FIVE HEART-HEALTHY FOODS
Build these five heart-health foods into your daily diet for great taste and better health.
Nothing matters more than taking good care of your heart. Getting regular exercise, not smokng, and controlling stress are just a few things health experts recommend, along with eating a variety of nutritious, heart-healthy foods that make up a healthy diet.
Where to start? Add these five "super-foods" to boost nutritional goodness while eating your way to a healthier heart.
BLUEBERRIES
Blueberries top the list as one of the most powerful disease-fighting foods. That's because they contain anthocyanins, the antioxidant responsible for their dark blue color. These delicious jewels are packed with fiber, vitamin C, and are available all year long. Boost heart health by adding them into your diet regularly. Here's how:
1. Top your whole-grain cereal with fresh or frozen blueberries to add delicious flavor, a dose of fiber, and heart-healthy antioxidants.
2. Power up pancakes, waffles, or muffins with fresh, frozen, or dried blueberries for a nutritious breakfast.
3. Eat them plain or mix with other fruit for a low-calorie, high-fiber tasty fruit salad, dessert, or snack.
Recipe idea: Make an irresistible trifle by layering lady fingers, light whipped topping or low-fat pudding, and blueberries. Or puree a batch of berries for a breakfast or dessert sauce.
SALMON
This cold-water fish is a great source of protein and is also packed with heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. The American Heart Association advises eating salmon and other omega-3 rich foods twice a week for benefits that go beyond heart health. Americans love salmon because it is so versatile, easy to cook, and tastes great.
1. Salmon is easy to prepare on the grill, in the oven or microwave, or on the stovetop. Save leftovers to toss into pasta dishes, make into salmon cakes, add to salads, or mix into dips or spreads.
2. Smoked salmon comes in two varieties. The raw type is commonly used in appetizers and on bagels with cream cheese and capers. The dry smoked type has more of a cooked appearance. You can enjoy it the same way as the raw style, and add it to cooked dishes such as pasta.
3. Salmon cooks in a matter of minutes and its delicate texture quickly absorbs and showcases the flavor of added ingredients. For example, toss chunks of salmon into a chowder of corn and potatoes, or wrap salmon with herbs and chopped onion and tomatoes in parchment or aluminum foil and grill or bake 12 minutes for a satisfying meal.
Recipe idea: Marinate salmon in a lime, onion, garlic, and soy mixture for 15 minutes before grilling for a delicious fish taco or grilled fish sandwich.
SOY PROTEIN
This inexpensive, high-quality protein contains fiber, vitamins, and minerals -- all the ingredients for a heart-healthy meal. Also, a diet rich in soy protein can lower triglycerides, which help prevent cardiovascular disease and keep your heart strong and healthy. In those with high cholesterol levels, the benefits of soy foods are due to their high levels of polyunsaturated fats, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
1. Pack a soy protein bar or a bag of soy nuts for a quick snack during the day.
2. Edamame (the Japanese name for green soybeans) are snacks even kids will love! Find these nutritious nuggets in the freezer section at your supermarket. Boil them, then serve warm in the pod. Pop them out of the pod to eat plain or with a low-fat dip.
3. Tofu, made of soy beans, takes on the flavor of spices and foods you cook with it. Sauté cubed tofu with green and red peppers, sliced garlic, and a dash or two of curry powder. Or add tofu to soups for a healthy dose of fat-free protein.
Recipe idea: Soy milk is not just for the lactose-intolerant. Make a nutritious beverage with chocolate soy milk, a banana, and some ice for a delicious smoothie.
OATMEAL
Grandma called it roughage and we need plenty of it each day. Oatmeal is one way to get it. Oats are nourishing whole grains and a great source of vitamins, minerals, and cholesterol-lowering fiber. The FDA allows manufacturers of oats to make health claims about the grain on their products, suggesting that a diet high in oats can reduce the risk for heart disease. Research shows oats lower cholesterol levels, keep you regular, and may help prevent certain cancers.
1. A warm bowl of oatmeal fills the belly for hours with its high fiber content. Top it off with fruit (such as blueberries or strawberries) for added fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
2. Add oats whenever you bake. Substitute up to one-third of the flour with oats in pancakes, muffins, quick breads, cookies, and coffee cakes for an added dose of fiber.
