This season, hearts are everywhere. Okay, most of them are filled with chocolate, but seeing the decorations, gifts, and greeting cards all over town each February always makes me think about the health of our internal hearts. In this month when love is in the air, how can we bring some of that energy inside to care for our own physical, emotional, and spiritual centers? Fortunately, the simple health practices that support your physical heart are also beneficial to the rest of your body as well as your emotional and spiritual self. |
Simple Practices for a Healthy Heart
1. Fiber. Adequate fiber intake supports digestive health and lowers blood cholesterol. If you are like most Americans, you eat a lot of animal protein which has very little fiber. And you probably do not eat enough beans or a variety of raw fruit and vegetables, which have a lot of heart healthy fiber. Fiber is also found in whole grains, but since so many of us are sensitive or allergic to wheat, I would prefer you to get most of your fiber from fresh fruits and vegetables where all the fiber is still intact. Quick tips: - Toss a handful of spinach, tomatoes and mushrooms into your eggs.
- Pile roasted veggies like beets, peppers or onions on toasted sprouted bread with dark green lettuce and goat cheese.
- Add diced and sautéed carrots, peppers and onions to brown rice when fluffing it.
- Spread hummus on a piece of sprouted bread or dip with raw veggies.
- Add 1/2 cup amaranth to a pot of vegetable soup during the last 15 minutes of cooking time.
2. Fat. All highly refined, partially hydrogenated oils like canola, corn, safflower, sunflower and soybean oil should be eliminated from your diet and replaced with healthy real food sources of fats like extra virgin olive oil, unrefined flaxseed, coconut, walnut and sesame oils and organic butter or ghee (clarified butter). Other great sources are avocados, seeds like flax and hemp, nuts like walnuts, almonds, cashews and brazil nuts. Coldwater fish like salmon, sardines, and tuna are also ideal for heart support.
Quick tips: - Substitute flax or hempseed oil for olive oil in your salad dressings for a variety of heart healthy oils.
- Spread 1/2 of a ripe avocado on sprouted bread and top with ground almonds.
- Dip apples and pears in almond butter.
- Toss a handful of cashews on your next curry or stir fry.
- Make your own salad dressing using 3 parts extra virgin olive oil and 1 part vinegar or lemon juice, squirt of Dijon mustard and honey and sea salt and pepper to taste.
- Add ground flaxseeds on top of whole milk yogurt or cereal.
- Garnish fish or chicken with chunks of avocado and fresh salsa.
3. Fruits and Veggies. The food you find in the produce department is loaded with antioxidants, those critically important foot soldiers in the fight against heart disease. Some of the less nutritious foods we eat, as well as environmental pollutants, create free radicals, which have been shown to damage artery walls and lead to heart disease. The antioxidants in fruits and veggies donate electrons, so the free radicals in your body can regenerate on their own, without stealing electrons from healthy cells. For optimal results, get between 9 and 12 servings of produce each day, with 60 % of that being vegetables. It sounds like a lot, but try … Quick tips: · Throw a handful of chopped spinach or arugula in your soups, eggs or mixed in with rice. · Start your day with a “green” drink like Amazing Greens or Perfect Food’s Super Green Drink · At a restaurant ask them to substitute a vegetable for your rice or potato. · Top your oatmeal or yogurt with some berries or raisins. 3. Stress and Meditation. No surprise that stress is a major risk factor for heart disease and is no fun anyway! Support your heart (and soul) by incorporating down time and activities you enjoy into your life. Heart problems are metaphysically related to a lack of joy and openness to life. Quick tip: - Meditation can be as simple as taking just one minute in the morning, before your feet hit the ground and listen to your breath or heartbeat.
- Take a moment to acknowledge what you are grateful for throughout your day and certainly before you go to sleep at night.
4. Exercise. The benefits of regular cardiovascular exercise for a healthy heart cannot be overstated. Just a simple evening walk around your block every day can strengthen the heart. A stronger heart does not have to work as hard to pump blood throughout the body. Exercise also increases blood flow and the number of capillaries in the muscles, reducing the burden on your heart and lungs to nourish your cells. Quick tip: Challenge yourself to get out and move in some different way - try cross country skiing or snow shoeing instead of downhill skiing or hiking instead of walking your dog around the block.
5. Stop smoking. Do I even need to say it? Smoking tobacco increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and contributes to a myriad of other health problems. If you are a smoker now, remember that it is never too late to quit and one of the most important things you can do for your health.
Quick tip: Instead of using willpower or going cold turkey, try hypnosis. Here is a great resource for you...Breakthrough-Hypnosis.com
If you would like individual support for a healthy heart as well as your whole self, I invite you to a free 30 minute initial consultation as a beginning for your individual wellness program. In your session, we will discuss your food/life history, your current concerns and healthy lifestyle goals. Contact me for more information!
Recipe of the month: Raw Chocolate Fondue
This dessert lifts your energy rather than slowing it down. The raw form of all the ingredients leaves the fresh flavors and energy of the foods intact.
Serves 6 (makes 1 cup of fondue)
1 very ripe banana
¼ cup almond butter
¼ cup vanilla almond milk
2 teaspoons agave nectar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
½ teaspoon of cinnamon or vanilla or orange extract
Fresh fruit like apple, pears, oranges, strawberries, dried fruit like figs or apricots
Blend in a blender the banana, almond butter, milk, agave, cocoa and cinnamon or extracts until mixture forms a smooth cream. Put in an attractive bowl and arrange fruit in bowls with toothpicks or fondue forks for dipping and serving.
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