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Salud Cardiovascular
5 Súper alimentos para la salud del corazón
Spain
Cuando oímos lo de súper alimentos es posible que nos imaginemos algún ingrediente exótico o muy caro, vamos que lo que nos viene a la mente no es algo que tendríamos en la despensa o nevera de casa.
Nada más lejos de la realidad, los súper alimentos son bastante comunes y para nada tienen que ser caros, lo cual quiere decir que podemos incorporarlos de forma regular a nuestra dieta.
¿Qué son los súper alimentos?
Se tratan de alimentos con un valor nutricional elevado y los encontramos de diversas formas, pueden ser proteínas de origen vegetal y animal, granos integrales, vegetales y frutas. Los nutricionistas las recomiendan como opciones saludables gracias a su alto contenido en nutrientes y beneficios. Han mostrado ser efectivas en la prevención de ciertas condiciones como por ejemplo la salud cardiovascular.
Con eso en mente te presentamos 5 de los súper alimentos más recomendables para la salud del corazón
Alubias
Consideradas la nueva ´´carne´´ por su buen aporte proteico, contienen nutrientes similares a los que podemos encontrar en la carne o el pescado, aportando además fibra y minerales.
Existen muchos tipos de alubias y se pueden consumir solas o añadidas en sopas, guisos y ensaladas. Pueden acompañar cualquier comida del día, si las compras enlatadas y listas para consumir elige las que menos sal aporten o lávalas bien antes de consumirlas, la sal contiene sodio y un exceso de este puede aumentar la tensión.
Frutos del bosque
Existen estudios que han encontrado una fuerte correlación entre los frutos del bosque y la salud del corazón, en particular los arándanos negros y las fresas. Estos frutos contienen un compuesto llamado antocianinas que parece mostrar que reduce la tensión y protege los vasos sanguíneos.
Los expertos recomiendan tomar estos dos frutos del bosque 3 veces por semana, para aprovechar sus beneficios.
Los horneados que cuentas con estos sabores añadidos no cuentan, este tipo de bollería suele contener mucho azúcar añadido y grasas hidrogenadas, lo cual es perjudicial para la salud del corazón, los frutos del bosque se deben consumir en su forma natural, bien sean frescos o congelados.
Verduras de hoja verde
Este tipo de vegetales son ricos e nutrientes, vitaminas y minerales, especialmente en folato una vitamina del tipo B muy recomendable por su papel en la protección de las cardiopatías. Pero los beneficios no se detienen en el corazón, las vitaminas y antioxidantes presentes también son de gran ayuda en la salud de los huesos.
Los vegetales de hoja verde más comunes son:
Col rizada (kale)
Espinacas
Rúcula
Canónigos
Lechuga (evitar iceberg o romana)
Hojas de mostaza
Acelgas
Brotes tiernos de ensalada
Puede que cuando pienses en estos vegetales la tristeza asalte tu vida pero no tienes porque comerlos solos, puedes añadirles huevos, alubias, salmón, semillas y frutos secos para mejorar su sabor y apariencia. También puedes explorar otras posibilidades, seguro que en internet encontrarás un montón de ideas.
Alimentos con grasas saludables
Seguramente has oído hablar de la importancia de limitar las grasas, pero lo cierto es que hay ciertas grasas que de hecho deberías incrementar.
Las grasas que se encuentran en frutos secos, semillas y el salmón son las conocidas como mono y poliinsaturadas, así como ácidos grasos omega 3, las cuales pueden mejorar tu colesterol y prevenir la enfermedad cardiovascular.
El salmón es rico en omega 3, el cual puede bajar tu tensión y mejorar la arritmia. Se recomienda que se consuma pescado azul por lo menos 2 veces por semana, si no te gusta el salmón puedes elegir caballa, trucha sardinas o cualquier otro pescado graso, pero si lo que no te gusta es el pescado siempre puedes recurrir a cápsulas de omega 3.
Avena
La avena es un tipo de cereal integral que aporta fibra en forma de beta glucano, la cual te ayuda con el sistema digestivo, así como a prevenir infartos o isquemias.
Lo mejor es optar por la avena natural en copos, evitando la avena instantánea, ya que no contienen añadidos de ningún tipo, asegúrate de que no esté refinada.
Ten en cuenta que una dieta saludable puede mejorar muchísimo tu salud, pero nunca debemos dejar la medicación que nos ha prescrito un profesional de la salud.
