heart health

Heart Health Tips from LoSalt

May 12, 2015 By Joi Sigers

It’s always the RIGHT time to start paying extra attention to your own heart’s health, as well as those of your loved ones. Making the right decisions in the kitchen goes a long way in the prevention of serious problems.

Exchanging salt for a healthier alternative, like LoSalt, is a no-brainer.

LoSalt is the U.K.s leading healthy, reduced sodium salt and is sold in 4,500-plus stores in the U.S. including Kroger, Whole Foods Market and Safeway. It’s also available in many health stores and on Amazon. LoSalt has 66 percent less sodium than regular table, sea and rock salts, but tastes just like regular salt.

The following 10 healthy heart tips are from Caroline Klinge, Marketing Manager for Klinge Foods Ltd, which produces LoSalt. A balanced diet of whole grains, vegetables, fish and nuts is the key to heart health. Too often, these foods taste bland, but LoSalt enhances their flavors and can be used in place of salt in any recipe. LoSalt has 66 percent less sodium than salt, but 100 percent of the taste!

SHAKE MORE THAN YOUR SALT! Exercise helps to maintain a healthy weight, good cholesterol and blood pressure. The Surgeon General recommends moderate-intensity activity for at least 150 minutes per week, says Caroline Klinge. Luckily, some of that exercise can be part of daily activities. Take the stairs instead of an elevator, walk, rake leaves, do housework and take 10 minutes to dance as if no one is watching. Exercise is more fun with friends and family members, so hit the gym or the trails in a group. And remember that people who spend most of the day sitting, are 54 percent more likely to develop heart disease. Stand up, stretch or take a brisk walk.
NO IFS ANDS OR BUTTS. Stop smoking and avoid exposure to second hand smoke. According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, smokers who quit can reduce their risk of coronary heart disease by half.
SLEEP ON IT. Sleep is good for the heart. According to The National Sleep Foundation, the rule of thumb for adults 18 years and older is seven to nine hours every night.
TRY SOMETHING FISHY. Fish that is high in Omega 3 fatty acids such as salmon, herring and tuna are essential to a heart healthy diet. Fish oil supplements, especially those containing krill oil, have been shown to lower cholesterol and triglycerides.
LOL! Laughter really is the best medicine. According to research from the University of Maryland Medical Center, laughing relieves stress that damages the endothelium, the tissue that forms the inner lining of blood vessels and promotes blood flow and healthy blood vessels. Watch a lighthearted movie or sitcom, read a funny book or take in a show at a comedy club.
PASS ON THE SALT. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, cutting back on salt intake would make the number of coronary heart disease cases significantly decrease. To help reduce intake, try LoSalt as it has 66 percent less sodium than regular table, sea and rock salts but tastes just like regular salt, recommends Klinge.
SAY OMMM! Yoga not only provides exercise that gets heart rates pumping, but the meditative aspects of yoga help reduce stress and build body awareness.
MAKE HEART HEALTH A FAMILY AFFAIR. Good heart health begins at home. With childhood obesity a growing concern in America, parents must help kids develop healthy eating and exercise habits.
KEEP CALM AND PET YOUR DOG. Puppy love makes for good heart health, says the American Heart Association. A panel of experts concluded that that having a pet, particularly a dog, can lower the risk of heart disease. Dog owners get more exercise and additional studies show that the simple act of petting a cat or dog has a calming effect that reduces stress.
THERES AN APP FOR THAT. Several smartphone providers offer free or very inexpensive apps to keep track of heart rate, blood pressure, stress levels and exercise progress. Several apps offer information on heart health, music, and links to social media sites.

For more information please visit their website: http://www.losalt.com.

Pistachio Lovers, Rejoice

April 17, 2011 By Joi Sigers

If you love pistachio nuts as much as we do around our house, you’ll certainly roll out a welcome mat for this news. A study published in the Journal of Nutrition gives us nut lovers a reason to crow with pride. Better yet, it gives us another reason to reach dip into our bag of tricks.

Penn State University researchers tell us that a diet that includes pistachio nuts may be beneficial to people with high cholesterol. Apparently the nuts increase the level of antioxidants that lower lipids and lipoproteins in the blood. Lipids and lipoproteins are risk factors in heart disease.

What’s more, pistachio nuts are also high in lutein, beta-carotene and gamma-tocopherol. Beta-carotene is the precursor to vitamin A and gamma-tocopherol is a common form of vitamin E. According to the researchers, Lutein is also found in green leafy vegetables.

The study states that antioxidants such as these are important weapons in fighting and preventing high cholesterol because they can prevent low-density lipoproteins – so-called “bad cholesterol” – from oxidizing, migrating into the blood vessel walls and causing inflammation. The antioxidants stop them in their tracks before they have a chance to harm you.

Good stuff.

You know what a nut lover I am – kind of attests to the whole “you are what you eat” premise I guess… making me a chocolate-covered nut that tastes suspiciously like coffee. I can live with that.

For a little over a year, I’ve been making small changes around our home in efforts to encourage my loved ones to eat healthier. Nuts are one of the most ingenious ways to do so. I leave little bags of nuts on the counter, canisters of nuts near televisions, and even place some in candy bowls. They disappear as though by magic. Granted, the disappearance act is faster when they’re encased in chocolate, but it’s all good. The dark yumminess brings antioxidants of its own.

Life’s good.

File this under under “Things I feel compelled to say” – because I KNOW, YOU KNOW, but keep in mind:

I’ve never met a nut yet that was calorie-free, so be sure you keep calories in mind when popping them in like popcorn.
Don’t leave nuts around, anywhere, that small children or animals can get them. As delicious as nuts are, they’re also choking hazards and small hands and paws of any size should never be allowed to risk it.