3. Use oats in place of bread crumbs in dishes such as meatloaf, meatballs, or breading on poultry.
Recipe idea: Make your own crunchy granola by baking three cups of oats at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Stir occasionally, then cool and mix in a variety of chopped dried fruit, nuts, and seeds.
SPINACH
Hands down, spinach is the powerhouse of the vegetable kingdom. Its rich, dark color comes from the multiple phytochemicals, vitamins, and minerals (especially folate and iron) that also fight disease, protect against heart disease, and preserve your eyesight.
1. Keep frozen, chopped spinach in your freezer for an easy, quick addition to pizza, pasta, soups, and stews. Just defrost and squeeze the liquid from a box of chopped spinach before you toss into cooked dishes.
2. Mix fresh spinach with salad greens or alone, then top with peeled and segmented Mandarin oranges or sliced strawberries, nuts, and crumbled cheese for a satisfying and delicious salad.
3. Steam spinach, mix with garlic, a little olive oil, and a squeeze of lemon for a low-fat potato topper.
Recipe idea: Mix spinach with pine nuts and raisins, then stuff into winter squash and bake for a colorful, delicious main or side dish.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
HEALTHY HEART FOR HEALTHY LIVING
Eating for a Healthy Heart
Loving your heart doesn’t mean surviving on a diet that’s completely fat free. In fact, it couldn’t be easier or tastier to keep your heart healthy – and lose those excess pounds at the same time.
Have a Healthy Heart Diet
Gone are the days when a healthy heart diet meant filling up on tasteless, boring meals. The latest advice to help us lower the risk of heart disease actively encourages us to create meals with delicious, fresh ingredients like salmon, avocado, olive oil, oats, whole grains and an array of fruit and vegetables. Fortunately there are plenty of things you can do to help keep your heart healthy. And more often than not, looking at your diet – and losing weight if necessary – are the simplest changes you can make to help heart health.
What are the risk factors of heart disease?
The four major risk factors for heart disease are smoking, having high cholesterol, having high blood pressure and being physically inactive. However, being overweight, diabetes, drinking too much alcohol, and having too much salt in our diet also increases the risk. A family history of heart disease is also a risk factor. Bear in mind, our risk of heart disease depends on how many risk factors we have and how strong each individual risk factor is. Giving up smoking and taking more aerobic exercise are important first steps. Many of the other risk factors – such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, being overweight and having too much alcohol and salt – can all be improved by eating a healthier diet.
What's the importance of lowering cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a fatty material that’s made mainly in the liver. It’s an essential part of every cell and is the building block of many important steroid hormones. However, too much in the blood increases the risk of heart disease. Cholesterol uses the body’s circulation as its transport system and travels around on vehicles made up of proteins. These combinations of cholesterol and protein are called lipoproteins and there are two main types – low density lipoproteins (LDL) and high density lipoproteins (HDL).
Bad Cholesterol
LDL transports cholesterol from the liver to the cells, where certain amounts are needed. However, any remaining cholesterol can be chemically changed (a process called oxidation) and taken up by the cells in the artery walls where it starts to build up – it’s this process that causes narrowing of the arteries or atherosclerosis. Consequently, high levels of LDL cholesterol increase the risk of heart disease – that’s why it’s sometimes called ‘bad’ cholesterol.
Good Cholesterol
In contrast, HDL carries excess cholesterol away from the arteries to the liver, where the body gets rid of it. As a result, high levels of HDL cholesterol are thought to protect against heart disease and so, are sometimes called ‘good’ cholesterol.
How do I find out my cholesterol levels?
Your blood cholesterol levels can be measured by a simple blood test. Your doctor will look at figures for your overall or total cholesterol level, plus figures for your LDL and HDL cholesterol. All these values are measured in units called millimols per litre of blood, usually shortened to mmol/l. Healthy levels are as follows: • Total cholesterol – less than 5 mmol/l • LDL cholesterol – less than 3 mmol/l • HDL cholesterol – more than 1 mmol/l
How do I go about lowering cholesterol?
