Heart Healthy ingredients and whole foods

 I've decided to begin this heart healthy menu project by looking at specific ingredients, from which I can start to build a menu and understand why certain foods are included, and also adapt my existing recipes to include them. Also, just generally knowing about these items will help me make good snack choices and good ingredient shopping choices to start with in the future.  

So here are awesome foods that can decrease blood pressure, improve arterial health, reduce cholesterol and more

Thoughts on fats

I have learned that there are different types of fats, some are good and some not so much. They are usually named in the nutritional information panel, which I've gotten into the habit of reading. 

Trans fats: usually man-made. Avoid, avoid.

Saturated fats: Not great, but hard to avoid. minimize as much as possible.

Monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats: These are the good fats, these are fine. They often are not named in the nutritional information panel though. If the main Fats category says 10% of daily intake, and 3% is accounted for by Saturated and trans fats, the remaining 7% is Mono and polyunsaturated fats. 

Patterson, Lauri. (2018). Saturated Fats. Getty Images. Retrieved from Everydayhealth.com

Whole grains

Whole grains include all three parts of the grain, the Germ, the Endosperm and the Bran. Common whole grains include whole wheat, oats, brown rice, barley and Quinoa. Whole grains lower cholesterol. Oatmeal is high in fat-soluble fibres which help reduce cholesterol. So this will mark some major breakfast changes for me.

Berries

Berries are full of antioxidants and significantly reduce LDL cholesterol, which is great because I love them.  Eating blueberries daily can improve blood vessel function and improve blood pressure

Fatty Fish

Good fatty fish include Salmon, Mackerel, Sardines and Tuna. Fatty Fish are chock full of omega-3 fatty acids, which is good for heart health, reduces cholesterol, and improves blood pressure.

Unknown. Salmon. Retrieved from Pixabay under Creative Commons licence

Beans

Beans are healthy in so many ways. They’re good for gut health and reduce LDL and Blood pressure. They also provide a filling protein source that will allow me to reduce meats

Dark Leafy Greens

Dark Leafy Greens are high in iron and Vitamin K. K protects arteries and ensures proper clotting. Dark Leafy greens can help to decrease the stiffness of your arteries as well, which helps with blood flow. 

Avocados

My dad says the first time he saw an avocado was when he was working in the Bolivian jungle in the 60s. One of his indigenous guides threw him one and told him it was a pear and he bit right into it, and they all had a good laugh at his expense. Avocados are an amazing source of Monounsaturated fats, mentioned above in the Good Fats section. This lowers LDL cholesterol (thats the bad cholesterol). The Aztec word for avocado meant Testicle.  They’re also full of potassium

Silla, Jaanus. (2009). Avocado. Retrieved from Flickr under Creative Commons

Tomatoes

I don't like tomatoes, so let's never speak of this again. 

Well.. I do like tomato sauce. And I do use them in cooking, so I guess I should consider their health benefits. Tomatoes are high in Lycopene and can increase HDL cholesterol (That’s the good kind)

70% Dark Chocolate

Dark chocolate with 70% cocoa or higher is full of antioxidants, and it reduces arterial plaque build-up. 2 squares a day is a healthy choice.  

Walnuts

Walnuts are full of fibre and magnesium. Walnut consumption has been linked to Reduced risk of heart disease and it reduces cholesterol.  

Almonds

Almonds have lots and lots of vitamins, fibre, monounsaturated fats. They increase HDL Cholesterol which can reduce arterial plaque. You should work a handful of almonds into your diet each day. They are also high in calories, so moderate your intake. 

Verch, Marco (2020). Nuts. Retrieved from https://foto.wuestenigel.com/nuts-of-different-types-on-a-white-background-with-free-space-top-view/ under Creative Commons licence

Seeds

Chia, Flax and Hemp seeds are all good sources of omega-3s and fibre. They can improve cholesterol and BP, and they also reduce the risk of cancer! 

Olive Oil

Olive Oil, a gift from Athena herself. It's high in Antioxidants and Monounsaturated fats, which you want. It’s good for your heart and lowers blood pressure. 

I’ve been told to cut back on cooking with vegetable oil, and my alternatives are olive oil, avocado oil and canola oil. But I usually have olive oil anyway. 

By extension, Margarine is better heartwise than butter, but it’s better still to choose olive-oil based margarine over the regular vegetable oil kind. They cost the same anyway. 

Fun fact, the invention of margarine was commissioned by Napoleon, who was searching for an inexpensive butter alternative to make military food more enjoyable. Napoleon looking out for his Cinq cent soldat.

Edamame

Edamame is an Immature soybean.  It’s high in isoflavones, which reduce cholesterol.

It’s also high in fibre and antioxidants.

Green Tea

Green tea is teh best tea choice. It’s full of polyphenols, which act as antioxidant, so it lowers choloesterol and blood pressure

Coffee

Coffee also has antioxidants. Drinking coffee is associated with a 15% lower risk of heart disease, if you.minimize sugar and cream. Between coffee and green tea, try to have no more than two cups of caffeinated drinks per day. 

Meat Considerations

When choosing meats, lean towards lean meats, such as chicken white meat without skin, extra lean ground beef, pork shoulder or tenderloin, and ground chicken and turkey.  Instead of bacon or sausage, use Back bacon or peameal bacon as it is a lean loin cut.

Deli meats are high in nitrates, but sliced whole beef is probably better than items like deli turkey, which isformed into a slurry and cooked into a boneless sliceable ball. The emulsifiers and salts that go into this type of deli meat is high in nitrates.

Sausage thoughts

I like sausage. I like Italian sausage with meals, breakfast sausage on Sunday, sausage patties to make a breakfast sandwich, and pepperoni, both on my pizza and in the form of pepperettes as a snack. No more of any of this for me, it is all too high in nitrates and sodium. Maybe I can get away with the occasional turkey pepperettes.

Cheese musings

Low sodium feta or goat cheese, as well as low-fat cottage cheese is best.

But those aren't my favourites, so moving down the line. Fresh, part-skim mozzarella. This one is important for our weekly homemade pizza. I can choose low-skim Mozza. 

Reduced-fat cheddar is ok, but I’m not crazy about the taste. I’ll work with it though. 

Swiss is a little high in saturated fats, sadly, and soft cheeses like Brie and Camembert are off my list for sure, as they are very high in saturated fat.

Havarti cheese has lower levels of sodium and cholesterol and is moderately ok for arterial health. I like it though, so the presliced kind is a good choice to replace processed cheese slices.

The worst cheeses are processed cheese, which, although tasty and addictive, are hardly cheese at all anyway. I would use them normally to decorate a hamburger or a grill cheese sandwich

Nyman, Bengt, (2020). Tray with Cheese. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tray_with_cheese.jpg under Creative Commons