In the UK, men on average die four to six years earlier than women, have a life expectancy of 79.1 years, are significantly less likely to attend routine health screenings, are more likely to delay seeking medical attention for concerning symptoms, and face higher rates of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, liver disease, and suicide.
The dietary patterns, movement habits, sleep, stress management, and relationship with healthcare that men establish can have a profound influence on health outcomes across the lifespan.
Cardiovascular Health
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of premature death in men in the UK, and men develop it on average ten years earlier than women. The protective effect of oestrogen that delays cardiovascular disease in premenopausal women does not apply to men, meaning that risk accumulates from earlier in adulthood.
The key modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease include:
high blood pressure
elevated LDL cholesterol
high triglycerides,
insulin resistance,
smoking
excess visceral adiposity
physical inactivity
chronic stress
poor sleep
alcohol use and diet quality
Most of these can be influenced by nutrition and lifestyle, meaning that the everyday choices men make have a significant and compounding effect on their long-term cardiovascular risk.
Dietary patterns most strongly associated with reduced cardiovascular risk include:
Mediterranean diet
diets rich in vegetables and fruit
wholegrains
legumes
olive oil
nuts
oily fish
Focus should fall on predominantly whole food dietary patterns that are balanced, high in fibre and low in saturated fats.
Specific nutrients with the strongest cardiovascular evidence include omega-3 fatty acids, which reduce triglycerides and inflammation, soluble fibre from oats, barley, chia seeds, legumes, certain vegetables and fruit, which reduces LDL cholesterol, potassium from vegetables and fruit, which supports healthy blood pressure, and extra virgin olive oil for its anti-inflammatory properties.
In the UK, men are encouraged to have regular blood pressure and cholesterol screenings from their forties onward, and earlier for those with a family history of cardiovascular disease. Many men have elevated cardiovascular risk markers like LDL cholesterol for years before any symptoms arise, making regular monitoring genuinely important rather than optional.
Type 2 Diabetes and Metabolic Health
Men are at higher risk of type 2 diabetes than women at equivalent body weights, partly due to the tendency of men to accumulate visceral fat (fat around the internal organs) rather than subcutaneous fat (fat beneath the skin).
Visceral adiposity is metabolically active and drives insulin resistance, inflammation, and cardiovascular risk in ways that subcutaneous fat does not to the same degree.
Type 2 diabetes is largely preventable and in its early stages often reversible through dietary and lifestyle change. The evidence for dietary approaches to improving insulin sensitivity and metabolic health consistently points toward reducing refined carbohydrate and added sugar intake, increasing dietary fibre, eating regular meals with adequate protein, fibre and fat to moderate blood glucose response, and regular physical activity.
Waist circumference is a more informative marker of metabolic risk than body weight or BMI alone. A waist circumference above 94cm in men is associated with increased metabolic risk, and above 102cm with substantially elevated risk.
This is worth knowing not as a point of shame, but as a practical piece of health information that is easy to measure and track.
Dietary quality improvements, increased physical activity, and better sleep can all improve insulin sensitivity and reduce visceral fat independently of changes in overall body weight.
Prostate Health
According to Cancer Research, 1 in 6 men in the UK will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. When detected early, it is one of the most survivable cancers and so regular screening is particularly important for men over 50 and men with a family history of prostate cancer or with Black African or Caribbean heritage.
In epidemiological research, those who consume diets rich in lycopene, an antioxidant that gives fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, pink grapefruit and watermelon their red pigment, has been linked to a reduced risk of prostate cancer, though evidence is mixed.
Lycopene is significantly more bioavailable from cooked or processed tomatoes than raw, with tomato paste, passata, and canned tomatoes providing more absorbable lycopene than fresh tomatoes.
The overall dietary pattern matters more than any single nutrient. Higher vegetable, fruit and wholegrains intake, adequate zinc, and a predominantly whole food dietary pattern are associated with better prostate health outcomes. Diets high in processed meat and very high in saturated fat are associated with modestly increased risk in large prospective studies.
Testosterone and Hormonal Health
Testosterone levels in men decline gradually from the mid-thirties onward, with research suggesting an average decline of around 1 to 2% per year after age 40. This is a normal part of aging, but the trajectory and rate of decline are influenced by lifestyle factors, meaning that the choices men make in their thirties and forties meaningfully affect their hormonal health in their fifties and beyond.
Several nutritional and lifestyle factors are associated with better testosterone status. Adequate zinc intake is directly relevant: zinc is essential for testosterone synthesis, and deficiency is associated with reduced testosterone levels.