Your doctor may prescribe medication. However, it’s also important to look at your diet. According to the British Heart Foundation eating a heart healthy diet can help to lower your cholesterol levels by between 5% and 10%. In most cases, the aim is to reduce your total cholesterol, particularly by lowering levels of LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol. But it’s also important to raise levels of HDL or ‘good’ cholesterol. In particular, losing weight is one of the most important things you can do to lower your cholesterol if you are overweight or obese. Better still, losing those excess pounds will also help to reduce other risk factors for heart disease such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Overall, you should cut down on the total amount of fat you eat. For a healthy heart diet Weight Loss Resources recommends that no more than 30 percent of your daily calories come from fat. This means if you have a daily calorie intake of 1,500 calories, you should have no more than 50g of fat; if your daily calorie allowance is 2,000 calories, you should have no more than 66g of fat a day. Fortunately, WLR does the maths for you – all you need to do is look at your Nutrition Profile in Food Diary to find out the maximum amount of fat you should have each day. (You can take a free trial of WLR's tools to see how it works.) It’s important for heart health to make sure you’re eating the right types of fat, too. There are three main types of fat in food – saturates, monounsaturates and polyunsaturates. Most foods contain a mixture of these, but they are generally classified according to the type of fat found in the largest amount.
Saturates
Foods high in saturates include fatty meats, full-fat dairy products, butter, lard, cream, cheese and many processed and takeaway foods. These types of fats increase LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol so it’s important to eat fewer of them.
Polyunsaturates
Good sources of polyunsaturates include pure vegetable oils and spreads such as sunflower, corn and soya oils and margarines and some vegetables. These types of fat help to lower LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol. But they also lower HDL or ‘good’ cholesterol.
Monounsaturates
Good sources of monounsaturates include olive oil, rapeseed oil, avocados, nuts and seeds. These types of fats lower LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol but they help to maintain levels of HDL or ‘good’ cholesterol. Ultimately, as well as eating fewer fatty foods in your diet, it’s important to swap foods high in saturates for foods rich in unsaturates. It might sound complicated but in practice it’s simple – for example, if you really must fry, use a small amount of olive oil rather than butter!
What about foods that contain cholesterol?
A few foods such as liver, kidney, prawns and eggs do contain more dietary cholesterol than many other foods. However, thanks to research, we now know the cholesterol in food has little effect on our blood cholesterol levels – it’s saturated fat that has the biggest impact. Consequently, there’s no need to limit the amount of these foods you eat, unless your GP or a dietitian has specifically advised you to do this.
Do I need to worry about trans fats?
Trans fats have increasingly been in the news in the past few years. They tend to be found in foods that contain hydrogenated fats or hydrogenated vegetable oils and are thought to be as harmful to heart health as saturates. This means it’s a good idea to eat fewer foods that contain them. Ironically, it’s the processing of pure vegetable oils – a good source of heart-friendly unsaturates – that creates harmful trans fats! During manufacturing, these liquid oils have hydrogen bubbled through them in a process called hydrogenation to improve their texture, flavour and shelf life. The resulting product is a more solid fat called hydrogenated fat or hydrogenated vegetable oil, which goes on to be used as an ingredient in many processed foods. Currently, there are no legal requirements for food manufacturers to label trans fats on their products and few choose to do so. This means for now, you need to scour ingredients’ lists for hydrogenated fats or hydrogenated vegetable oils. If a product contains either, it will almost certainly contain trans fats, too – and the higher up the list the ingredient appears, the more trans fats the product will contain. The good news is, eating fewer foods that contain trans fats not only helps to keep your heart healthy, but also helps shift those pounds. The reason: trans fats tend to be found in cakes, biscuits, margarines, takeaways, pastry, pies and fried foods – all foods that are also loaded with calories!
Are omega 3 fats really good for you?
Despite recent reports to the contrary, most health experts still believe omega 3 fats have an important part to play in a healthy heart diet. • Omega 3 fats are a particular type of polyunsaturated fat that reduce the stickiness of blood, making it less likely to clot. • Omega 3 fats also help to keep the heart beating regularly and protect the small arteries, which carry blood to the heart, from damage. • Omega 3 fats help to lower levels of another type of fat found in the blood called triglycerides, high levels of which are linked with heart disease. Our bodies can make omega 3 fats from foods like rapeseed oil, walnut oil and soya. However, oily fish such as salmon, sardines, mackerel, trout, fresh tuna, pilchards, kippers and herring are also packed with omega 3 fats. In fact, omega 3 fats are thought to be so important for our health that the Food Standards Agency recommends we should all eat at least one serving of oily fish each week.
What are triglycerides?
Triglycerides are another type of blood fat or blood lipid. Like high cholesterol, raised triglyceride levels in the blood can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. Being overweight or obese, having a high fat diet, drinking too much alcohol and not taking enough exercise can all contribute to high triglyceride levels. Usually, blood tests to measure cholesterol also measure triglyceride levels. Anything above 2mmol/l is considered high. The good news is, a healthy heart diet that helps to reduce cholesterol will also help to reduce triglycerides – and should help you to lose weight at the same time.