The image at the top of the post is a big, beautiful bag ofWonderful Pistachios Roasted and Salted Shelled Pistachios (32 Ounce Value Bag). Heaven.

Why Your Heart Loves Pumpkin and A Pumpkin Pudding Recipe

October 19, 2009 By Joi Sigers

According to SuperFoods HealthStyle: Simple Changes to Get the Most Out of Life for the Rest of Your Life, a wonderful superfood is in abundance at this very moment: Pumpkins!

Pumpkin is a superfood, whether it’s canned or fresh. This big, beautiful squash is especially good for your heart because it’s loaded with carotenoids that are known to reduce heart disease risk. But there’s more: According to the book’s authors, Steven G. Pratt, MD, and Kathy Matthews, pumpkin is also a good source of potassium, magnesium, fiber, and antioxidant vitamins C and E.

Below is one of the many outstanding recipes from SuperFoods HealthStyle: Simple Changes to Get the Most Out of Life for the Rest of Your Life.

Recipe: PATTY’s PUMPKIN PUDDING

1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar
2 to 4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, optional
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, optional
2 large eggs (the SuperFoods authors recommend eggs with extra omega-3s)
One 15-ounce can pure pumpkin
One 12-ounce can evaporated nonfat milk (or evaporated 2% milk)

Mix all the ingredients together and pour the mixture into an 8-by-8-inch casserole. Bake it in a preheated (350 degrees Fahrenheit) oven for about 30 minutes. Don’t overbake; the center should be slightly wiggly. Cool and enjoy, or refrigerate for later use.

This would be a fantastic recipe for Thanksgiving!

If We Are What We Eat, Why Do We Keep Eating Junk?!

July 30, 2008 By Joi Sigers

Broccoli! Sometimes we’re more like children than we are adults, aren’t we? We know, full well, what foods we should be eating more of and what ones we should be eating less of – yet, off we go on our merry way to the nearest hamburger in a hurry joint. What’s worse, when we get there we almost always make our sinister selection as large as possilbe and, yes, of course, we would very much like fries with that.

Maybe, just maybe, if we were to concentrate more on the Positive Foods and less on the Negative Foods – we’d fill up so much on the good stuff that we wouldn’t even want the bad. Worth a try? Worth a try.

The following are a few ideas for sneaking more of the highly recommended foods into your day. If we fill up on what we SHOULD, it’ll leave very little room for what we SHOULDN’T. Well, that’s the plan anyway.

Garlic
Garlic is known to be one of our heart’s favorite foods. Fortunately, it’s very simple to up our garlic intake. Garlic goes beautifully with just about every meat and bread you can think of. To get the most from garlic, we should eat several cloves a day, so we need to work it into our meals as often as possible.

In addition to serving garlic with meat dishes, minced garlic is heavenly when served over steamed green beans. If, like me, you’re trying to wean yourself off of bacon fat for seasoning (Yum….sorry, but yum), garlic makes a great substitution. I’ve also used slivered almonds (more on them later) on my green beans.

Crushed Garlic can be added to Salad Dressing or Mayo to create a Kicked Up Sandwich spread.

If you don’t get too crazy, garlic can also be addded favorably to Ranch Dressings for salads. It’s especially good if you add a little finely chopped basil with it.

Olive Oil
Since our heart also loves Olive Oil, it would be a great idea to keep a bottle or two on hand at all times. Even though you may think it sounds excessive, keeping regular olive oil AND Extra-virgin olive oil each in your pantry is a good idea. Why? Extra-virgin olive oil packs extra polyphenols (compounds that keep LDL cholesterol from sticking to artery walls) than the other varieties. But, since it costs several dollars more, I’m not that keen on cooking with it. I like to save it for drizzling over salads, pasta, breads, and steamed vegetables.

Almonds
Almonds are proven to lower LDL levels – they’re brillaint at it, actually. While all nuts are healthy and should be included in our daily diets, almonds have a bit of a heart-healthy edge – they have vitamin e and are also a good source of calcium. If you toast them in the oven, you’ll bring out more of their flavor, without lessening their nutritional benefits.

Carrots
A Harvard University study found that a half cup of dark yellow vegetables, like carrots, eaten daily cuts the risk of diabetes in women by 27 percent. They’re one of those foods that seemingly increase their nutritional value daily, so it would be ridiculous NOT to use them in our meals more. As an added bonus, they’re not nearly as costly as other vegetables. (I made a huge salad last night with a Ravioli meal that nearly required a small loan. Cauliflower and Broccoli should be ashamed of themselves.

Personally, I love carrots (and celery, for that matter) enough to eat them in the raw – them, not me. But, if you require a little more flavor, a buttermilk ranch dressing is always a delicious way to go. You can work a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil into your portions and get a one-two punch by drizzling it over steamed carrots. Finish it off by snipping a little thyme on top. Fresh herbs are also healthy – and add an aggreable flavor to everything. Rosemary and Thyme are perfect with everything known to man or woman.

Salmon
Salmon is one of the biggest of shots when it comes to omega-3 fatty acids. I can’t understand anyone NOT love, love, loving salmon – but if it’s not your favorite thing, experiment with different flavors. Add a little dill and lemon, and never forget the pepper.

In a Saving the Best for Last type of thang – see the following post on Self Help Daily. Of course, if (nudge, nudge) you’re really just not that into chocolate, don’t bother.