Good sources include shellfish, pumpkin seeds, and legumes. Adequate dietary fat intake, particularly from monounsaturated and saturated fat sources in moderate amounts, supports testosterone production, as testosterone is synthesised from cholesterol.
Vitamin D deficiency, which is widespread in the UK, is associated with lower testosterone levels so correcting any deficiency may improve testosterone status. Maintaining adequate vitamin D year-round through blood work to assess levels and supplementation when needed can therefore be relevant to hormonal health.
Chronic stress elevates cortisol, which directly suppresses testosterone production. This is one of several reasons why stress management is not separate from men's hormonal health but integral to it.
Sleep is equally relevant: testosterone is primarily produced during sleep, and research has found that even one week of sleeping five hours per night reduces testosterone levels by approximately 10 to 15% in young men, a reduction equivalent to ageing ten to fifteen years.
Sleep and Sleep Apnoea
Sleep affects testosterone, cardiovascular health, metabolic function, immune resilience, cognitive performance, emotional regulation, and physical recovery.
Sleep apnoea, a condition in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep, is significantly more common in men than in women, and is associated with fatigue, poor cognitive function, elevated cardiovascular risk, and reduced testosterone. It is frequently undiagnosed because the primary symptom is snoring combined with daytime sleepiness, which many men normalise. If you or your partner have noticed loud or irregular snoring combined with daytime fatigue, discussing this with a GP is worthwhile.
Seven to nine hours of quality sleep per night is the evidence-supported range for most adults. Consistent sleep and wake times, a cool dark bedroom, limiting alcohol, avoiding caffeine after midday, and managing stress are the most consistently evidence-supported sleep hygiene strategies.
Alcohol
Men in the UK drink more alcohol on average than women and are more likely to drink at hazardous or harmful levels. The NHS guidelines recommend no more than 14 units of alcohol per week spread across at least three days, with alcohol-free days each week.
Alcohol at higher intake levels is associated with liver disease, several cancers including colorectal and liver cancer, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, depression, cognitive decline, impaired sleep, reduced testosterone, and reduced fertility.
The relationship between alcohol and health is not linear, and while low-level drinking has historically been associated with some cardiovascular benefits, more recent research applying Mendelian randomisation methods suggests that even moderate drinking carries some increased risk.
This is not about prohibition. It is about honest awareness that alcohol is one of the most significant modifiable risk factors for serious health conditions in men, and that staying within recommended guidelines meaningfully reduces long-term risk.
Engaging With Healthcare
One of the most impactful things men can do for their long-term health is engage proactively with healthcare rather than reactively. This means attending NHS health checks when invited (available to those aged 40 to 74), discussing blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood glucose screening with a GP, being aware of bowel cancer screening (offered to those over 60 in the UK), having conversations about prostate health from the mid-forties onward for those with risk factors, and not dismissing symptoms or delaying seeking help when something feels wrong.
Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men aged 15 to 49 afd is highly treatable when caught early. Regular self-examination and prompt reporting of any lumps or changes to a GP are important habits. Skin cancer rates are higher in men partly due to lower rates of sun protection, and regular skin checks for changing moles or lesions are worthwhile.
Mental Health
Men are less likely to seek help for depression and anxiety, less likely to discuss emotional difficulties with friends or family, and more likely to manage distress through avoidance, alcohol, or other external coping strategies rather than directly addressing the underlying issue. These patterns can have devastating consequences when unaddressed, and they are deeply connected to social norms around masculinity that equate emotional expression with weakness.
The most important message regarding men's mental health is to reach out. To your GP, to a therapist, to a trusted friend, to a helpline and to engage in psychological therapies like CBT and ACT for mental health support.
Closing Thoughts
Men's health is shaped by the accumulation of daily choices across decades: what is eaten, how much movement happens, how sleep is prioritised, how stress is managed, how much alcohol is consumed, and whether medical or mental health care is sought when needed.
None of these are binary or all-or-nothing. Small, consistent improvements in multiple areas compound meaningfully over time.
This article is for educational purposes only and does not replace the advice of a qualified healthcare or nutrition professional. If you're experiencing persistent or severe symptoms, please consult your healthcare provider.
Sources:
https://www.nmcd-journal.com/article/S0939-4753(23)00385-X/fulltexthttps://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6906176/https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11958419/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0960076021000716?via%3Dihubhttps://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8743653/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949789225000881https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9566.13257
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