How important is fibre?
Most fibre-rich foods are low in fat, which makes them a great choice for a healthy heart. But they’re also packed with vitamins, minerals and naturally occurring plant chemicals called phytochemicals. When it comes to heart disease prevention – and other conditions such as cancer – it appears to be this whole package of fibre and nutrients that’s important. Indeed, there’s good evidence that eating a high fibre diet with more wholegrain foods such as wholemeal bread, brown rice and wholegrain breakfast cereals can help to prevent heart disease – one large study found that women who ate around three servings of wholegrain foods a day were 30 percent less likely to suffer from heart disease. Furthermore, a particular type of fibre called soluble fibre may also help to lower blood cholesterol levels. This type of fibre is found in some fruits, vegetables, oats, barley and pulses such as beans, lentils and peas – all low-fat foods that are also a great choice if you’re also trying to lose weight. In particular, soluble fibre is thought to bind with cholesterol and prevent it from being reabsorbed into the bloodstream. This lowers the amount of cholesterol in the blood, therefore reducing the risk of heart disease. Soluble fibre also forms a gel in the intestine, which is thought to slow down the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates. This helps to keep blood sugar levels steady, preventing carb cravings that leave many of us reaching for sugary snacks that are also often combined with fat – we’re talking biscuits, chocolate, toast and jam, muffins, doughnuts!
How do fruit and vegetables help?
Most fruit and vegetables are low in fat and high in fibre – both of which are important for a healthy heart diet. But fruit and vegetables are also packed with antioxidants, which help to protect against heart disease. Antioxidant vitamins such as beta-carotene and vitamins C and E work their magic by ‘mopping up’ harmful free radicals, which can cause oxidation of LDL cholesterol – a problem that potentially speed up the process of the narrowing of arteries. In addition, many fruit and vegetables are also good sources of naturally occurring plant chemicals such as flavonoids, which act as powerful antioxidants. No doubt you’ve heard it before, but health experts recommend eating five servings of different fruit and vegetables every day – and the more colours you go for, the greater the variety of nutrients you’ll get!
Is soya good for heart health?
Eating more soya – a good source of both soluble fibre and isoflavones (from the flavonoid family) – may help to protect against heart disease. Studies show that including 25g of soya protein each day as part of a diet low in saturates can help lower both total cholesterol and LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol. You can get this amount of soya protein by drinking around three glasses of soya milk a day, but make sure you choose unsweetened varieties. There are also many soya desserts, yogurt alternatives and creams available but always check the nutrition information first as they may be higher in calories than you’d expect.
Do products like Flora ProActive and Benecol that claim to lower cholesterol really work?
There’s evidence that products containing plant sterols and stanols reduce the absorption of cholesterol from the gut and so lower blood cholesterol levels as a result. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that these products are often expensive. They’re also not a substitute for a healthy diet - even if you choose to have margarines, milks, yogurts or drinks that are enriched with plant sterols, you still need to eat a healthy diet to reduce your risk of heart disease. And if you’re trying to lose weight, it’s also worth checking out the calories before filling your shopping trolley with them.
What's the problem with salt?
High blood pressure is a risk factor for heart disease so it’s important to keep it under control. In fact, research shows that people with high blood pressure are three times more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke than people with normal blood pressure. As well as losing weight, one of the most important things you can do is eat fewer salty foods and avoid adding salt to dishes when cooking or eating them. This is because salt contains sodium – and it’s high intakes of this that raise blood pressure. As a guideline, the Food Standards Agency recommends we should each have less than 6g of salt a day. To meet this target most of us need to cut down on salty foods, which include ketchup, pickles, crisps, ready meals, takeaways, processed meats such as ham, bacon and burgers, pastry products, pizza, canned soups, ready-made cooking sauces and canned fish in brine. The good news is, these are often low in essential nutrients but high in calories and so won’t help you shift those pounds. Foods like bread, breakfast cereals and cheese can also be packed with salt although they usually contain good amounts of vitamins and minerals, too. Unfortunately, not all foods are labelled with values for salt and so you need to do the maths. As a guideline, simply multiply the value for sodium by 2.5.
Is alcohol good or bad for a healthy heart?
