Eat Your Heart Out: The 10 Best Heart-Healthy Foods

 

Your heart is like the motor of your body. And like any motor, it has to be cared for, with the right ingredients going in to keep things at peak performance. And with heart disease remaining the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States, adding a few heart-healthy substitutions to your daily diet is an easy way to start changing your lifestyle for the better.

 

10. Coffee

That’s right, coffeeholics, rejoice! Your favorite morning pick-me-up aids in natural fat burning and can even boost metabolism by 3-11%. In doing so, it becomes easier for your heart to do its job pumping on and on. Further research suggests moderate coffee consumption (1-3 cups/day) reduces the risk of a stroke, particularly in women.

 

9. Apples

The saying is right: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” on top of keeping your heart smiling. The fiber in apples blasts plaque buildup in your arteries and keeps further cholesterol from solidifying in its walls. Chomp away at the fruit as a lunch companion or an afternoon snack.

 

8. Sweet Potatoes

Topping the beta-carotene charts, sweet potatoes take vitamins A, C, and E and help reduce the risk of heart disease while delaying the bodily effects of aging. Low calorie, try baked sweet potato fries as a side, or pop in the microwave for a mindless meal.

 

7. Tomatoes

Rich in potassium and a great source of the antioxidant lycopene (a carotenoid believed to help keep blood vessels open and strong), tomatoes in any form will help fight your chances of a heart attack. On top of being low in sugar and high in folic acid, roasted tomatoes in garlic and olive oil is a spectacular side dish to pair with your next entree.

 

6. Oatmeal

There’s hardly a healthier way to start your day than with a bowl of hot oatmeal. A fantastic source of fiber, oatmeal lowers cholesterol and reduces the risk of heart disease. Avoid instant oatmeal, however, which tends to hide a lot of refined sugar, instead opting for steel cut or whole oat groats (a fancy name for oatmeal’s kernels).

 

5. Soy

Soy comes in a ton of varieties, from classic tofu to soy milk you can stir into that morning cup of Joe. It delivers an almost incomparable protein boost (half a cup can provide nearly 20% of your daily dose) while remaining low in sodium and cholesterol, common elements in many animal product alternatives.

 

4. Garlic

Not only does garlic make for killer flavoring, its cholesterol-reducing antioxidants lower blood pressure and increases overall blood flow. Keep it fresh, though. Processed garlic provides the same heart help, but not nearly to the same degree as full cloves nabbed in the produce section.

 

3. Red wine

The perks of an evening glass go beyond relaxation. Red wine contains the compound polyphenol resveratrol, an antioxidant that help clears bad toxins from blood and makes your heart’s job easier. The key here, though, rests in sticking with only one glass.

 

2. Seeds & Nuts

Nearly any kind of nut is your heart’s best buddy. From almonds and pistachios to a pinch of peanuts, most pack your heart’s necessary fiber and magnesium punch. Some, like walnuts, also carry the essential body fat, omega-3. As long as you avoid the kind with added salt, you’ve got a go-to, heart-healthy snack.

Likewise, sprinkling flax or chia seeds onto the foods you already eat delivers the same benefits of fiber and omega-3 acids. They’re a simple topping for salads, yogurt parfaits, fruit spreads, or even blended into a smoothie.

 

1. Salmon

Nothing compares to the levels of healthy, fatty acids you get from fish oils. Their omega-3 content goes hand-in-hand with lowering blood pressure and regulating good and bad cholesterol. Experts advise incorporating salmon (or other omega-3 rich fish like tuna and mackerels) into your diet at least 2-3 times a week. They work great as sandwiches for lunch or as the centerfold of a dinner pasta spread.

A specialist from ICE, Institute of Cardiovascular Excellence, says eating a healthy diet low in cholesterol, salt, and saturated fat can help you avoid heart disease. Combined with moderate exercise and lower stress levels, a heart-friendly diet will go a long way in keeping you at your best. And, with most of these delicious foods, your taste buds will thank you, too!

 

Categories: Blood, blood pressure, cholesterol, heart, heart disease, Heart-Healthy, nbsp, Red Wine, sweet potatoes

Kitchen Kings: The Best Ways to Amp Up Your Heart Health

Heart-healthy eating starts in the kitchen, which means that you need to get your kitchen wellness on track if you want to protect your family from heart problems. Here are seven simple tips to help you do it:

 

1. Switch to heart healthy cooking oils: It’s better for your wellness if you choose cooking fats that have minimal levels of saturated fat and trans fat, and high levels of healthier fats like monounsaturated fats and omega-3s. Therefore, you should do most of your cooking with canola oil, and then use olive oil in any recipe that works. Olive oil contains the most monounsaturated fat, very little saturated fat, and phytochemicals which are helpful for your wellbeing. You can also use safflower, sunflower, soybean, or flaxseed oil.

