental to overall heart health and contribute to conditions like obesity and diabetes."
"To make healthier choices, it is advisable to read nutrition labels and choose canned soups that are low in sodium, saturated fats, and added sugars," she suggests. "Alternatively, preparing homemade soups using fresh ingredients allows for better control over the ingredients and can provide a heart-healthy option with less sodium and healthier fats." Got it!