According to the British Heart Foundation, drinking no more than one or two units of alcohol a day is thought to help protect against heart disease – but only in men over the age of 40 and postmenopausal women! Meanwhile, alcohol also helps to raise HDL or ‘good’ cholesterol and may reduce the stickiness of the blood. However, people who persistently exceed sensible drinking limits – that’s a maximum of three units a day for women and four units a day for men – are more likely to suffer from risk factors associated with heart disease such as high blood pressure. Binge drinking can also cause abnormal heart rhythms and regular heavy drinking may lead to an enlargement of the heart. While some research has suggested red wine is the most beneficial alcoholic tipple for heart health, this is still not conclusive. Indeed, it’s now thought that small amounts of any alcohol are associated with a lower risk of heart disease. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that most experts agree that eating a healthy diet, stopping smoking and being more active are likely to have a far greater benefit to heart health than drinking small amounts of alcohol. Meanwhile, it’s worth remembering that alcohol contains calories but little else in the way of nutrients. Therefore, drinking large amounts won’t help your waistline!
Loving your heart doesn’t mean surviving on a diet that’s completely fat free. In fact, it couldn’t be easier or tastier to keep your heart healthy – and lose those excess pounds at the same time.
Have a Healthy Heart Diet
Gone are the days when a healthy heart diet meant filling up on tasteless, boring meals. The latest advice to help us lower the risk of heart disease actively encourages us to create meals with delicious, fresh ingredients like salmon, avocado, olive oil, oats, whole grains and an array of fruit and vegetables. Fortunately there are plenty of things you can do to help keep your heart healthy. And more often than not, looking at your diet – and losing weight if necessary – are the simplest changes you can make to help heart health.
What are the risk factors of heart disease?
The four major risk factors for heart disease are smoking, having high cholesterol, having high blood pressure and being physically inactive. However, being overweight, diabetes, drinking too much alcohol, and having too much salt in our diet also increases the risk. A family history of heart disease is also a risk factor. Bear in mind, our risk of heart disease depends on how many risk factors we have and how strong each individual risk factor is. Giving up smoking and taking more aerobic exercise are important first steps. Many of the other risk factors – such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, being overweight and having too much alcohol and salt – can all be improved by eating a healthier diet.
What's the importance of lowering cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a fatty material that’s made mainly in the liver. It’s an essential part of every cell and is the building block of many important steroid hormones. However, too much in the blood increases the risk of heart disease. Cholesterol uses the body’s circulation as its transport system and travels around on vehicles made up of proteins. These combinations of cholesterol and protein are called lipoproteins and there are two main types – low density lipoproteins (LDL) and high density lipoproteins (HDL).
Bad Cholesterol
LDL transports cholesterol from the liver to the cells, where certain amounts are needed. However, any remaining cholesterol can be chemically changed (a process called oxidation) and taken up by the cells in the artery walls where it starts to build up – it’s this process that causes narrowing of the arteries or atherosclerosis. Consequently, high levels of LDL cholesterol increase the risk of heart disease – that’s why it’s sometimes called ‘bad’ cholesterol.
Good Cholesterol
In contrast, HDL carries excess cholesterol away from the arteries to the liver, where the body gets rid of it. As a result, high levels of HDL cholesterol are thought to protect against heart disease and so, are sometimes called ‘good’ cholesterol.
How do I find out my cholesterol levels?
Your blood cholesterol levels can be measured by a simple blood test. Your doctor will look at figures for your overall or total cholesterol level, plus figures for your LDL and HDL cholesterol. All these values are measured in units called millimols per litre of blood, usually shortened to mmol/l. Healthy levels are as follows: • Total cholesterol – less than 5 mmol/l • LDL cholesterol – less than 3 mmol/l • HDL cholesterol – more than 1 mmol/l
How do I go about lowering cholesterol?
