Eat your way to better heart function with a hand from these cardio-friendly foods. – By Matt Gilbert

Apples

It’s crunch time. The quercetin found in an apple a day will improve lung capacity and protect against pollution, say scientists at St George’s Hospital Medical School, London.

Servings per week: 5

Try baked apples with pink peppercorns or oaty apple crumble muffins.

Avocado

The sodium, potassium and magnesium found in the creamy fruit improved lung volume and oxygen flow in a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Servings per week: half x3

Cook up tortilla soup with avocado.

Marmite

Even if you hate it, try to love it for your heart’s sake: Bristol University scientists say the benfotiamine in the spread has a beneficial effect on your cardiovascular function.

Servings per week: on toast x3

Champagne

Raise a glass to your heart, say Reading University scientists. Their studies found the polyphenols in bubbly reduce the loss of nitric oxide from the blood, improving circulation.

Servings per week: 3 glasses

Steak

Each foot strike damages red blood cells, lowering your levels of iron – key to getting oxygen to the working muscles. Heme iron in steak is easily absorbed, says sports dietitian Karen Reid.

Servings per week: 150g fillet x2

Tofu

Bean curd is a source of unsaturated fats. A study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that eating these fats post exercise boosts blood flow by up to 45 per cent.

Servings per week: 150g x2

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