10 best foods for heart health — a guest post

February is national heart month, a time to think about our heart health. If you read my About info, you’ll see I’m a two-time survivor of near-fatal heart incidents. I now head a local chapter of Mended Hearts, a support group for those with heart issues. So I was intrigued when I received this piece and decided to run it as a guest post. If you have any symptoms of heart problems, do not hesitate to see a doctor ASAP. Doing that saved my life, twice!

A whole food, plant-based diet low in sodium and free of fats has been conclusively shown to reduce the risk of heart disease. But which foods are the stars and stewards of healthy hearts?

The list below gives our “Top 10” heart healthy foods. Each item has valuable medical attributes that make them integral ingredients to include in any diet that promotes and maintains heart health.

Continue reading →

February 10, 2022 0

Roasted Garlic Lemon Broccoli, one healthy recipe out of nine ‘amazing’ ones

When I see a headline like “9 Amazing Broccoli Recipes Everyone Will Love” I have to stop and read it. AS I suspected, however, most of these ‘amazing’ recipes were high in salt, or fat, or both. I did find one, however, that would fit our low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar criteria, roasted garlic lemon broccoli.

The recipe is simple to make as well:

Preheat the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a bowl, toss the broccoli pieces with extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, garlic, and pepper. [LEAVE OUT THE SALT, IT’S NOT NEEDED WITH GARLIC]
Spread the broccoli on a baking sheet and bake for at least 15 minutes until the broccoli is tender.
After 20 minutes, transfer roasted broccoli into a serving platter.
Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the preparation and serve with a tangy twist.

June 14, 2021 2

American Heart Association offers healthy cooking help

The American Heart Association currently is offering what it calls a Healthy Cooking Starter Kit to those who donate. The kit includes the association’s newest heart-healthy cooking book and a kitchen conversion chart (I assume that’s for weights and measures).

The association has sometimes lent it’s endorsements to foods I consider too high in salt. But, that said, it’s cookbooks often have some tasty recipes and you can adjust salt down with the ingredients you use.

If you were planning to support the association this year, this offer gives an added incentive.

March 26, 2021 0

Some good advice for a truly heart-healthy diet

The term heart-healthy diet has been co-opted by all sorts of people to push their favorite products. Many processed foods call themselves heart-healthy when they are still loaded with salt, fat and sugar. So it’s refreshing to see some tips for a truly heart-healthy diet in this piece, Ask A Dietitian: What Makes a Diet Heart-Healthy?

One of my favorite here is to develop a collection of seafood recipes you can’t wait to eat. A good place to start is on our recipe page, where we have a seafood section all ready for you. Supermarket fish counters often give away seafood recipe cards too. You may have to modify them to take out butter and salt, but they’re a starting point for you.

Use some spray-on canola oil to cook your tilapia — Tilapia such as these would work for fish tacos.

Another good tip is to use more spices instead of salt in your cooking. When you do, be sure to buy salt-free spice mixtures. Many pre-mixed spice offerings are loaded with salt. If you see salt listed as the first ingredient on such a mix, you know it is primarily salt, avoid it.

Check the article for other tips, just click here.

March 1, 2021 0