Your doctor may prescribe medication. However, it’s also important to look at your diet. According to the British Heart Foundation eating a heart healthy diet can help to lower your cholesterol levels by between 5% and 10%. In most cases, the aim is to reduce your total cholesterol, particularly by lowering levels of LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol. But it’s also important to raise levels of HDL or ‘good’ cholesterol. In particular, losing weight is one of the most important things you can do to lower your cholesterol if you are overweight or obese. Better still, losing those excess pounds will also help to reduce other risk factors for heart disease such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Overall, you should cut down on the total amount of fat you eat. For a healthy heart diet Weight Loss Resources recommends that no more than 30 percent of your daily calories come from fat. This means if you have a daily calorie intake of 1,500 calories, you should have no more than 50g of fat; if your daily calorie allowance is 2,000 calories, you should have no more than 66g of fat a day. Fortunately, WLR does the maths for you – all you need to do is look at your Nutrition Profile in Food Diary to find out the maximum amount of fat you should have each day. (You can take a free trial of WLR's tools to see how it works.) It’s important for heart health to make sure you’re eating the right types of fat, too. There are three main types of fat in food – saturates, monounsaturates and polyunsaturates. Most foods contain a mixture of these, but they are generally classified according to the type of fat found in the largest amount.
Saturates
Foods high in saturates include fatty meats, full-fat dairy products, butter, lard, cream, cheese and many processed and takeaway foods. These types of fats increase LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol so it’s important to eat fewer of them.
Polyunsaturates
Good sources of polyunsaturates include pure vegetable oils and spreads such as sunflower, corn and soya oils and margarines and some vegetables. These types of fat help to lower LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol. But they also lower HDL or ‘good’ cholesterol.
Monounsaturates
Good sources of monounsaturates include olive oil, rapeseed oil, avocados, nuts and seeds. These types of fats lower LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol but they help to maintain levels of HDL or ‘good’ cholesterol. Ultimately, as well as eating fewer fatty foods in your diet, it’s important to swap foods high in saturates for foods rich in unsaturates. It might sound complicated but in practice it’s simple – for example, if you really must fry, use a small amount of olive oil rather than butter!
What about foods that contain cholesterol?
A few foods such as liver, kidney, prawns and eggs do contain more dietary cholesterol than many other foods. However, thanks to research, we now know the cholesterol in food has little effect on our blood cholesterol levels – it’s saturated fat that has the biggest impact. Consequently, there’s no need to limit the amount of these foods you eat, unless your GP or a dietitian has specifically advised you to do this.
Do I need to worry about trans fats?
Trans fats have increasingly been in the news in the past few years. They tend to be found in foods that contain hydrogenated fats or hydrogenated vegetable oils and are thought to be as harmful to heart health as saturates. This means it’s a good idea to eat fewer foods that contain them. Ironically, it’s the processing of pure vegetable oils – a good source of heart-friendly unsaturates – that creates harmful trans fats! During manufacturing, these liquid oils have hydrogen bubbled through them in a process called hydrogenation to improve their texture, flavour and shelf life. The resulting product is a more solid fat called hydrogenated fat or hydrogenated vegetable oil, which goes on to be used as an ingredient in many processed foods. Currently, there are no legal requirements for food manufacturers to label trans fats on their products and few choose to do so. This means for now, you need to scour ingredients’ lists for hydrogenated fats or hydrogenated vegetable oils. If a product contains either, it will almost certainly contain trans fats, too – and the higher up the list the ingredient appears, the more trans fats the product will contain. The good news is, eating fewer foods that contain trans fats not only helps to keep your heart healthy, but also helps shift those pounds. The reason: trans fats tend to be found in cakes, biscuits, margarines, takeaways, pastry, pies and fried foods – all foods that are also loaded with calories!
Are omega 3 fats really good for you?
Despite recent reports to the contrary, most health experts still believe omega 3 fats have an important part to play in a healthy heart diet. • Omega 3 fats are a particular type of polyunsaturated fat that reduce the stickiness of blood, making it less likely to clot. • Omega 3 fats also help to keep the heart beating regularly and protect the small arteries, which carry blood to the heart, from damage. • Omega 3 fats help to lower levels of another type of fat found in the blood called triglycerides, high levels of which are linked with heart disease. Our bodies can make omega 3 fats from foods like rapeseed oil, walnut oil and soya. However, oily fish such as salmon, sardines, mackerel, trout, fresh tuna, pilchards, kippers and herring are also packed with omega 3 fats. In fact, omega 3 fats are thought to be so important for our health that the Food Standards Agency recommends we should all eat at least one serving of oily fish each week.
What are triglycerides?
Triglycerides are another type of blood fat or blood lipid. Like high cholesterol, raised triglyceride levels in the blood can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. Being overweight or obese, having a high fat diet, drinking too much alcohol and not taking enough exercise can all contribute to high triglyceride levels. Usually, blood tests to measure cholesterol also measure triglyceride levels. Anything above 2mmol/l is considered high. The good news is, a healthy heart diet that helps to reduce cholesterol will also help to reduce triglycerides – and should help you to lose weight at the same time.
