Heart disease is a lifestyle disease. Your diet and lifestyle choices are a major factor in determining your likelihood of developing heart disease.

Heart disease develops as a result of inflammation and oxidative damage. So, let’s cover steps you can take to decrease inflammation and oxidative damage to reduce your risk of developing heart disease.

1. Decrease your sugar intake.

When I say sugar, I’m also referring to simple carbohydrates. When you consume carbohydrates the body breaks them down into sugar molecules. Converting simple carbs (i.e. refined carbohydrates) into sugar is a fairly quick process for the body. Simple carbohydrates include potatoes, pasta, bread, and rice, along with your sugar sweetened beverages, candy, and sweets. As these foods are broken down, sugar enters the blood steam and can result in blood sugar spikes. These spikes contribute to oxidative damage and inflammation.

Continue reading ‘5 Steps to Prevent Heart Disease’ »

A subscriber to The Heart of Health submitted the following question.

Question: “Your article [How to Lower Triglycerides] suggests avoiding baked goods. Is it possible for a more detailed explanation of “baked goods”? Does this pertain to store-bought baked goods w/ sugar, or does it also apply to home-baked such as bread machine output w/ minimal sugar – and that being honey? Are you referring to the sugar itself, or the conversion to sugar of a carbohydrate? Information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.”

Answer: In this case, the definition of baked goods includes cookies, cakes, and pastries regardless of whether or not the product was store bought or home-made. Both will have an impact on triglyceride levels due to sugar content.

Continue reading ‘Triglycerides and Baked Goods’ »

So, what diet is right? Do you need to stick with a low carb intake to lower cholesterol? Do you need to go high protein to lower blood pressure?

What’s the best way for you to achieve optimal heart health?

Later this month, Rosanne Rust will provide a step by step guide on what you can do right now to balance calories, carbs, and fat to achieve your health goals.

Here’s a little of what she’ll be covering . . .

• Add good carbs to your diet and still maintain a healthy weight,
• Spot hidden fat in “high fiber” foods,
• Add good fats to your diet: It’s easier and tastier than you think, and
• Get over your fear of “the bun”!

Continue reading ‘Balancing Calories: What You Must Know About Carbs and Fat for Optimal Heart Health’ »

Let’s talk about snacks for a moment. I believe there is a general perception that snacking is bad and you need to cut out snacking if you want to lose weight and be heart healthy. Well, the opposite is actually true. Let me explain.

It is important to eat regularly, every 3-4 hours to maintain your metabolic rate, promote stable blood sugar levels, and prevent insulin spikes. By maintaining a high metabolism you boost the calories you burn throughout the day, which helps you lose weight. By maintaining stable blood sugar levels and preventing insulin spikes you will prevent drops in energy and halt a chain reaction that can lead to heart health complications (increased C-reactive protein, increased blood viscosity, increased clotting factor, increased free radical damage, etc.).

Now, this doesn’t mean just any food will work. You need to select heart healthy snacks. This means eating snacks that balance carbohydrates with protein and/or heart healthy fats. Fat and protein slow the breakdown of carbohydrates, preventing the rapid rise in blood sugar and the corresponding increased insulin release.

Here are healthy snacks that are high in carbohydrates:

Whole grain crackers
Dried Fruit
Pretzels
Fig bars
Fresh fruit

You can make these snacks heart healthy by combining with a protein. These protein sources that are easy to include with snacks:

Glass of skim milk
Yogurt
Cheese
Nuts
Peanut Butter

Here’s an example of how you can apply this to your daily snacks.

Mid-morning snack: Yogurt with granola
Mid-afternoon snack: Nuts mixed with dried fruit
Evening snack: Light frozen yogurt topped with strawberries

Receive a step by step plan to promote heart health and weight loss with a Mini Diet Makeover. As a special New Year’s bonus you’ll receive a complimentary copy of the Calorie Counter for Dummies. Learn more here – http://www.lisanelsonrd.com/minidietmakeover.html

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
a target=”_blank” href=”http://www.lisanelsonrd.com/howtolowercholesterol.html”>How to Lower Cholesterol in 8 Simple Steps

Some studies are being conducted evaluating the effects of low carb diets, such as the Atkins diet, on cognitive ability. Brain function on a low carb diet may be impaired because glucose is the nutrient used by the brain for energy and the brain is not capable of storing glucose, but is depended on the bodies production of this nutrient.

Many low carb diets restrict intake to as little as 20 grams per day, while the RDA for carbs is at least 130 grams (taking into account the brains energy needs).

One study compared long and short term memory, spatial memory, and visual attention of women prior to beginning a low carb diet, post low carb diet, and after reintroduction of carbs. Those following a low carb diet had a gradual decline in memory performance and slower reaction time on all tests. Interestingly, attention span was improved on the low carb diet.

Fortunately, memory skills and scores returned to normal after carbohydrates were reintroduced.

All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
Be Heart Healthy and Lose Weight

Do you eat breakfast?

Well, a recent study backs up the claim that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Two groups of women were compared. The first group followed a low calorie diet (~1200 calories) that included a balanced protein/carbohydrate intake. This first group ate 50% of their daily calories in the morning (~600 calories). The second group followed a low calorie (~1000 calories), low carbohydrate diet and ate ~25% of their calories in the morning. The first group lost ~40 pounds over 6 months, while the second group lost ~10 pounds (28 pounds first 4 months, followed by 18 pound regain).

Balancing protein and carbohydrates in your breakfast is important. Here are some examples of quick and easy breakfast meals that include both protein and carbohydrates.

Whole wheat toast with peanut butter
Low fat cottage cheese with canned peaches (light syrup)
Banana with handful of mixed nuts
Whole grain cereal with low fat milk
Apple with hard-boiled egg
Low fat yogurt with granola

What are you going to eat for breakfast?

All the best,
Lisa Nelson, RD, LN
Heart Health and Weight Loss Tips