 

2. Switch to a better margarine: When you can’t replace margarine or butter with canola oil, make sure you choose a margarine that’s low in saturated fat (two grams or less per tablespoon) and contains no trans fats at all. For an added bonus, look for ones with omega-3 fats.

 

3. Have a clear out: Junk food is defined by two characteristics: an absence of nutrients and an overabundance of fat, sodium, or sugar. All these complementary wellness techniques are useless if you have a pantry full of junk food, so clear your kitchen of junk and replace these foods with healthier alternatives. Look at the labels on all the foods in your fridge, freezer and cupboards, and see which are really not worth holding onto.

 

4. Watch out for calorie boosters: It’s easy to spot junk foods like crisps and chocolate, but some ingredients can really sneak up on you if you’re not careful, and load your meal with fat, calories and cholesterol. You should think “red flag” whenever you come across regular mayonnaise, bacon and bacon grease, heavy and light whipping cream, half-and-half cream, puff pastry, full-fat cheese, sausage, coconut oil, butter, and pie crust dough.

 

5. Fill your fridge with heart-smart foods you can’t live without: Find out what your favourite frozen and fresh fruits and vegetables are, and then add in wholegrain products that can make for a quick lunch or entrée. Whole-wheat pitas and tortillas, and wholegrain pasta cooked al dente and chilled in the fridge are great options. Then, fill your fridge with lean meats and vegetarian substitutes, low-fat dairy products such as low-fat yogurt, cheese, and cottage cheese, skimmed milk, and sugar-free beverages that you like to drink, such as iced green tea and mineral water.

 

6. Make your freezer convenience food as healthy as possible: Sometimes you don’t eat fruit and vegetables because you haven’t got any fresh ones in, but this is where the freezer is your friend. If you’ve always got frozen fruit and veg to hand, you’ll never have an excuse to not add them to your meals. Keep frozen blueberries and raspberries for mixing into muffin and pancake batter and for topping oatmeal or waffles, and frozen broccoli florets, baby carrots, or frozen mixed vegetables for a quick side dish or for mixing in with the entree.

 

7. Make a few sneaky substitutions: If recipe instructions call for unhealthy ingredients, try using healthier alternatives. If you’re making macaroni and cheese from a packet and it calls for butter, for example, add a tablespoon or two of heart-smart margarine and a tablespoon or two of fat-free sour cream to make up the difference. Also, look on the label to see if the product already contains fat, as this may mean you can skip adding fat altogether and instead add – depending on the product – fat-free sour cream (for use in a cream pasta product), low-sodium broth (for use in a stuffing mix), low-fat yoghurt (for use in a muffin mix), strong coffee (for use in a brownie or cake mix) and applesauce.

Categories: canola oil, cholesterol, free sour, healthier alternatives, heart health, heart smart, Heart-Healthy, junk food, nbsp, olive oil, sour cream

A Guide to Heart-Healthy Restaurant Dining

Everyone likes a nice meal out at a restaurant from time to time, but if you’re watching your weight and trying to maintain a healthy diet it can be tricky knowing what to choose from the menu. Luckily, you don’t have to turn down every invite to dinner just because of your healthy habits. There are ways to keep up the good work where your diet choices are concerned and still have a lovely meal. Here are some ways that you can keep your heart healthy as you dine out. Firstly, consider the restaurant itself. You may want to eat pizza every night of the week, but that won’t make for a healthy heart. So consider your options when choosing a restaurant. Nowadays, restaurants are keen to highlight the calorie content or the fact that some of their dishes are low fat, so check the menu for this information in case it is displayed. Likewise, some restaurants can tell you which dishes are trans fat-free – you can always call ahead to check if you’re worried.

If you arrive at the restaurant hungry, you’re almost certainly going to overindulge and choose something unhealthy. Reduce the risk of this happening by having a light snack before you go out, such as a piece of fruit or a handful of nuts. It will curb your appetite without making you too full, and means that you’ll be more rational when it comes to choosing your meal. Give yourself time to really look over your choices and consider the benefits of each one – for example, does one dish contain more vegetables making it healthier overall?

You can also ask about serving sizes, so that you can avoid overeating.  Don’t be afraid of asking about ingredients, portion sizes and fat content – the information will help you to make a healthier choice. If a starter serves more than one, why not ask someone else at your table if they’d like to share – this will stop you overeating and gorging on the whole thing, but still enables you to enjoy the meal. You can always split a large meal with your friends or guests as well – many restaurants serve platters designed to share, so why not opt for this instead where you get to sample a variety of foods in one go without risking overindulging.

If you look carefully at how the meals have been prepared, you may be able to find a healthier meal that won’t be so bad for your health. Avoid anything fried, as these will typically have more fat and calories than something that has been grilled or steamed. You can ask for a baked potato, for example, instead of chips, or steamed vegetables instead of those caked in fried batter. Opting for a vegetarian meal can often mean that you avoid unhealthy fats, too.