How important is fibre?
Most fibre-rich foods are low in fat, which makes them a great choice for a healthy heart. But they’re also packed with vitamins, minerals and naturally occurring plant chemicals called phytochemicals. When it comes to heart disease prevention – and other conditions such as cancer – it appears to be this whole package of fibre and nutrients that’s important. Indeed, there’s good evidence that eating a high fibre diet with more wholegrain foods such as wholemeal bread, brown rice and wholegrain breakfast cereals can help to prevent heart disease – one large study found that women who ate around three servings of wholegrain foods a day were 30 percent less likely to suffer from heart disease. Furthermore, a particular type of fibre called soluble fibre may also help to lower blood cholesterol levels. This type of fibre is found in some fruits, vegetables, oats, barley and pulses such as beans, lentils and peas – all low-fat foods that are also a great choice if you’re also trying to lose weight. In particular, soluble fibre is thought to bind with cholesterol and prevent it from being reabsorbed into the bloodstream. This lowers the amount of cholesterol in the blood, therefore reducing the risk of heart disease. Soluble fibre also forms a gel in the intestine, which is thought to slow down the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates. This helps to keep blood sugar levels steady, preventing carb cravings that leave many of us reaching for sugary snacks that are also often combined with fat – we’re talking biscuits, chocolate, toast and jam, muffins, doughnuts!
How do fruit and vegetables help?
Most fruit and vegetables are low in fat and high in fibre – both of which are important for a healthy heart diet. But fruit and vegetables are also packed with antioxidants, which help to protect against heart disease. Antioxidant vitamins such as beta-carotene and vitamins C and E work their magic by ‘mopping up’ harmful free radicals, which can cause oxidation of LDL cholesterol – a problem that potentially speed up the process of the narrowing of arteries. In addition, many fruit and vegetables are also good sources of naturally occurring plant chemicals such as flavonoids, which act as powerful antioxidants. No doubt you’ve heard it before, but health experts recommend eating five servings of different fruit and vegetables every day – and the more colours you go for, the greater the variety of nutrients you’ll get!
Is soya good for heart health?
Eating more soya – a good source of both soluble fibre and isoflavones (from the flavonoid family) – may help to protect against heart disease. Studies show that including 25g of soya protein each day as part of a diet low in saturates can help lower both total cholesterol and LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol. You can get this amount of soya protein by drinking around three glasses of soya milk a day, but make sure you choose unsweetened varieties. There are also many soya desserts, yogurt alternatives and creams available but always check the nutrition information first as they may be higher in calories than you’d expect.
Do products like Flora ProActive and Benecol that claim to lower cholesterol really work?
There’s evidence that products containing plant sterols and stanols reduce the absorption of cholesterol from the gut and so lower blood cholesterol levels as a result. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that these products are often expensive. They’re also not a substitute for a healthy diet - even if you choose to have margarines, milks, yogurts or drinks that are enriched with plant sterols, you still need to eat a healthy diet to reduce your risk of heart disease. And if you’re trying to lose weight, it’s also worth checking out the calories before filling your shopping trolley with them.
What's the problem with salt?
High blood pressure is a risk factor for heart disease so it’s important to keep it under control. In fact, research shows that people with high blood pressure are three times more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke than people with normal blood pressure. As well as losing weight, one of the most important things you can do is eat fewer salty foods and avoid adding salt to dishes when cooking or eating them. This is because salt contains sodium – and it’s high intakes of this that raise blood pressure. As a guideline, the Food Standards Agency recommends we should each have less than 6g of salt a day. To meet this target most of us need to cut down on salty foods, which include ketchup, pickles, crisps, ready meals, takeaways, processed meats such as ham, bacon and burgers, pastry products, pizza, canned soups, ready-made cooking sauces and canned fish in brine. The good news is, these are often low in essential nutrients but high in calories and so won’t help you shift those pounds. Foods like bread, breakfast cereals and cheese can also be packed with salt although they usually contain good amounts of vitamins and minerals, too. Unfortunately, not all foods are labelled with values for salt and so you need to do the maths. As a guideline, simply multiply the value for sodium by 2.5.
Is alcohol good or bad for a healthy heart?
