For the most part, we've been inundated with information on foods we should avoid to keep our hearts healthy. But what we don't hear as much about are the foods we should eat in abundance in order to keep our tickers ticking.

There are a number of healthy foods that can provide protection against such threats to the heart as inflammation, high blood sugar, and high blood pressure. Among them are almonds, garlic, salmon, black beans, extra virgin olive oil, broccoli, oranges, carrots, low-fat Greek yogurt, and barley.

Adding some, if not all, of these foods to your diet is a great way to target-harden your heart against the risk of health complications. To safeguard your health further, follow the recommendation of the American Heart Association, who suggest taking a brisk walk for at least 20 to 30 minutes three times a week.

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It's no secret that when it comes to healthy choices, fish sits near the top of the list. Packed with low-fat protein, low in saturated fat, and often rich in omega-3s, fish is the dish for those who care about their health. But eating fish means catching fish, and therein lies the problem: overfishing. Are we doing a disservice to the environment by putting fish on our dinner plate?

No Impact Man had a post about this recently, and he has some informative links on the subject. Though overfishing was a serious problem before omega-3s became the heart-health superstar (some predict collapse of species caught for food by 2048), some experts believe the new push to add more fish to our diets could further deplete the oceans' stocks.

There is a middle ground, you just have to commit to eating certain species of fish. For instance, the Alaskan fisheries are very well managed, say experts, so wild caught Alaskan salmon is a sustainably caught fish (and happens to be chock full of those healthy fats). Here's a complete list of best choices and species to avoid from Monterey Bay Aquarium.

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