Eat These 5 Foods for Heart Health

Chocolate, flowers and Cupid have all certainly laid their stake in the ground in February .  Hopefully you didn’t forget about the holiday and took good care of your lady.

But something else lays claim to February and that’s American Heart Month.

Heart disease is the #1 killer in America, with over killing over 307,000 men each year -- that’s 1 in every 4 male deaths ...

... and here’s the scariest part, half of the men who die suddenly of coronary heart disease have no previous symptoms.

This isn’t meant to scare you, but rather make you aware.

Fortunately there are many simple steps you can take to reduce your risk regardless of age, ethnicity, or race -- heart disease doesn’t discriminate .

Let’s explore 5 simple tips you can take to make sure you take control of your own heart and your health.

1.  Eat Fat. The low fat craze in the early 90‘s had it all wrong.  I was overweight as a kid and had to lose weight to play football.  In 8th grade I was 155 lbs and needed to be 135.  At that time, low fat was king and my only goal was to eat as low fat as possible, hitting 2 grams of fat one day.  I lost weight, but there were certainly better, more efficient and smarter ways to change body composition.  Fast forward 20 years and we’ve certainly learned a lot about the importance of the right types of fat.

These are a few of our favorite healthy fats -- olive, canola and fish oil.  The last you can’t cook with, but the first two are great options that fit the bill.  We wouldn’t suggest blindly adding olive or canola oil to improve your health, but rather replacing less healthy options like soybean oil, shortening or margarine.

As for fish oil, there are a lot of data suggesting adding fish oil -- AKA omega 3 fat -- can drastically improve health, including the health of your heart.  In our house we use, like and trust Nordic Naturals -- so much so our 3.5 and 1 year old even take it daily.  Pick some up.

2.  Avocado. Sticking with the “eat fat theme” avocados top the list of heart healthy foods.  You likely got your fill on Super Bowl Sunday, but that doesn’t mean you should quit there.  They’re loaded with healthy monounsaturated fats, a good source of fiber and many other vitamins and minerals.  Add some to eggs, blend them in your protein shakes, or you can even mix some with dark chocolate to make a fantastic great for your chocolate pudding.  Check out this recipe:

1 avocado, ripe and soft
to ½ cup Navitas Naturals (or other high quality) 100% Raw Cocoa powder
¼ cup full fat coconut milk
2 tablespoon maple syrup (I prefer Grade B, which is more flavorful)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Cut the avocado in half and remove the pit. Scoop out the flesh and put in a blender with the rest of the ingredients.  Blend until smooth, occasionally scraping down sides. Taste and add more cocoa powder until the pudding is chocolatey enough. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

3.  Chocolate. While we’re talking chocolate,  its drool worthy, rich flavor also boasts some impressive health benefits to stake its mark in American Heart Month.  Get some for your girl -- you’ll both win!
We can list dozens of positive studies; here’s a review of many of them, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.  This reviewed the results of 42 studies to determine overall effects on cardiovascular disease.  This review showed with improvements in cholesterol, reductions in blood pressure, improved circulation and improved insulin resistance.  The key is picking a quality dark chocolate; we use Navitas  Naturals 100% Raw Cacao if baking or making hot chocolate.  I also like to toss Navitas Cacao Nibs in my Greek yogurt.

4. Wonderful Pistachios. Pistachios are an absolute favorite in the Mohr house - they’re convenient, they taste great and Wonderful Pistachios Lightly Salted and No Salt earn the American Heart Association’s Heart Check mark, which will appear on packages later this year to remind shoppers that in-shell pistachios are a great fit for healthy eating plans.  The other nice piece to pistachios is that you get the most “bang for your buck” in terms of nuts, with 49 nuts per serving. Compare that to 18 cashews or 14 walnut halves. That will surely help fill you at snack time!

5.  Eggs. Say what?  Eggs ... “do you mean high in cholesterol whole eggs?”  Yes, I sure do -- the incredible, edible egg..  Here’s the sunny side of eggs.  We’re not concerned with dietary cholesterol; we instead love the data on how eating eggs can help you lose weight.  One study compared subjects  eating a bagel breakfast vs. an equal amount of calories from eggs.  The result?  The egg group lose almost twice as much weight and had an 83% greater decrease in their waistlines.  Impressive.  Eat. Whole. Eggs. Daily!!!

There you have it -- 5 super simple, yet likely surprising, heart health tips!

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