According to the British Heart Foundation, drinking no more than one or two units of alcohol a day is thought to help protect against heart disease – but only in men over the age of 40 and postmenopausal women! Meanwhile, alcohol also helps to raise HDL or ‘good’ cholesterol and may reduce the stickiness of the blood. However, people who persistently exceed sensible drinking limits – that’s a maximum of three units a day for women and four units a day for men – are more likely to suffer from risk factors associated with heart disease such as high blood pressure. Binge drinking can also cause abnormal heart rhythms and regular heavy drinking may lead to an enlargement of the heart. While some research has suggested red wine is the most beneficial alcoholic tipple for heart health, this is still not conclusive. Indeed, it’s now thought that small amounts of any alcohol are associated with a lower risk of heart disease. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that most experts agree that eating a healthy diet, stopping smoking and being more active are likely to have a far greater benefit to heart health than drinking small amounts of alcohol. Meanwhile, it’s worth remembering that alcohol contains calories but little else in the way of nutrients. Therefore, drinking large amounts won’t help your waistline!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
STEPS TO HEALTHY LIVING
WHAT IS HEALTHY LIVING
Our physical appearance is a reflection of our state of health. Being overweight is an indication of a highly toxic body due to poor digestion and blood circulation and an inefficient defecation cycle. It is also a manifestation of an unhealthy lifestyle characterized by a high cholesterol diet and a sedentary lifestyle.
When one is showing signs of aging, it is a warning that the body is starting to deteriorate and is becoming a sure candidate to chronic diseases, cardiovascular and heart problems. Hence, managing our health is essential to sustain ourselves, not just to look good but also for us to function at our peak while doing our daily activities.
However, there is more to healthy living than just eating well, exercising and seeking cure when the need arises.
STEPS TO HEALTHY LIVING
Many factors affect your health. Some you cannot control, such as your genetic makeup or your age. But you can make changes to your lifestyle. By taking steps toward healthy living, you can help reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke and other serious diseases. For example,
- See your doctor for regular screenings, not just when you are sick
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Eat a variety of healthy foods, and limit calories and saturated fat
- Be physically active
- Control your blood pressure and cholesterol
- Quit smoking
- Protect yourself from too much sun
STEP 1 : DETOXIFY
Detoxification is an indispensable step towards your journey to healthy slimming. When your digestive system is clogged, your body is unable to absorb essential nutrients. Before nourishment or slimming can take place, you must first detoxify your body of excess fats and toxins.
STEP 2: BURN FAT AND NOURISH
Next is burning fat from the body and getting the right amount of nourishment. You will notice that as fat is burned, your body’s metabolism is improved. You will start feeling lighter and more energetic, and the body becomes better at assimilating vitamins and nutrients from the food that you eat.
STEP 3: BALANCE AND CLEANSE
Follow-up with a routine, that will balance your body’s acidity and alkalinity. Cleanse your system with a rich supply of oxygen. Fortify your immune system with vitamin C and speed up the slimming process with Calcium.
STEP 4: REJUVENATE
Finish up by rejuvenating the body with a dose of antioxidants that will provide maximum blood and heart health benefits, and proteins for healthier and smoother skin.
Fruits and Vegetables
"Eat your fruits and vegetables." You've likely heard this statement since childhood. Research shows why it is a good advice:
- Healthy diets rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases.
- Fruits and vegetables also provide essential vitamins and minerals, fiber, and other substances that are important for good health.
- Most fruits and vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories and are filling.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
HEALTHY LIVING
Heart Attacks And Drinking Warm Water
This is a very good article. Not only about the warm water after your meal, but about Heart Attacks. The Chinese and Japanese drink hot tea with their meals, not cold water, maybe it is time we adopt their drinking habit while eating.
60% of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware. The more we know the better chance we could survive.
This is a very good article. Not only about the warm water after your meal, but about Heart Attacks. The Chinese and Japanese drink hot tea with their meals, not cold water, maybe it is time we adopt their drinking habit while eating.
For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It feels nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this 'sludge' reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer . It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.
French fries and Burgers are the biggest enemy of heart health.
A coke after meal gives more power to this demon.
Avoid them for your Heart's Health.
A coke after meal gives more power to this demon.
Avoid them for your Heart's Health.
Common Symptoms Of Heart Attack...
A serious note about heart attacks - You should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting.
A serious note about heart attacks - You should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting.
Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line.
You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack.
You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack.
Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms.
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