Naturally higher in vegetables and healthy proteins, such as tofu, these make for a heart-healthy choice over fatty pieces of meat which have often been fried.  You can also make substitutions – for example, why not opt for a healthy bowl of soup for a starter instead of the sugary and calorie-laden dessert? You still get to enjoy a couple of dishes, but in a healthier way and without spoiling your diet. Eating at restaurants doesn’t have to spell the end to your healthy regime, it simply means that you need to put a little more thought into where and what you eat.

Categories: eating, Healthy, heart, Heart-Healthy, meal, restaurant, Restaurant Dining, restaurants

How to Keep Your Heart Healthy in the Workplace

Studies have shown that there is a great deal of potential in improving our wellbeing in the workplace by improving our heart health. We spend a large proportion of our time at work, so it stands to reason that this should be one of the key areas we improve when trying to boost our health. A heart healthy workplace helps you to reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke, which could be life threatening. Work can be stressful and place a significant effect on our mental and physical health, and it can also be a breeding ground for poor eating and lifestyle habits. Think of the vast amount of unhealthy snacks and takeaway foods you eat in a week, not to mention the increasing amount of time you spend sitting at your desk or dodging that walk around the block on your lunch break in favour of sitting in the canteen. Wellness programmes are becoming more and more popular as a way of getting employees to get up and move more, as well as encouraging them to eat better while they’re at work. All in all, a healthier workplace equals a happier one.

 

If you work an office job especially, you are at risk of developing poor posture from sitting at your desk all day, depression, poor eyesight from staring at a computer screen all day and unhealthy eating habits. Where businesses are concerned, unhealthy employees cost employers money – more sick days, people being signed off with work related injuries, and less productivity. This is why wellness programmes are so popular now – they may cost money to implement, but the rewards are well worth it. Studies have shown that wellness programmes improve people’s body weight, blood pressure, waist circumference, and glucose and lipid concentrations in more than 5000 people. More people gave up smoking and even adding salt to their meals. The improvement to people’s health as a result of the study was astonishing, and showed just what a difference healthier choices at work made.

Research suggests that employees who are more physically active enjoy their work more and are more alert, as well as having higher concentration levels. Exercise is a natural mood booster and can encourage your mind to be more enthusiastic and engaging with your colleagues. There’s also a social element to exercising which can help build team working skills and improve the rapport between colleagues. The best way to achieve this is to have healthy food around the office instead of chocolate and crisps in the vending machines – opt for fruit bowls, for example. Keeping active for just 30 minutes a day could help to lower your risk of heart attacks and strokes, so opt for the stairs or go for a walk on your lunch break – you could even get off the bus a few stops earlier and walk the remainder of your journey each morning. Giving up tobacco is another top tip for improving both your heart health and general wellbeing. There are a number of ways to improve your health through your workplace habits – it’s simply a way of noticing where you’re going wrong and making better decisions about how you spend your time at work. There are often various options for fitting in more exercise or some of your five a day, from the snacks you take at elevenses to how you spend your lunch break. Once you and your employers are aware of this, your workplace can become a far healthier place that carries less health risks for your heart and general health.

Categories: exercise, Food, health, healthy heart, heart, heart health, Heart-Healthy, people, Wellness Programme, Wellness programmes, work, workplace

How To Improve Your Sexual Performance

Sexual health is very important, especially to men. For many men, sex is at the centre of their self-confidence, and they are continually looking for ways to improve their sexual wellness and wellbeing.

 

There are a lot of male enhancement pills available on the market, but there are also lots of simple and natural ways to help you improve your male sexual performance without having to visit a drugstore.

 

Blood pressure controls the penis. When the brain sends the signal to the vital organ, the blood vessels become engorged and allows an erection to occur. Your heart pumps the blood that allows this occurrence, and thus problems with the heart can lead to problems with the blood pressure and the ability to sustain an erection. In order to keep your sexual health as good as it can be, you should work hard at keeping your heart healthy.

 

In order to keep your heart healthy and maintain the efficacy of your circulatory system, you should aim to carry out a lot of cardiovascular exercise. Sex can also get your heart rate up of course, but regular exercise can help even more, and that means sweat-breaking exercise such as swimming, running, exercise classes and so on. Just 30 minutes per day of exercise can help to boost both your libido and your sexual wellness.

 

Food can also play an important part in male sexual health, as there are certain foods that have been proved to increase blood flow to the penis. These include onions and garlic, bananas (the potassium in these can help to lower your blood pressure) and chilli peppers. Spicy foods reduce blood pressure and inflammation and thus help to improve your blood flow.

 

You can also try eating food that is high in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B1 and eggs, which all help to improve the chances so achieving an erection.

Categories: Blood, blood flow, blood pressure, erection, Heart-Healthy, male, male sexual, performance, sexual, sexual health, sexual performance, Sexual Wellness